Lesson Information
Positive Psychology Learning Outcomes
Students will...
- identify benefits of group work
- practice communication skills
- develop genuine connections through sharing experiences
Language Learning Outcomes
Students will...
- listen for major details
- use key vocabulary to accomplish a group task
- use statements as questions
- narrate/describe in past tense about a personal experience.
Materials
Overview
We spend a lot of time with others at school, so it is important to be mindful of our relationships. This includes the relationship with ourselves as well as others.
Activate Background Knowledge
Ask students these questions:
- You interact with many people at school. Who are some people that you spend a lot of time with?
- In what settings do you have interactions with your classmates, teachers, administrators, etc?
- Study groups, office hours, class, etc.
- Why is it helpful to become friends with your classmates?
Activity 1: Listening/Speaking
Benefits of group work:
Share these quotes with your students:
- “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” - Helen Keller
- “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.” - African Proverb
Before watching the video, brainstorm with your partner about reasons why group work is helpful.
-Watch this video about the benefits of group work: Why We Do Group Work
https://edtechbooks.org/-cyis
-After watching the video, ask students to compare their list of reasons to the reasons listed in the video.
-what positive experiences have you had with group work in the past?
-what makes group work difficult?
-what can we do in our class to make group work more enjoyable?
Activity 2: Speaking
Human Knot Game:
(note to teacher: you may need to walk them through the game or show them an example. You may want to show this video: Human Knot)
https://edtechbooks.org/-curk
- Take some time to explain helpful vocabulary words students can use to help them during the game. (Left hand, right hand, under, over, above, through, leg, wrist, twist, move, turn)
- Divide your classroom into groups of 4-5 people.
- Have everyone stand in a circle, and ask each person to hold hands with two people who aren’t directly next to them.
- When everyone is tangled together, ask them to untangle the knot and form a perfect circle — without letting go of anyone's hand.
- After the game ask the students the following questions:
- How did you work together to create a circle?
- What were some challenges your group encountered?
- How can working in a group help us solve problems?
Activity 3: Speaking
Use this worksheet for the following activity.
Show the students how to turn the sentences from the worksheet into questions:
- Do you like to…?
- Have you… ?
Distribute the bingo page to each student. They will need to find another classmate that matches each bingo box. They can write the students' names in the box. Encourage students to get out of their seats and move around, talking to each student at least once.
After the activity ask the following questions:
- What did you learn about your classmates?
- Who did you find that did___?
- What went well during this activity?
Activity 4: Listening
Ask students to think of friends that they have made at school.
- How did you become friends?
- Was it easy or difficult?
- What are some activities you did with them?
- How did you help each other at school?
Then play this video from the Disney movie Lemonade Mouth. These students do not know each other and were assigned to clean up an empty classroom. Notice how they work together to create a song.
Lemonade Mouth | 'Turn Up the Music' Music Video 🎶 | Disney Channel UK
https://youtu.be/dACNhrdm44c
Ask your students the following questions:
- What did the main singer do to connect with each of the other students?
- What were the roles of each student? How did they work together?
- How do you think they felt about making music together?
- Is this group similar to you and your friends at school?
Activity 5: Speaking
Introduce the idea that sharing personal experiences with others can create genuine, lasting relationships. Make a list of major life events (ex: birth, baptism, marriage, moving to a new place, etc.)
Ask the students to think about 2 or 3 experiences that have shaped their lives that they would be willing to share. Give them a few minutes to write their ideas.
Possible questions to think about include:
- What was it like leaving your country and moving to the US?
- Who is the most important person in your life and what do they mean to you?
- What is one of your happiest childhood memories?
- What is a difficult challenge that you have overcome?
After writing their thoughts down, ask the students to share 1-2 experiences with a partner. You may ask the students to share another experience with a different partner.
Activity 5: Speaking (Optional for Intermediate Mid)
Introduce the idea that sharing personal experiences with others can create genuine, lasting relationships. Ask the students to think about 2 or 3 experiences that have shaped their lives that they would be willing to share. Give them a few minutes to write their ideas. Possible questions to think about include:
- What was it like leaving your country and moving to the US?
- Who is the most important person in your life and what do they mean to you?
- What is one of your happiest childhood memories?
- What is a difficult challenge that you have overcome?
Homework
Distribute a simple evaluation form for the students to fill out. Ask them to answer the following questions:
- What should we keep doing? (as a class, individually, as the teacher, etc.)
- What should we stop doing?
- What should we start doing?
Follow-Up
Tuesday:
What is feedback? We often need to receive positive and constructive feedback in our lives.
- Why is it useful or important to receive feedback from someone you trust?
Have students commit to asking for feedback on personal/professional goals they are currently working on from someone they trust and love.
Wednesday
After reviewing students' responses, set goals as a class for how we can improve our relationships with each other. Make one goal based on each question (keep, stop, start).
Thursday
Review narrating in the past tense
In a job interview, you may be asked a question about your experience working with others. For example, “Describe a situation where you used teamwork to overcome a challenge.” Have students practice role-playing an interviewer and an interviewee when answering this question with a partner.