List

Getting Better at Group Work Upper Primary

En-counters

This task requires learners to explain and help others, asking and answering questions.

Age
5 to 7
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Primary
Geometry
Position, Direction and Movement
Exploring and noticing Working systematically Conjecturing and generalising Visualising and representing Reasoning, convincing and proving
Being curious Being resourceful Being resilient Being collaborative

Problem



This is one of a series of problems designed to develop learners' team working skills. Other tasks in the series can be found by going to this article.

 

En-counters

What are you aiming to do?

For the task:

Learners must complete the task themselves but with support and advice from other members of the team.

 

As a team:

  • helping others to do things for themselves
  • responding to the needs of others - everybody helps everybody
  • explaining by telling how.

Getting started

This problem needs a team of four. A fifth person can act as an observer.



 

You need to arrange the desks and some props so that everyone can see everyone else but no one can see what anyone else is building. One possibility is for the designer to face the other three team members and make the design inside a box whilst team members try to recreate the design behind books or folders used as screens.



 

You will need four sets of counters (or similar) - up to 12 in each set.



 

Choose someone in the group to be the designer.
If there are five people choose a person to be the observer.
If you try this task more than once, team members should take turns at playing these roles.



 

Give one set of counters to the designer and one set to each of the other team members.



 

Tackling the Problem

The designer creates a counter design so that it is hidden from the rest of the team but as s/he makes the design, s/he explains what it looks like so that the rest of the team can make a copy of the same design.



 

Team members can ask questions about the design at any time and the designer answers in as helpful a way as possible.



 

When a team member thinks they have a completed design, they ask the designer to check. If it is right they can then aid the designer in answering questions. If they do not have the correct design the task continues.



 

Remember that all help has to be given without sight of the enquirer's design.



 

At any point the task can be brought to an end to discuss the success of the questioning and answering, and how it helped or hindered completion of the task.



 

Observer guidelines:

  • How well did the designer explain the process of creation? What words did they use that were really helpful?
  • How clear were the questions the team asked? Can you give an example of a good question?
  • How well were the questions answered? Can you give a good example?



Alternative version

We have written a version of this task which is suitable for one child and an adult playing together at home.



 

What shape?

This task develops spatial reasoning skills. By framing and asking questions a member of the team has to find out what mathematical object they have chosen.

Age
7 to 14
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Primary
Geometry
Comparing and Classifying
Exploring and noticing Working systematically Conjecturing and generalising Visualising and representing Reasoning, convincing and proving
Being curious Being resourceful Being resilient Being collaborative

Problem



This is one of a series of problems designed to develop learners' team working skills. Other tasks in the series can be found by going to this article.

 

What shape?

What are you aiming to do?

For the task:

One member of the team is trying to find out what is on their chosen card (the unknown) by asking as few questions as possible.
The rest of the team need to confer and agree on a "Yes" or "No" answer to each question and keep track of the number of questions that have been asked altogether.

 

As a team:

  • asking questions - making sense of your own understanding
  • being concise
  • listening
  • reflecting on what has been said.

Getting started

The task is designed to work with a team of four or five people. If you do the task several times, members of the team can take turns at trying to find the unknown. You may also wish to appoint an observer.



 

You will need the set of shape cards. Spread them out on the table so that everyone can see the sorts of shapes chosen for this task.



 

You will each need a sheet of paper and pencil.

 

Tackling the problem

Rules

  • Choose someone on the team to keep track of the number of questions - this might be the observer.
  • The person who has been chosen to try to find the unknown shape chooses a card and hands it to the rest of the team without looking at it.
  • The person trying to find the shape can ask up to 12 questions.
  • When a question has been asked, each of the other members of the team writes "Yes" or "No" on their sheet of paper. If they all agree one person gives the answer.
  • If the team do not agree, they will need to confer - preferably out of earshot of the person trying to find the shape. Once in agreement, one person gives the answer.
  • The person trying to find the unknown can have up to three attempts at guessing what is on the card before the task ends. Each guess counts as one of the 12 questions.
  • The team can offer the hint "Cold" or "Warm" or "Hot" if the first or second guess is incorrect.
At the end of the task the team should discuss what proved to be good questions and less good questions. If the person does not identify what is on the card, discuss what questions might have worked more effectively.



 

Did you work well as a team?



 

Observer guidelines

  • Keep track of the number of questions
  • Make a note of questions you thought were effective and why
  • Note when the team worked well together.



Alternative version

We have written a version of this task which is suitable for one child and an adult playing together at home.

Counters in the middle

This task depends on groups working collaboratively, discussing and reasoning to agree a final product.

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Primary
Geometry
Identifying Shapes and Their Properties
Exploring and noticing Working systematically Conjecturing and generalising Visualising and representing Reasoning, convincing and proving
Being curious Being resourceful Being resilient Being collaborative

Problem



This is one of a series of problems designed to develop learners' team working skills. Other tasks in the series can be found by going to this article.

 

Counters in the middle

What are you aiming to do?

For the task:

The team has to recreate the row of counters (created by the designer) by asking as few questions as possible.



 

As a team:

  • Listening and finding out what others think
  • Giving reasons for ideas
  • Pulling ideas together
  • Finding out whether the group is ready to make a decision.

     

Getting started

You will be working in a team of four or five. You will need two sets of counters. The image above uses 6 counters of 3 different colours. You might wish to start with just two colours until you have some experience of the task.



 

Choose someone in the group to be the designer. If you try this task more than once, team members should take turns at playing this role.



 

Give one set of counters to the designer and the other identical set to the rest of the team.



 

You may also wish to choose someone to be the observer (a really good idea if there are more than four people in the team).

Tackling the problem

Without the rest of the group seeing, the designer creates a line of counters using some or all of the counters available.



 

Using the rules for asking questions, and checking that they all agree first, members of the team take turns to ask the designer questions that will help them recreate the line of counters.



 

When all of the team think they have the correct design they can check with the designer and the task ends.



 

At the end, the observer gives feedback about the way members of the team worked together, highlighting strengths and ways that they could improve next time. The team discuss the feedback and how they think they worked.

 

Task Rules:

  • You must agree any question before asking the designer.
  • The team can only ask questions of the type listed in the rules.
  • The team members must take turns in asking questions.
  • The designer can only answer "Yes", "No" or give a number.

     

Try to find the pattern using as few questions as possible.

 

Designer guidelines:

  • You do not have to use all the counters.
  • The counters should form a line.
  • You can only say "Yes" or "No", or give a number as an answer.
  • You must only answer questions of the agreed format.
  • You only answer a question if the team has discussed and agreed it first.

Team question rules:

The team can ask questions about:
  • the number of counters,
  • the number of counters of each colour,
  • the colours of touching counters,
  • the symmetry properties of the design,
  • the colours, or numbers, of counters to the left or right of a counter.
You cannot ask about the position and colour of a particular counter, for example:
"Is the first counter red?"
"Is the second counter yellow?"
 
You can ask questions like:
"Is the counter to the left of the red counter green?"

Observer Guidelines:

Your role is to:
  • identify the times when reasons for ideas are given by members of the team,
  • check that everyone agrees before a question is asked,
  • check that the questions fit those allowed in the rules,
  • check that members of the team take it in turns to ask questions,
  • count the number of questions the team asks.



 

Arranging cubes

A task which depends on members of the group working collaboratively to reach a single goal.

Age
7 to 11
Challenge level
filled star filled star empty star
Primary
Geometry
Drawing and Constructing
Exploring and noticing Working systematically Conjecturing and generalising Visualising and representing Reasoning, convincing and proving
Being curious Being resourceful Being resilient Being collaborative

Problem



This is one of a series of problems designed to develop learners' team working skills. Other tasks in the series can be found by going to this article.

 

Arranging cubes

 

What are you aiming to do?

For the task:

  • The team has to recreate a 2-D arrangement of cubes which matches all the information on their cards without showing each team member's information to anyone else.

As a team:

  • Allowing everyone to contribute
  • Listening
  • Asking questions and finding out what others think
  • Sharing knowledge and reasoning
  • Reflecting and making use of what has been said
  • Coming to a consensus

Getting started

You will be working in a team of four. Ensure that you have plenty of red, green, yellow and blue cubes. You cannot use paper or pencil to help you because you need to listen to what others have to say.

 

Discuss how you will work together and share your ideas.

 

 

Put the pile of 8 cards face down in the centre of the table.

 

 

Tackling the problem

 

Each member of the team takes a card from the pile in turn (enough for two cards each).

Rules

  • Team members cannot show their cards to anyone else on the team.
  • A team member can describe what is on each of their cards.
  • Team members can ask questions to help them make sense of what is on their cards, or on someone else's cards.
  • The task is complete when everyone agrees that the arrangement they have made matches everything that is on their cards.



If you have an observer, they might find the following list of things to look for helpful and feed back to the team at the end of the task.

 

  • Check that no one reveals their card or writes anything down.
  • Identify points where team members share knowledge and reasoning, and listen to each other.
  • Identify points where team members make decisions together.
  • Note whether all members of the team are involved.