Building Collaboration Skills

Raccoon Circle

Each class was asked to form a “Raccoon Circle.”  As students introduce themselves and their classmates on each side of them they physically began to feel the connection they have with each other. Through a series of movements students began to think about the fact that they are all connected.  As a class they are connected and will be together for the entire year.  Students were asked to create an analogy to the kind of learning environment they want to create in their classroom.  For example, when a student tugs on the rope, individuals experience how their actions, beraccoonhaviours, and words affect their classmates; either in a positive or negative way.  As students tighten the rope and squat down they relate the physical consequence of this action to the importance of trusting and supporting each other in learning situations.  Together we are much stronger and can get more accomplished if we work together.

 

Cup Stacking:  Building A Tower

1. In your group of 5 or 6,  build a pyramid out of the cups with four on the bottom, three on the next level, then two, and one at the top.

2. Team members may not touch the cups with their hands, or any other part of their bodies (even if a cup falls on the floor).

3. Each person must hold onto one of the strings that is attached to the rubber band.

4. The group can only use this rubber band octopus to pick up the cups and place them on top of each other

5. If there are less than six people on a team, select a team member to hold more than one string.

 What does COLLABORATION LOOK LIKE, SOUND LIKE, FEEL LIKE…

Did you feel successful with this challenge?
What did you do today to contribute to the completion of this challenge
What are some skills needed to be good at teamwork?
Are you ever in a situation where you must use teamwork? Is this always easy for you? Why or why not?
How can we use what we learned through this experience in situations outside the game?

Below are some pictures of Collaboration in action:

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