Team Building: Sneak a Peek

My poor fourth graders.

This seems to be the year where the most issues occur at recess.  From excluding others to changing the rules mid-game, recess is probably the most challenging part of their day.  This week I wanted to present them with a challenge that would help them be more inclusive and see the benefits of teamwork and cooperation.  We began by first discussing what this means and then I introduced their challenge:

After a few more questions, we were ready to start!

One group was successful in completing their sculpture accurately.  The purpose of this activity was to watch how each group interacting with each other and provide them with feedback and a time to reflect.

We discussed:

• what went well,
• what strategies were most effective,
• what they struggled with,
• what could they do differently next time to improve, and
• how this relates to their conflict at recess.

They wanted to try again, but unfortunately we were out of time.  I told them the next time I came to visit we would try a different activity that required teamwork and cooperation.  I asked them to think about what they might do differently next time.