Cooperative

Learning Lesson Morgan Campbell

The Lesson “Slip or Trip?” Murder Mystery

Students will work in investigative teams to learn how constructing written arguments is much like what CSI investigators do when working crime scenes. Students will read a narrative of a crime, observe a photo of the scene, and work together to develop evidence and warrants to support their claim that the wife is either guilty or not guilty of killing her husband. Each student will write his or her own investigative report to conclude.

The Lesson’s Objectives

Students will…

learn how evidence and warrants

provide logical support to claims in

argumentative writing.

Students will…

work in an investigative team to

develop claims, warrants, and

evidence.

Social Skill Objective Students will…

Share ideas and opinions.

This looks like…

Eye contact, nodding, leaning toward speaker, smiling.

This sounds like…

“great idea!” “thanks for sharing!”

“what do you think?” “could you explain that a bit more?”

Group Size/Roles

Pairs

Heterogeneous

1) Reader (investigator)

2) Recorder (reporter)

Students will sit with desks facing each

other, sharing all materials.

The Task The INVESTIGATOR:

Read “Slip or Trip?” murder mystery narrative out loud to partner.

The REPORTER: Record any important facts from the narrative

as the investigator is reading.

BOTH: Observe the crime scene photograph

Establish a list of evidence

Determine the logical warrants to support the evidence

Elements of Cooperative

Learning Positive Interdependence: must work together to

solve the mystery; practice sharing ideas.

Individual Accountability: each student in the pair writes his or her own report at the end.

Promotive Interaction: students share work space; practice social skill (sharing ideas)

Small group skills: practice sharing ideas with each other

Group Processing: students share their work with the class and allow the class to vote on the most well-structured argument; group members report on each other’s progress (evaluation).

Reflection -- Positives

Working in pairs facilitated opportunities for

students to practice listening to each other .

The nature of the assignment required

students to come to consensus about the

outcome of the murder mystery, requiring that

they listen to and share ideas.

Students enjoyed the activity and said it

helped them understand argument a little bit

better!

Next time…

I would use larger groups to encourage

students to work even harder at listening

to each other’s ideas (especially on an

activity that could spark disagreement).

I would find a better way to monitor

behavior – with several students (35 total),

pairs made it difficult to observe and offer

help to students.