“Placematting” is one really effective structure for collaborative work.  What do we all hate about group work? Yep, that one grade-oriented student will take over…and who can blame me, I mean her.:) With a placemat, each student typically has a different job to do FIRST.  Then, the group shares what they’ve discovered and together, they create a final product for the center.  The center product typically responds to the learning target for today.  

Examples:  We all read about Thomas Edison, but here are the parts: 1) Edison the inventor, 2) Edison as a child, 3) Edison as a business person, and 4) Edison’s views on failure/obstacles.  

Or…we all read a piece of text, but take different character’s perspectives.  

Or…we all take a planet or a part of the Earth’s make-up…or ways to recycle…and then we create a common product in the middle. 

Math:  Place Mats are great for practice.  In this case, students may first do 5 problems by themselves.  Now, the confer and have to arrive at a consensus.  That answer goes in the middle.  OR, each student can take a different way to solve a problem.  In the center:  which strategy works best if you have 30 problems to do?