Overview

At home, school, work and play, we are often members of a team or a group trying to reach a common goal. Wherever people around the world play team games and sports, they want to win and have fun. Sometimes living and working together takes teamwork too. This lesson is designed to teach what makes a good team member, to do some teamwork and to focus on how we become world-class team members.

Connections to Curriculum

• Social Studies
• Language Arts
• Art

Connections to National Geography Standards

• The Characteristics, Distribution, and Complexity of Earth's Cultural Mosaics

Materials

Student Handouts (download PDF handouts)

• "The ABC's of Afghanistan"
• "What is Culture"
• "Culture Wheel"
• "Culture Assignment"

Objectives

• Learn the value of teamwork and develop skills that facilitate teamwork by performing group activities.
• Memorize and are tested on new vocabulary that embodies teamwork.
• Persuade the entire student body that understanding culture can lead to increased respect and harmony in their school.
• Convince other students to reach out in friendship to those students who are different from them.

Suggested Procedure

OPENING

• Discuss the characteristics of team building and teamwork (see Teacher Instructions: "Team-Building").
• Use "Teamwork Vocabulary" to help students learn and apply a set of words that are important to being an effective team worker

DEVELOPMENT

Students pick teammates for an unspecified hypothetical task. They explain why they chose whom they chose and discuss the purpose and benefits of teamwork. What makes teamwork successful? What stands in the way of achieving team goals? Then the teams choose roles for each of their teammates, for example, leader, timekeeper, scribe, go-getter, and checker.

• Three-Legged Race — Students learn to develop a strategy for working together to achieve a common goal (see Teacher Instructions: "Games").
• Cooperative Ski Race — Students learn to develop strategies for communication and synchronization in order to move as a unit (see Teacher Instructions: "Games").
• The ABC's of Afghanistan — Team members work together to complete the activity using online, library and classroom resources. The team with the most correct answers wins. (See Teacher Instructions and Student Handout, "The ABC's of Afghanistan.")
• Culture Wheel — When creating teams, the teacher should strive for diversity within groups (i.e. ethnicity, national origin). Introduce individual and team tasks with a class discussion about "What is culture?" (See Student Handouts, "What is Culture?" and "Culture Wheel")
  • Students develop teamwork skills.
  • Each member of the team identifies the features of their culture in order to be able to identify the many features of culture.
  • Students distinguish broad similarities and differences between cultures by comparing the cultures represented in their team, class, school or community.
  • Students begin to learn the importance of valuing cultures by discussing with their teammates how this group activity has contributed to their cross-cultural understanding. In what ways have they gained greater appreciation, understanding or respect for another culture or for someone in their classroom, school or community?
  • Follow-through: If students study the culture of Afghanistan, they can create a culture wheel for Afghanistan as a means of comparison.

Suggested Student Assessment

• Vocabulary test
• Presentation to the class or the school
• Student self-evaluation of teamwork in the team tasks

• Cumulative Culture Assignment — Teams participate in a culminating performance task designed to provide an opportunity to apply some of what they have learned about cultural understanding throughout the year. Teams of four or five students work on presentations about culture that encourage students to promote building a school community where everyone feels accepted and valued. Then the teams give their presentations to the class or to the entire student body. (See Student Handout, "Culture Assignment")
• Photo Art Wall — Students produce a photo display or an art show about another culture, or about fun and games in another culture, for their school. The work is mounted on the hall walls.
• Sports Competition — Students organize a sports competition on campus. They plan the event, schedule the activities, and call on local merchants for prizes.
• Afghan Nowruz Celebration and Fair — US students create an Afghan Marketplace with different types of foods, games and decorations connected to the celebration of Nowruz (New Year). The fair could be a fundraiser to help build more classrooms in Afghanistan.