Working Together As a Team

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In the first weeks of school we establish the rules of the game. This month, my students will collaborate to design their own positive classroom-learning environment as they choose Classroom Managers and write their Classroom Constitution. Through teamwork activities and trade books, students will recognize the importance of having leaders and rules to maintain order at home, at school, in their community, and in their country.

OBJECTIVE
Students will:

1. Participate in the establishment of a "student-centered" classroom.
2. Create a list of classroom jobs and descriptions they think are needed in the classroom.
3. Evaluate the importance of classroom jobs.
4. Become acquainted with duties and responsibilities of each classroom job.
5. Complete a Classroom Manager Job Application.
6. Hold a Classroom Manager position sometime throughout the school year.
7. Create a "working" Classroom Constitution that governs the classroom and supports school rules, policies, and procedures.
8. Develop a maximum of six positively stated rules or Classroom Standards.
9. Help edit and revise the final draft of the Classroom Constitution.

LESSONS FOR THIS UNIT
Lesson 1: Introducing the Manager System
Lesson 2: Creating a Classroom Constitution

REPRODUCIBLES
Manager Application Handout (PDF)
Example of Classroom Standards (PDF)

CULMINATING ACTIVITY

Hold a "New Hire Orientation" and present students with badges indicating their chosen Classroom Manager positions for which they were "hired."

SUPPORTING BOOKS

Books for Teaching About Teamwork

Responses to Literature: Be A Theme Park Designer!
Suggests fun and lively lessons where student apply reading, writing, research, and teamwork skills towards creating a Literature Land Theme Park.

Welcome to Success
Presents a series of lessons in literature that center on identifying the character traits that lead to student success.

Owls and Raptors
Demonstrates science lessons about owls and raptors. These lessons incorporate reading, hands-on research, and cooperative problem solving, and...

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