Cooperative Strip Paragraphs

Cooperative Strip Paragraph is a GLAD strategy that our class uses when writing expository text about a unit we are studying. As a class, we create a Process Grid, a graphic organizer that sorts information about our general topic (Native American tribes of the PNW) into categories (Location, Social Life, etc.)

Here is the Process Grid we created for this unit (click to enlarge):

Next, we use information from the Process Grid to create sentences that can be grouped into a paragraph. We do this as a class first, with each table group creating one sentence to contribute to the class paragraph (the Cooperative Strip Paragraph). As a class we then revise and edit our paragraph, until it is perfect.

Here is the Cooperative Strip Paragraph we created:

Our final step in this unit was for each table group to create their own Cooperative Strip Paragraph, using the exact same process on a group scale.

Here is the blue table group's paragraph:

Some students took on an additional challenge and created individual paragraphs using this process. In fourth grade, students learn to create several paragraphs in this way and eventually write five-paragraph essays about what they are studying!