Teamwork in Action: Understanding Team Dynamics

Unit	World Olympics, p. 46
Lesson Name	Teamwork in Action: Understanding Team Dynamics
Grade Band	Elementary (Grades 3-5) Middle School (Grades 6-8)

Unit

World Olympics, p. 46

Lesson Name

Teamwork in Action: Understanding Team Dynamics

Grade Band

Elementary (Grades 3-5)

Middle School (Grades 6-8)

Required Materials	For Game 1, have a roll of brightly colored masking tape (optional). For Game 2, title a piece of newsprint Challenges, a second piece Skills and a third piece Advice to a New Team. Divide the number of students in the whole group by 5 to determine the number of teams you will have for Game 2. For each team prepare a large metal washer by tying five long lengths of string to each washer, one string per student. (If it is necessary to have one team of four or six, take away or add a string.) Make sure the metal washer is large enough to hold a tennis ball. Have enough tennis balls on hand, one for each team. Have a cup or small children’s pail large enough to drop the tennis ball into. Make sure the cup/small children’s pail is only two or three inches wider than the tennis ball so that it challenges the students to work closely together to position the ball to fall into the cup.
Standards / Competencies	CASEL Core Competencies Self-Awareness Self-Management Social Awareness Relationship Skills Common Core ELA-Literacy Standards Listening and Speaking NCSS Social Studies Themes Individual Development and Identity
Recommended Time	2 days

Required Materials

For Game 1, have a roll of brightly colored masking tape (optional).
For Game 2, title a piece of newsprint Challenges, a second piece Skills and a third piece Advice to a New Team.
Divide the number of students in the whole group by 5 to determine the number of teams you will have for Game 2.
For each team prepare a large metal washer by tying five long lengths of string to each washer, one string per student. (If it is necessary to have one team of four or six, take away or add a string.) Make sure the metal washer is large enough to hold a tennis ball. Have enough tennis balls on hand, one for each team.
Have a cup or small children’s pail large enough to drop the tennis ball into. Make sure the cup/small children’s pail is only two or three inches wider than the tennis ball so that it challenges the students to work closely together to position the ball to fall into the cup.

Standards / Competencies

CASEL Core Competencies

Self-Awareness
Self-Management
Social Awareness
Relationship Skills

Common Core ELA-Literacy Standards

Listening and Speaking

NCSS Social Studies Themes

Individual Development and Identity

Recommended Time

2 days

Essential Question	What makes a team work?
Learning Objectives	Describe characteristics a good teammate has and explain why these characteristics are important Identify various kinds of challenges a team faces when its members work together to play a game. Describe strategies and skills all teams need and explain why they are important to making a team work well.

Activating Prior Knowledge	Ask students what good teamwork looks like. Chart responses on the board or on newsprint. Make sure to get a list that includes key components of teamwork such as: working together, not grandstanding, trying your best, cooperating with each other, helping teammates do their best, appreciating each other’s skills, understanding that everyone on the team has a job to do, working toward a common goal, being loyal to the team and to each other, being there for a teammate when he or she needs help, and so on. Note: If you had students complete the lesson “Teaching Life Lessons through Athlete Role Models,” you can start by having students think about the books they made about their athlete role models. Ask them to take two to three minutes to jot down on a piece of paper the answer to the question: What did you learn about teamwork from making your book about your athlete role model?
Core Instruction	Ask: Why do you think we took the time to list all the things we think are important parts of teamwork? Get responses from two or three students. Tell the students they are going to participate in some games that require teamwork. The first game is for the whole group as one big team. Ask everyone to stand up and tell the group that from this moment on they cannot speak to one another. Make sure there is a clear area where the group can form a line. You may want to clear the center of the room or have the group make their line around the room or in the hallway. Game 1 Silent Birthdays Remind students that no one is allowed to speak or write. We are going to play Silent Birthdays. Your job is to line up in birthday order. Indicate to the group where in the room or hall January is, either by pointing or by setting a piece of brightly colored masking tape down on to the floor. State: You are going to line up from January 1 ^st starting here to December 31 ^st. Indicate where the end of the line should be. Tell the students they must line up so that they are in order by month and by day. They can only use hand signals to communicate with each other so that they know where to stand in the line. Tell them they have seven minutes to line up in birthday order. When the group is in line order, ask them to nod their heads if they are ready to see how well they did. Then starting at the beginning, ask each student to state the month and day of their birthday. Continue until all students have spoken. If a student realizes they are not in the right place, give the student the opportunity to find the correct place in line, using only hand signals to do so. When the group is done, ask: What was difficult about playing this game? Get responses from three or four students to each question. What was the biggest challenge in this game? How did you figure out what you needed to do? What strategies or skills did you use? What did you learn about your teammates and teamwork from playing this game? Chart responses on the board or newsprint. Note: Depending on the number of students in the group, their age/grade level and the amount of time available, Game 2 may be scheduled for a second day. Day 2 Review with students what they learned about teamwork on the first day. Game 2 Tennis Ball Transfer Divide the group into small groups of five students per team. Give each team a large metal washer to which five strings have been attached, one for each student on the team. (if you need to have a team of four, remove one of the strings.) Give each team a tennis ball. Place a large cup (large enough so that the tennis ball can be dropped into it) on the floor. Explain that each team will have to work together to figure out the best way to hold the strings to balance the tennis ball on the washer. Then each team must walk to the cup and drop the ball into the cup without the ball or washer touching the cup. (The teacher should determine how far away the cup is from the teams based on the age/grade level of the students.) Give students 10 to 15 minutes to practice balancing the ball on the washer as they walk and figuring out how to drop the ball. Let the whole group know that each team will get two chances to drop the ball into the cup. Circulate around the room to ensure that each person on every team is part of the planning and practice. When it appears that all groups are ready, begin the game by asking for a volunteer group to go first. Have the team at the starting line with their ball balanced on the washer and give them a signal to go. When all teams have had a chance to transfer the tennis ball to the cup, ask for a round of applause for those teams who were able to transfer the ball. Then ask for a round of applause for those teams who tried hard to complete the game. Ask the group why it was a fun game to play. Post the preprinted charts Challenges, Skills, and Advice to a New Team at the front of the room. Ask the group: What were the greatest physical and non-physical challenges your team faced in playing this game? (If students ask what is meant by non-physical, ask them to think about the kinds of issues that came up when the team was practicing. Ask for volunteers to share some of the issues that came up and help students determine if the issue was based on communication, leadership, or some other non-physical reason.) Chart the responses. Ask the group to think about what this game taught them about the kinds of skills their teams used or needed to be successful in playing not just this game, but any game as a team. Chart group responses. Make sure to ask students to say why the skill or skills they mention are important. Finally, ask the students to imagine they are each going to be a coach of a team that is going to play a game like this one in which everyone on the team has a role to play.
Wrap-up	Ask: As a coach, what advice would you give to a team? What advice would you give to individual players? Why would you give this piece of advice? Chart student responses. Ask: If you were a coach, what would you say we learned about what makes a team work well?

Activating Prior Knowledge

Ask students what good teamwork looks like. Chart responses on the board or on newsprint. Make sure to get a list that includes key components of teamwork such as: working together, not grandstanding, trying your best, cooperating with each other, helping teammates do their best, appreciating each other’s skills, understanding that everyone on the team has a job to do, working toward a common goal, being loyal to the team and to each other, being there for a teammate when he or she needs help, and so on.

Note: If you had students complete the lesson “Teaching Life Lessons through Athlete Role Models,” you can start by having students think about the books they made about their athlete role models. Ask them to take two to three minutes to jot down on a piece of paper the answer to the question:
What did you learn about teamwork from making your book about your athlete role model?

Core Instruction

Ask: Why do you think we took the time to list all the things we think are important parts of teamwork? Get responses from two or three students.

Tell the students they are going to participate in some games that require teamwork. The first game is for the whole group as one big team.

Ask everyone to stand up and tell the group that from this moment on they cannot speak to one another. Make sure there is a clear area where the group can form a line. You may want to clear the center of the room or have the group make their line around the room or in the hallway.

Game 1 Silent Birthdays

Remind students that no one is allowed to speak or write. We are going to play Silent Birthdays. Your job is to line up in birthday order. Indicate to the group where in the room or hall January is, either by pointing or by setting a piece of brightly colored masking tape down on to the floor.

State: You are going to line up from January 1 ^st starting here to December 31 ^st. Indicate where the end of the line should be.

Tell the students they must line up so that they are in order by month and by day. They can only use hand signals to communicate with each other so that they know where to stand in the line.

Tell them they have seven minutes to line up in birthday order.

When the group is in line order, ask them to nod their heads if they are ready to see how well they did. Then starting at the beginning, ask each student to state the month and day of their birthday. Continue until all students have spoken. If a student realizes they are not in the right place, give the student the opportunity to find the correct place in line, using only hand signals to do so.

When the group is done, ask: What was difficult about playing this game? Get responses from three or four students to each question.

What was the biggest challenge in this game?
How did you figure out what you needed to do?
What strategies or skills did you use?
What did you learn about your teammates and teamwork from playing this game?

Chart responses on the board or newsprint.

Note: Depending on the number of students in the group, their age/grade level and the amount of time available, Game 2 may be scheduled for a second day.

Day 2

Review with students what they learned about teamwork on the first day.

Game 2 Tennis Ball Transfer

Divide the group into small groups of five students per team. Give each team a large metal washer to which five strings have been attached, one for each student on the team. (if you need to have a team of four, remove one of the strings.) Give each team a tennis ball. Place a large cup (large enough so that the tennis ball can be dropped into it) on the floor.

Explain that each team will have to work together to figure out the best way to hold the strings to balance the tennis ball on the washer. Then each team must walk to the cup and drop the ball into the cup without the ball or washer touching the cup. (The teacher should determine how far away the cup is from the teams based on the age/grade level of the students.)

Give students 10 to 15 minutes to practice balancing the ball on the washer as they walk and figuring out how to drop the ball. Let the whole group know that each team will get two chances to drop the ball into the cup. Circulate around the room to ensure that each person on every team is part of the planning and practice.

When it appears that all groups are ready, begin the game by asking for a volunteer group to go first. Have the team at the starting line with their ball balanced on the washer and give them a signal to go.

When all teams have had a chance to transfer the tennis ball to the cup, ask for a round of applause for those teams who were able to transfer the ball. Then ask for a round of applause for those teams who tried hard to complete the game.

Ask the group why it was a fun game to play.

Post the preprinted charts Challenges, Skills, and Advice to a New Team at the front of the room.

Ask the group: What were the greatest physical and non-physical challenges your team faced in playing this game? (If students ask what is meant by non-physical, ask them to think about the kinds of issues that came up when the team was practicing. Ask for volunteers to share some of the issues that came up and help students determine if the issue was based on communication, leadership, or some other non-physical reason.) Chart the responses.

Ask the group to think about what this game taught them about the kinds of skills their teams used or needed to be successful in playing not just this game, but any game as a team. Chart group responses. Make sure to ask students to say why the skill or skills they mention are important.

Finally, ask the students to imagine they are each going to be a coach of a team that is going to play a game like this one in which everyone on the team has a role to play.

Wrap-up

Ask: As a coach, what advice would you give to a team? What advice would you give to individual players? Why would you give this piece of advice? Chart student responses.

Ask: If you were a coach, what would you say we learned about what makes a team work well?

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