Back to School Team Building Activities

 

I recommend NOT going over the syllabus on the first day of class, and here's why: every teacher goes over the syllabus the first day of class. Not that there is anything wrong with this, but after hearing the same thing over and over, kids tend to stop listening. This is true if you have 8 periods a day or are on block schedule and only have 4. After 2nd period, kids stopped paying attention.

So, what do you do on the first day of school if you don't go over the syllabus? 

I like to do teambuilding activities the first day of school. My students work in teams all year, so I want to set the mood right away by having them do something as a team. 

Before the kids leave, I do let them know what supplies are needed for class, and tell them there is a copy on Canvas (our LMS). This way, parents can go buy school supplies right away if they want. I start going over the syllabus over the next 2-3 class periods. I post a copy of the syllabus on Canvas so students can look though it ahead of time if they wish.

Now on to the activities!

Team Building Activities

The Marshmallow Challenge 
This challenge is from Peter Skillman

Overview: Students need to make the tallest freestanding structure using only spaghetti, tape, and string, and place a marshmallow on top.

Supplies: 20 sticks of uncooked spaghetti, 1 yard of masking tape, 1 yard of string, 1 large marshmallow, and scissors (for cutting only).

Rules: Students are given 18 minutes to build their structure. The structure will be measured from the base to the top of the marshmallow. The entire marshmallow must be on the top of the structure. Students cannot break it into smaller pieces. When the time is up, students must stop working on their structure. I do allow teams to hold their tower until I come to measure (but this might go against the "official" rules). 

Winning: The team with the tallest free standing structure from base to the top of the marshmallow wins. 

Puzzle Challenge
This challenge is from Annette Kupe from Count on Kupe

Overview: Each team needs to put together a 100 piece puzzle without knowing what the final image is.

Supplies: 100 piece puzzles - enough for each team to have one.

Rules: Give teams their puzzle in a pencil box or baggie (something other than the original box). Without giving any real directions, give groups the puzzle and see which team finishes the fastest.

Winning: The team who finishes their puzzle the fastest wins.

Puzzles on Amazon (*aff.): Cereal Puzzles, More Cereal, Animal Selfies, Glow in the Dark, World of Animals

The Lego Challenge
MTa Learning

Overview: Build your model as close to the original diagram as possible. The twist is only one team member can see the diagram - and they cannot touch the Legos or be near the group who is building.

Supplies: Legos for each team, Diagram of what teams are building

Jobs: 

• One Lead Designer: they can see the diagram and can talk to the Lead Developer. They cannot talk to the Builders and cannot touch the Legos
• One Lead Developer: cannot see the diagram, can talk to the Lead Designer, can talk to the Builders, cannot touch the Legos
• Builders: cannot see the diagram, cannot talk to the Lead Designer, can talk to the Lead Developer, can touch the Legos

Rules: Each Lead Designer has 30 seconds to look at the diagram and memorize as much as they can. They cannot draw anything or take pictures. They have to stay in their location (call it HQ). Builders can choose 18 bricks from the central Warehouse. Lead Developer can ne present for this initial phase, but they cannot touch the Legos. Set a 20 minute timer. The Lead Developer may move between HQ and the Factory (where the builders are building). 

The Lead Developer can talk to the Lead Designer as many times as necessary without penalty. The Lead Designer must remain in HQ. The Lead Designer may request to view the diagram again, each 30 second viewing incurs a one point penalty. The builders may visit the Warehouse as many times as they like and swap as many Lego pieces as they like - each visit incurs one point penalty.

Winning: Once time is up, all teams must stop building. At this point you look at the completed models to determine the winder. The closest model to the diagram receives 2 points, the next closest receives 4 points, and so on. Add penalty points for any extra views of the diagram or visits to the Warehouse. The team with the lowest score wins.

Survival on the Moon
From Chico State

Overview: You are a member of a space crew originally scheduled to meet up with another ship on the surface of the moon. Due to mechanical difficulties, your ship was forced to land about 200 miles from the rendezvous point. Your team must figure out the most important and least important supplies to carry with you on your 200-mile trip.

Supplies: List of supplies for each team, pencil or pen

Rules: Teams are to rank the 15 supplies in order from most important (1) to least important (15). 

Scoring: For each item, mark the number of points your score differs from the NASA ranking, then add up all the points. Disregard plus or minus differences. The lower the total, the better your score. 

• 0 - 25: Excellent
• 26 - 32: Good 
• 33 - 45: Average
• 46 - 55: Fair
• 56 - 70: Poor - you used Earth-bound logic
• 71 - 112: Very Poor - you're one of the casualties of the space program! 

The Marshmallow Challenge is the only one I have personally used in the classroom. Even if students have done this challenge before, they still enjoy it (and really have no advantage over those who have not). I participated in Survival on the Moon as part of a staff development. It is by far the easiest of the 4 activities to put together and costs nothing. 

Have you used any of these in your classroom? Is there a first day/week activity you like to do in your classroom? Share in the comments below!

Have a mathy day!

 

*As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.