Lesson Information
Positive Psychology Learning Outcomes
Students will...
- learn what teamwork is and share their experiences with it.
- experience positive feelings in discussing the experiences of teamwork.
Language Learning Outcomes
Students will...
- connect content to background knowledge.
- connect context to meaning.
- narrate/describe in present tense across a variety of familiar and general topics.
- create language based on memorized phrases and formulaic speech.
Materials Needed
Overview
Explain to students that they will be able to define what teamwork is and improve on teamwork skills by communicating within a group.
Activate Background
Introduce teamwork by asking students what the word means.
Note: Some students may be unfamiliar with this word. Allow them to look up definitions or translations to help them understand the meaning.
- Write a list of answers on the whiteboard.
Activity 1: Listening/Speaking
Before showing the following video, explain that students should look for examples of good teamwork bad teamwork:
Good Teamwork and Bad Teamwork.
https://youtu.be/fUXdrl9ch_Q
- Watch the “this is an example of bad teamwork” part of the video, [pausing at 2:15] before the “this is an example of good teamwork” video starts.
- Discuss the video with a partner.
- Did the birds show good teamwork?
- What did they do that was bad teamwork?
- Watch the rest of the video [from 2:15 to the end] showing two examples of good teamwork.
- Discuss as a class
- What can we do to work together as a team?
Activity 2: Speaking
Divide into partnerships and answer the following questions. Review questions with students beforehand and write the phrases on the board so that students can see them as a reference.
- What are some examples of groups that need to work as a team?
- What can you do to work as a team?
- How can teamwork help you?
Phrases used to answer questions:
- In my opinion, teamwork is ____________.
- I see other people use teamwork when ____________.
- I use teamwork when____________.
- Teammates help me by ____________.
- Teamwork is hard when____________.
- I can ____________ to be a good teammate.
Activity 3: Listening/Speaking
Picture activity
Note: The teacher must print and cut these pictures into pieces before class and gather them so they will be ready to distribute.
Retrieved from https://edtechbooks.org/-YWfa and : https://edtechbooks.org/-GtSv
Two variations of this activity:
- For a quicker activity split the class into teams and give them each a cut up picture that they need to put together as a team.
OR
- Mix up the pieces of the cut up pictures and give the students some pieces from either picture. The students then must find the others with the same picture as them and put it together.
Activity 4: Speaking
Have students reflect on the picture activity and answer the questions in their group.
- How did you use teamwork to make the pictures?
- Do you think your team was like the birds, crabs, or bears?
- How did your team work together?
Activity 5: Speaking/Grammar
Have students practice using affirmations.
- Explain that an affirmation is a positive sentence about a person. Affirmations use descriptive words such as adjectives to make the statements.
- For example:
- I am beautiful/handsome.
- You are a good writer.
- We are ready to learn.
- Have each student think of affirmations beginning with I, you, and we.
- Split the class into small groups and have students present the affirmations they came up with.
- Encourage students to write down the positive affirmations others came up with that they liked, and to look up words they want to use in positive affirmations if they do not know them in English.
Homework
Compliment three classmates this week using a positive affirmation. For example, “You are a good listener.”
Follow-Up
Tuesday:
Have students brainstorm accomplishments they have made that required them to work in a team or get help from others. Write their answers on the whiteboard.
- How does working with others make you feel?
Wednesday:
Share with the class the following quote:
“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”
--Helen Keller
- Helen Keller was a speaker and writer. She was both blind and deaf, but she made a difference by working with others. There are times we need the help of others to accomplish what we cannot do on our own.
- When have you used teamwork with someone whose abilities were different from yours?
Thursday:
Go over these questions with students in a class discussion or have the students work in partnerships:
- What experiences did you have this week with the homework when you complimented your classmates?
- Did you notice you were a better teammate when you used positive language with your classmates?