Numbered-Heads-Together

Numbered-Heads-Together
Adapted from...
Kagan, S. (1992). Cooperative learning. San Juan Capistrano, CA: Resources for Teachers, Inc.
Numbered-heads-together
Original groups
Group A Group B Group C Group D
Sam
1
Jenny
1
Tish
1
Carol
1
Bill
2
David
2
Barn
2
Ted
2
Gary
3
Josh
3
Kana
3
Barb
3
Mary
4
Fran
4
Salley
4
Aman
4
Rearranged groups
Group 1
Sam
1
Jenny
1
Tish
1
Carol
1
Group 2
Bill
2
David
2
Barn
2
Ted
2
Group 3
Gary
3
Josh
3
Kana
3
Barb
3
Group 3
Mary
4
Fran
4
Salley
4
Aman
4
Numbered-Heads-Together is a fun way to practice constructing graphic
organizers as well as learning the content depicted on them. Basically, the
procedure involves having each group construct graphics depicting key
information and then having individual members of that group teach the
information on their graphic to representatives from other groups.
Teaching Tips
Step 1: Divide the class into teams of about four members each; have each
team construct a graphic organizer depicting essential to-be-learned
information about the unit.
Step 2: Using the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4, assign each member of the
group a number; ask students to remember their individually
assigned numbers.
Step 3: Rearrange team compositions for the whole class so that all the
students from the original teams who were assigned the
number "1" are now in the same group, all the students from the

original teams who were assigned the number "2" are now grouped
together, and so forth.
Step 4: Ask each student to share with the
members of his/her new group the
information depicted on the his/her
original group’s graphic.
Thus, if there are four members in
a group, and each teaches the
information from the graphic
organizer developed in his/her
original group, four different
graphic organizers will be
presented in the new group.
Note: If the rearranged
groups become too
large, you can
subdivide them. For
example, if Group A has
eight members, you
can split it and
have two smaller
A groups.
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