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Stringing Good Teams Together

Main Core Tie

Social Studies - 1st Grade
Standard 2 Objective 1

Time Frame

1 class periods of 30 minutes each

Group Size

Small Groups

Authors

Calbert Beck
Kristen Cottrell
Stephanie Seely
TOM SUTTON

Summary

Students will identify, discuss, and engage in appropriate team building behaviors.


Materials

Attachments

  • 1 plastic bag
  • string or yarn (4 pieces for each group, one of each - red, blue, yellow, green)
  • computer and projector or paper copies of the "String Things" presentation (see attachments below)
  • How to Lose All Your Friends, by Nancy Carlson


Student Prior Knowledge

Read the book How to Lose All Your Friends, by Nancy Carlson, to the class. Discuss any experiences the students have had with any of the behaviors from the book.


Intended Learning Outcomes

Students will identify and practice behaviors deemed crucial for successful partner interactions.


Instructional Procedures

Teacher Model: Tell the students that everyone is going to line up at the door. You will be lining up with them. When the students line up, join the line while using inappropriate behaviors and actions; i.e. being loud, rude, cutting in line, pushing

Have the students identify the actions and behaviors that were not appropriate.

Then have them line up again, and model correct actions and behaviors while lining up with them. Have the students return to their seats, and discuss which behaviors they would prefer someone to use when interacting with them. Discuss that while working in teams/groups, they need to do the good things to keep the teamwork going.

Put students into groups of four. Each group will need one bag with four pieces of string or yarn in it. (One 12 inch piece of each color.)

Using the "String Things" presentation (see attachments in Materials) the teams will work together to create the design that appears on the screen. An important rule to emphasize is that each member of the group can only touch their own color of string. This means that one student cannot move another string if it is put in an incorrect place.

The last slide of the "String Things" presentation asks each group to create their own design. Have a gallery walk at the end to see other team creations.

After all groups have completed the activity gather to discuss how things went in each group. Questions you might ask include:

  • How did your group work together?
  • What happened in your group if someone didn't agree with where the strings were?
  • How were you a great group member?
  • What would you do differently next time?
  • Why is learning to work together important?


Extensions

Mix up the students so that they are in different groups. The new groups complete the activity again, this time without talking. You can also try the activity, first assigning each student in the group a number 1-4. When completing the activity, the students must place their string down in order by number.


Created: 06/17/2010
Updated: 02/05/2018
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