Cooperation Building

Have you ever had a group of students whose normal speaking tone is yelling? Well that is how my students communicate with each other all the time. There are no"working hums" going on in my room. They are just majorly loud apparently. Most of them aren't meanly yelling at each other but I do have a few bossy pants that drive me nuts. So to sort out the effective communication from the ineffective communication, our guidance counselor recently did a lesson on cooperation. I take no credit for this lesson, just the pictures.

So the guidance counselor started by allowing my kids to choose their own groups. I had a minor freak out because I have to plan all my group work lessons based on who can and can't work with whom.  But whatever, it was her funeral. She gave the groups of 3-4 kids 6 plastic solo cups and a rubber band with 4 pieces of yarn tied to it. They had to work together to use the rubber band to stack the cups in a pyramid without touching them with their hands. Here are some pictures:

 This group only had 3 so the boys took turns controlling two strings at a time.

After the groups had a chance to attempt the task, they all came back together to discuss what was helpful when working together and what was not helpful. Come to find out, no one thought being bossy was helpful! Hmmm. And of course the group with my bossy pants was the last one to complete the task. Funny how that stuff happens.... All in all it was a fun and concrete way to demonstrate how cooperation and effective communication help us work together as a team.