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.