The first grade team at one of my schools asked me to help the kiddos with a research inquiry about maps. At first I was unsure of what to have the kiddos do for a final project. I wanted them to collaborate together. So after doing whole group research on Pebble Go and Google Earth, I had them partner up with their table partner to create their own community map on Kip Pix. This confused them at first-not each working on their own computer. For some this was the first time they had to share a computer-which isn’t always easy!
To help with this concept I first showed the kiddos a video posted by Code.org showing two girls partnering up to program a game. The 2 min video does a fantastic job of modeling the positive roles each partner plays within the team. Teamwork is hard and doesn’t come naturally to most. Some people only want to be in charge and others never want to participate. Using the do’s and don’ts these two girls shows up helped my kiddos know what a positive partnership looks like. I definitely was impressed with how I saw the kiddos work together for an end product!
