Puzzle Group - A puzzle group is meant for a group of students that struggle with communicating effectively and working as a team. There are many things that you can teach students through this activity. Students can be grouped with best friends or classmates that struggle with taking turns, sharing, and working with others productively. These students will have a puzzle to work on and it will require positive communication and using manors. This activity may spark laughter and help you learn new personalities if you make it purposeful. One way to execute this activity if grouped with more than 3 students is by setting a timer and having students work in pairs. As the first 2 students work together the rest will quietly observe. Ultimately, learning new ways of being polite and supportive by their peers. You could also only have one group that either completes the puzzle multiple times or pauses building the puzzle to debrief. During these pauses the teacher can facilitate a feedback conversation where the group shares what their peers did that felt supportive and ways that their peers could have been more supportive. They then continue to rebuild this puzzle until everyone is satisfied with how they are being communicated with.
Guided Questions: Who did you notice being very supportive? Did you feel in any particular way when your peers communicated well? Was the puzzle challenging? Did the help of others make this puzzle more manageable? Why is teamwork important? Why is it important to be polite and kind to others? What was the difficult thing about communicating for you? Do you know anyone that is an amazing communicator? How do you think they got there?