During my EDUC 491 practicum in Kindergarten I spent a lot of time really focusing on collaboration and teamwork. In Kindergarten, the students are 5 and 6 years old and this is possibly their first time being part of a learning community. It is highly important for the students to understand that being part of a community, working together and teamwork is an important skill that you will need to use throughout your entire life. I wouldn’t say that the students in my class were self-focused as I observe them playing together, etc. on a daily basis. However, they are still so young and it is important to teach them this competency quite early.
The unit that I focused this competency the most in was my Science unit. One of these activities was working together in teams to create a “snow-shelter”. Students were in groups of 4-5 and had to collectively bring snow/ice chunks over to their designated spot, build walls, make an entrance and make it big enough to fit at least 2 people inside. Every single group worked together so well and I was so proud of my students.
Another activity that I had my students do was to take different seasonal pictures (I.e. leaves, flowers, snow, ice cream, etc.) and classify them into Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. The students did a great job collaborating and discussing where they thought that each picture should go on the chart paper. Of course we had a bit of disagreement within the groups, but this is their first time having to work together and it is definitely a learning process!
