What is Great Group Work?

Many times throughout the year in mathematics students will be explaining and justifying their thinking, as well as critiquing the reasoning of others (Mathematics Practice Standard #3). This not only happens when students write about their math thinking, but also when they are with a partner and small group.

We explored what "Great Group Work" looks like with a fun math activity.

Throughout the activity student teams were looking for patterns while working together to complete the task. 

After the task we reflected on the qualities of great group work. 

We Broke Out!!!!

The 5th grade completed a Breakout EDU on the first day of school! The theme of the breakout was based on the Dr. Seuss classic Oh the Places You'll Go. The kids had a lot of fun and all teams were successful "breaking out" (or breaking into the case).

Praise vs. Constructive Criticism

While we were learning about Growth Mindset we spent some time discussing the difference between praise and constructive criticism.  

We began with a discussion about what students like to hear more and why? Of course, praise is something that we all like and want to hear. We then discussed which of the two (praise or constructive criticism) is better for the growth of their brain and more connections between neurons. We discussed why constructive criticism can be difficult to hear sometimes, but how important it can be in our continuous growth as learners. We also let them know about a little secret....sometimes it is even hard for adults to hear criticism.

We concluded that praise is something that makes me feel good about myself, and constructive criticism is something that will help my brain grow.

Small groups were formed and we did some sorting activities determining which scenarios were examples of praise and which ones were examples of constructive criticism.  We then charted some phrases that were examples of each. 

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset

We spent a majority of our first week learning about and discussing Growth Mindset. We began by defining "Fixed" and "Growth" Mindsets.  

Fixed Mindset is the belief that a person's intelligence and ability is something they are born with. A person with a fixed mindset may give up on things when they get too difficult. They care about looking smart, and this often limits their true potential. Because looking smart, or wanting to look like it came easily to them, they will often seek out easy options.

Someone with a Growth Mindset believes that a person can grow and develop their abilities and intelligence. This type of person will often want to know how to improve and get better. They know that learning sometimes takes effort and they often don't give up on themselves. These type of people often see greater growth over time.  Growth Mindset individuals will often seek a challenge because they know it will help them learn more. 

One of our first activities was where we read The Dot by Peter Reynolds. This book is about a young girl that is hesitant to begin a painting. Her teacher asks her to make a mark on the paper and sign it. This begins a whole journey where the main character learns to make all different kinds of dots, even becoming a "dot expert" of sorts and her art work is put on display. We then asked students to make their own dot, a place that they were going to begin their 5th grade journey. Their dot should reflect something about themselves. 

These dots some became part of our classroom door displays: 

We continued to discuss Growth and Fixed Mindsets by sorting characteristics or actions of each. 

This also became part of our classroom displays and something that we will reference throughout the school year. 

We even talked about "Famous Failures". People we might thing are incredibly talented and maybe even perfect within their talent. Not so true, and we know this since we have a Growth Mindset. We know these people have had many failures along the way (like all of us), but the fact that they continued to have a Growth Mindset made all the difference for them!

Saving Steve - Continuing to Team Build

Meet Steve....(that little gummy work)

Unfortunately, Steve's boat capsized, leaving him floating on the bottom of his boat. To make matters worse, his life preserver is under the boat. Students were given the task to save Steve. 

Teams could only use the tools provided (paper clips) to touch Steve, the life preserver, and his boat. Will out teams rescue Steve and ensure his safety by placing the life preserver back on him?

Look at these teams working together!  They were up for the challenge!

What Would Happen When You Can't Communicate?

Small groups of students were given puzzle pieces. Their task was to create five squares. 

So, what was the catch?  No talking, gesturing, or taking puzzle pieces from their group members. 

Students could only give puzzle pieces away. 

What happened?  Most groups had a few moments (or minutes) where everyone sat there, waiting for someone to pass a piece to them. 

We discussed how important communication was within groups, and when communication is limited to only giving puzzle pieces away it makes the task extra challenging. 

There are so many great ideas we will continue to discuss during the school year. 

Getting the Year Started with Team Building

Welcome Back!  We were so excited to get the school year started, especially since we had such a fun first week back planned for our 5th graders.  Part of our plan was team building activities.

Working cooperatively and communicating with a group will be an important skill for our 5th graders this year.

Circle the Circle - the entire 5th grade created two large circles. Students passed the hula-hoop around the circle while having their hands connected. 

We discussed strategies that worked well for the group. This was important because eventually we added four hula-hoops to our circle.

Once we were ready we moved some additional team building challenges! We continued to use the hula-hoops, this time we created small groups for "Helium Hula-Hoop".  Teams could only touch the hula-hoop with the sides of their fingers (i.e the pads of their pointer fingers pointing each other). This was one of our requirements because students also couldn't hook their fingers around the hula-hoop. A big part of this task was relying and working with others to be successful, and communication. 

Most groups initially had the hula-hoop rise instead of lower until students began working together to figure this task out.

Creating Classroom Expectations: Beginning of the Year Recap - Part 1

At the start of the school year we unveiled our "Fly Like an Eagle" - PBIS expectations:

Dr. Gunderson and Mrs. Binder joined our 5th grade classes to talk about how to "Be Responsible, Be Respectful, Be Safe, and Be Ready to Learn" in our cafeteria and hallways.

As a 5th grade we continued to discuss what "Fly Like an Eagle" looks like in our classrooms. Students brainstormed ideas in small groups and we collaboratively created posters that outlined classroom expectations.