Learning about group roles!
When it comes to working in groups, we get more accomplished when we are in each in charge of something that helps everyone in the group. We all shouldn't be gathering materials, trying to make decisions, and keeping notes! That wouldn't be efficient or productive. We learned about 5 roles that we can use whenever we are in groups to help us get organized and work together. To help us practice and try on these roles, we made a collaborative African animal with a variety of different parts.
We worked together to think about each part of the animal and how we could come to a group agreement on what it should be. The captains took over calling on kids suggestions and deciding which strategy to use for coming to an agreement (voting, rock paper scissors, ect.) The recorders were hard at work drawing pictures and labeling on the group planning sheet. Material manager made sure that we had pencils, markers, and any other supplies we needed. The problem solver was ready to help with Kelso's choices if we had any arguments. Last, the organizer made sure our planning sheet got into our team folder and was safe and sound for the next day.
Once the plan was made, it was now time to make our animal come to life. But how do you do that with 8 friends all trying to help and a blank sheet of paper? Time to make another PLAN! We had our roles to fall back on and didn't forget about how important it was to take turns while talking and while doing the work. In the end, each group had a drawing of their animal with a new name by the end of it all! Not without some tears, arguing, and kids leaving the group though :)