Math Unit

This activity is a team-building lesson for math class, focusing on

collaboration, perseverance, communication, and problem solving. It
can be used independently in the math classroom, or can be combined
with other “Spiral Studies” team building freebies for an integrated
experience! See the next page for more details on how to easily
integrate this across your Math, Science, SS, and ELA curriculum.
 Great News!
This teambuilding activity is part of the Spiral Studies Series of integrated
resources. That means that you can teach this teambuilding lesson in isolation ACTIVITY
in your classroom, or you can combine it with 3 other FREE lessons and provide
students with a day of integrated teambuilding activities. So fun! So easy!

About Spiral Studies Integrated Teambuilding

As you know, integration leads to greater
student engagement, deeper understanding,
and higher-order thinking skills for our students.

SCIENCE
However, coordinating integration across

ELA
multiple subject areas can be quite an
undertaking. That’s where Spiral Studies
comes in. We’re a group of TpT teacher-
authors and we’ve combined our expertise to
make absolutely turn-key integrated units for

SOCIAL STUDIES
you and/or your team. If you’d like to turn this
lesson into an integrated unit we’d suggest

MATH
working with your team (or independently if
you teach multiple subject areas) and
checking out the Spiral Studies teambuilding
FREEBIES in each of our stores.

Integrated Final Activity

Each Spiral Studies teambuilding freebie includes a
version of a Team Player Bookmark. When integrating
the resources, students complete a final teambuilding
activity by figuring out key components of teamwork.
Then, you (and your team) can celebrate a culture of
teamwork by rewarding/acknowledging students for
exhibiting the characteristics of teamwork that they
learned and practiced in each classroom!

Other Integrated Units

Check out these turn-key integrated units based on a study of the night sky.
SOCIAL STUDIES
SCIENCE

MATH
ELA

Spiral
Copyright Studies
© 2015 Brain Waves Instruction All rights reserved by author.
Integrated Units For classroom use only by a single teacher. Please purchase one licensure per teacher using this product.

Created By:
 Integrated
Use this page and
the bookmark on
p.12 if students will
be completing

Team Building
the teambuilding ACTIVITY
activities in all four
subject areas.

Subject Activity / Lesson

Students learn the value of teamwork and collaboration when they work as a team to
put a scrambled fable about teamwork into to the correct sequence. Then, they’ll work
English collaboratively to answer reading comprehension questions about the fable. Finally,
they’ll reflect on their experiences as a team and use figurative language to express the
value of teamwork while making a pennant banner.

While working collaboratively to problem-solve with a seemingly impossible number

puzzle, students learn to persevere, work together, and think outside the box.
Math Ultimately, they will have to reach out to another team and combine card sets to
complete the challenge. In a follow-up worksheet, students describe their problem
solving approaches and team roles and then extend these skills into future applications.

Students will work on communication by instructing a partner to draw a specific secret

Social image using only directions about how and where to move the pencil. The activity is
followed up with an analysis of how communication improved on each attempt and what
Studies they learned from the experience about speaking and listening in a collaborative way.

While working to float, sink and suspend a single object students must learn to
overcome communication difficulties, share responsibilities and take on leadership roles
to help their group succeed. The hands-on challenge and follow-up discussion about
Science teamwork in the field of science teaches students the importance of problem solving,
along with the idea that teamwork is WORK and takes consistent effort and
contributions from each person on the team.

Wrapping it Up & Bringing it Together:

To finish off the integrated experience, students will complete a bookmark-style punch card that reflects the
key ideas they have learned in each class. You will need to print a mix of all 4 different bookmarks (one
version appears in each subject’s file – Download the files free on TPT) and distribute them to each student.
(FYI – Students only need to receive a bookmark and complete the teambuilding activity in one classroom.)

• In one classroom, give each student a bookmark. (You will be distributing an equal number of each
version of the bookmarks.) The bookmark version included in this file is on page 12.
• Allow students to find teammates who have a different bookmark. (Note how the decorative lines on the
bookmarks are different.)
• When they have assembled a team of four students (all with different bookmarks), have students begin to
combine the letters provided on their bookmarks and begin to form the words that note what team
players do. (Listen, Encourage, Collaborate, Communicate)
• Explain to students that they have created a Team Player Bookmark. They should bring this bookmark to
each of their classes throughout the week.
• When a teacher notes that a student is demonstrating the characteristics of a team player, he/she
should punch one of the four “TEAM” letters on the bookmark.
• You might consider offering a prize or reward for students or classes that receive all their “TEAM” punches.

Spiral Studies Integrated

Team Building Activity
for Math Class
This team-building lesson focuses on skills that students need
throughout math class (and throughout life!) when problem
solving and working collaboratively. While working on a
seemingly impossible puzzle, students learn to persevere,
and are ultimately guided to reach out to another nearby
group to get the pieces they need that are still missing. It
turns out that the challenge can only be completed by
combining two teams’ card sets!
OVERVIEW
The puzzle challenge and follow-up worksheet teach
strategizing, problem solving, communicating a specific
approach, thinking outside the box, asking others for help,
and group roles & leadership. Students then link these skills to
bigger ideas in math class and describe how they can apply
these skills in future problem-solving situations or when faced
with a difficult new math concept.
This mini-unit can also be used as part of an integrated
lesson to connect team building skills and ideas across the 4
INTEGRATED
main subject areas.
UNIT
(Read more about the integrated unit back on pages 2-3)

• Perseverance during problem solving

• Collaboration
SKILLS
• Describing problem solving strategies
DEVELOPED • Thinking outside the box
• Communication

© Copyright 2016 Math Giraffe

 Lesson Plan
OVERVIEW
In this lesson, students will work collaboratively on a problem solving puzzle. While working students learn to
persevere, but then must be guided to reach out to another nearby group. In order to complete the
challenge, it is necessary to combine two groups’ card sets! Students then complete a follow-up worksheet
that helps them to identify the team skills they used and link these skills to bigger ideas in math class.

PREPARATION
STAND ALONE UNIT: If you are not teaching this mini-unit along with the other courses, you’ll want to copy
the following materials:

o A set of 9 number cards for each team of 2-3 students (Be sure that half of the teams have the
first set of 9 cards, and the other half have the second set. Also, without making it obvious to the
students, make sure they are evenly distributed throughout the room, so a team with the first set
can reach out to a nearby team that has the 2nd set when they collaborate.) The best way to do
this is to print pages 7 and 8 of this file on two different colored papers. Students will hopefully not
notice that the two sets work together (at least at first), but you will easily be able to differentiate
between the sets. Once the sets are combined, the two different colors will also help you to re-
sort them into separate sets for next year.
o A class set of follow-up “Team Building Activity” worksheets (p. 9-10)
o “Hint Cards” if you want to use them (p. 11)

INTEGRATED UNIT: If you are teaching this mini-unit along with the other courses, you’ll want to copy the
following materials in addition to the items listed above:

o A set of the bookmark version included in this file (p. 12) along with the versions in the other files
(links to those are back on p. 2). Distribute the bookmarks so that each student in a team of 4
has a different version.

LESSON
1. Distribute the card sets, ensuring that each team has a different set from the group beside them without
pointing it out. Ask students to cut apart the cards if you have not already cut them. Explain the goal of
the puzzle. You can display / project the directions and sample photo for students to review (p. 6) Allow
students to begin working.
2. After about 10 minutes, ask everyone to pause and listen (or start distributing “hint cards” at your
discretion, using the first hint for groups who need it, then the second if they still do not reach out to
combine with another group). At this point, they are probably getting frustrated at the seemingly
impossible challenge. Ask a few students or groups to share a strategy they have tried. Some may
express frustration that they wish they could just trade a number 2 card for a 3, and then it would all work
out, or something along those lines. Compare different strategies and approaches as a whole class (or
continue giving hint cards as needed). Subtly suggest that although they cannot trade a single card,
there is no restriction on the number of rows or columns. Show them that nearby groups are having the
same struggles, and maybe they can find a way to work together….
3. Once students are led to think outside the box in terms of a little bigger collaboration, they can team up
to combine two sets of cards and complete the puzzle successfully. Discuss.
4. Distribute the follow-up worksheets and allow students to complete them in class or as homework.
© Copyright 2016 Math Giraffe
 Team Building Puzzle
Your task is to arrange the numbered squares so
that each row has the same sum AND each column
has the same sum.

sum = 8
SAMPLE

sum = 8

sum = 8

sum = 8
sum = 16

sum = 16
2 2
© Copyright 2016 Math Giraffe
3

4 5 3

3 4 3
© Copyright 2016 Math Giraffe
3 2 4
© Copyright 2016 Math Giraffe

2 3 3

2 4 2
© Copyright 2016 Math Giraffe
 Team Building Activity
Answer each question using at least 2 complete sentences.

1. Describe your initial strategy. What was the mathematical thinking behind your
initial approach to the puzzle?

2. Did members of your team take on different roles while working? Explain.

3. Did you or a member of your team ever want to give up? Did you suspect at any
point that the task was impossible? Did any particular team member show more
perseverance than others?

4. Describe a moment when you had to change tactics. What made you change
your approach? How did you adjust your strategy? Describe in detail.

© Copyright 2016 Math Giraffe

 Draw a representation of your solution here:

5. What did this activity show you?

6. How does this relate to learning a new math idea? Extend your thinking to explain
how aspects of this activity apply to a new challenge or a new lesson in math class.

7. Describe the number one strategy that most stood out in your mind during this
activity, the number one challenge that you faced, and the number one collaboration
skill that you learned.

© Copyright 2016 Math Giraffe

 possible answer

Optional “Hint Cards” – Cut & distribute as needed if you would

like to guide certain groups in different ways at different times.

Remember, the only “rules” are

Card
Hint

about the sums of rows and

#1

columns. There is no restriction on

the number of rows and columns!

Think outside the box! Check in with the

Card
Hint

group next to you to see if they have

#2

any strategies that you have not tried

yet. Are their cards the same? Does
this give you any crazy new big ideas?

© Copyright 2016 Math Giraffe

 All rights reserved by author.
Name _______________________________________
TEAM PLAYERS

For classroom use only by a single teacher. Please purchase one licensure per teacher using this product.
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Copyright © 2015 Brain Waves Instruction

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