#3515. Teambuilding

Science, level: Elementary
Posted Tue Jul 12 16:25:40 PDT 2005 by Karen Hayden (haydenk@usd385.org).
Andover Public Schools, Andover, USA
Materials Required: Bird House Kit (found in hobby stores) -- 1 for each group and the supplies necessary to create it
Activity Time: 1 class period
Concepts Taught: Students will learn how to work as a team to solve a problem.

Kansas Standards Addressed-1.1.1; 1.1.2; 1.1.4;
5.1.1; 5.2.3; 5.2.4
Specific Objectives:
TLW develop communication skills.
TLW develop problem solving skills.
TLW understand the necessity of
teamwork in real world situations.
TLW create a sense of confidence in
teamwork skills.
TLW create a sense of pride in teamwork.

Anticipatory Set - Begin class by asking
students if they are a member of a team and what team that is. Students may need to be encouraged to think of their school, classmates, friends, family members as a team.

Step-by-step procedures - Discuss as a class the members of one of the teams they came up with. (Basketball will be my team choice for this lesson.) Explain that on a basketball team, each player has a specific job to do. One person passes the ball inbounds, another dribbles down the court, etc. Ask what would happen if one member of the team didn't do their job. For example, what if the person who was to dribble down the court, just stood still? If this happened, the team would not be as successful.

Student activity - Tell students that they will know begin their team project. They must create the birdhouse working together to accomplish this. Now this sounds fairly easy, so add a "stipulation" to the group. An example might be that only one person can read the directions aloud and whoever that person is, they can't touch the bird house. No one else could see the directions and the only person in the group who can talk is the direction reader. Other possible "stipulations" could include; using only one hand, each person doing one step (without talking) and passing the bird house around, giving extra parts to the bird house, not giving students directions, or only allowing the direction to be read once.

Closure - When students have completed their bird houses, have them bring them to the front. As a class, see which groups turned out the "best" and talk about why. Is the bird house better if the group got along? Did the bird house require teamwork? What would have happened if the "reader" had quit his/her job?

Assessment based on objectives - Assessment on this activity could be teacher observation. The teacher can monitor student progress and work as the students are building. Also, teachers can look at the completed bird house.