The Paper Chain Challenge

This crew worked closely together to get their chain assembled.  S & S worked together to tear the paper, while P taped, and J & T were ripping paper independently.

P & L decided to use their mouths to tear their paper, while I used a binder to hold her paper to rip paper in a straight line, and A "just put it on the table and ripped!"

Today, our icebreaker in Mrs. Ullmer's class and mine was the paper chain challenge (Mrs. Ullmer's awesome idea!).  The challenge was to build a chain out of paper, using one hand and make it as long as possible ... all without speaking. Groups used many strategies, including those pictured above.

We learned several lessons from this team challenge:

• It's harder to communicate without talking, so we have to be flexible and creative with how we communicate. (P)
• Use teamwork, because when you have a limit (one hand instead of two), you need each other. (J)
• Two is better than one. (A) ... at least in this activity.
• If you only have five minutes, you'll feel under pressure to do this, and you might rush. You have to plan time carefully. (A)
• In team activities, it's harder to change your plan than it is when you're working by yourself, so you have to adapt what you're doing to what your team is doing. (P)
• When you do things more than once, you get better at them. (L)

Written by Mrs. Taylor's Block #3