Using collaborative learning activities means structuring student interaction in small, mixed-ability groups, encouraging interdependence, and providing for individual accountability. By taking part in cooperative experiences, students are encouraged to learn by assimilating their ideas and creating new knowledge through interaction with others. This book is designed to help teachers plan such collaborative learning experiences. The chapters explore issues, trends, and practical teaching concerns that surround cooperative learning and put forward specific content area lessons for teachers who would like to become more familiar with active team learning in the classroom. The chapters are: (1) "Classroom/School Collaboration: The Shared Responsibility of Cooperative Learning"; (2)"Critical Thinking across the Curriculum"; (3) "Collaboration in the Language Arts: Connecting Writing, Reading, Thinking, and Learning"; (4) "Science, Mathematics, and Collaboration: Making Sense of Our World through a Process of Group Inquiry"; (5) "Education in the Arts: Communication, Imagination, and Collaboration"; (6) "Cooperative Learning in the Inclusive Classroom: Accommodating Students with Special Needs in Regular Classrooms"; (7) "Educational Media and Cooperative Groups: Collaborating with Technology and Each Other"; and (8) "Assessing Cooperative Group Learning." Each chapter contains references. (HTH)