Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

These days I work with elementary (primary) school students the most. One of our goals is learning to collaborate with one another as we complete different tasks and projects. We have constructed paper bridges to hold up objects, played taboo using vocabulary words, and authored sequels to our favorite stories. In class, we even created plans using Mystery Science to help save beach towns from flooding using flood walls, wetlands, and stilts, while staying within our proposed budgets. One of the fun engaging activities we completed involved marshmallows much to the students' delight! The mission was to build the tallest and strongest tower using raw spaghetti, marshmallows, and rubber bands. They were divided into teams of three to four students. Each team created a budget, discussing and deciding the number of items they plan to use, and they drew blue prints on mini white boards of their tower design. Once they completed those two tasks, they were issued the exact number of items requested. Each team collaborated using trial and error to build the tower they planned. At the end, students shared their celebrations, areas of growth, and resolutions for the next time they build towers. The winning team was rewarded with a homework pass and marshmallows and donut sticks to eat. The rest of the students were rewarded with their choice of marshmallows or donut sticks to eat. It was such a fun and engaging activity! The students were super focused the entire time and showed off their competitive streaks.