Education is a team sport! To imagine that a student sits in a classroom and the only owner and disseminator of knowledge is the teacher standing at the front would be to miss the huge resource which resides in every individual. It would also be to deny the creativity and vision that others see, which we ourselves may miss. For this reason the character analyses in our new novel study (Fish in a Tree by Linda Mullaly Hunt) are being carried out in groups and the discussions and the learning have been more valuable than in my previous novel studies. The ideas and opinions have flowed from everyone and the characters have been fully and deeply investigated. Not only has the learning improved and been shared by everyone (not everything is a test) but the students have enjoyed it way more than simply struggling to write in their books, alone and without the benefit of hearing others. Check out the images below.