Designanewtoywithlegoscommoncorealigned

The
Sherri Munger-Tyler
2012

A collaborative,
hands-on
activity to help
students build
better
communication,
teamwork,
cooperative
problem-solving,
critical thinking,
and social skills!

FREE
Copyright 2012 Sherri Munger-Tyler All rights reserved by author.
For classroom use only. This copy is to be used by a single teacher. Please purchase one license per teacher using this product.

You have been hired to design and build a new toy!
Your new toy will be marketed across the nation this coming holiday season!
Your Design Team has _________ minutes to accomplish the following tasks:

1 Build a prototype of a new toy

2 Create a poster-sized magazine ad with the following elements:
_____ The name of the new toy your group designed
_____ A hand-drawn picture of the toy
_____ The price of the toy
_____ The name of your Design Team
_____ The targeted age for your toy
(3-5 years; 6-8 years; 9-11 years; 12+ years)
_____ A slogan, jingle, or catch-phrase for your new toy
_____ Persuasive comments that would convince parents to purchase the new
toy for their child(ren).
_____ Remember: your poster should look like a magazine ad and should
convince parents to purchase your new toy!

3 Fill out the Self-Reflection Sheet with thoughtful, meaningful answers.

4 Be prepared to give a 2-3 minute oral presentation to the class, demonstrating your
toy and displaying your ad poster. Each member of the team should speak during this
presentation.


Self-Reflection
Group Members: _________________________________________________________________________

Name of Toy: ___________________________________________________________________________

Name of Design Team: ____________________________________________________________________

How did you decide what toy you would create? ________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Did one person lead the entire group, or did each person in the group have a leadership role? How did you
decide this? _____________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Give 1-2 contributions each group member made to your project:
_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

As a group, what were your strengths? _______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

If we did this activity again, what would your Design Team do differently? __________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

What did you most enjoy about this activity? ___________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

What literacy skills did you use to accomplish this project? _______________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Task Card
As a group, complete the following tasks:

__________ Take your toy apart and put all the pieces in the storage bin.

__________ Make sure all the pieces are disconnected. Do not leave chunks of the toy together in the
bin.

__________ Check your table space to make sure all building pieces are in the bin.

__________ Check your floor space to make sure all building pieces are in the bin.

__________ Make sure your Self-Reflection Sheet is entirely filled out.

Task Card
As a group, complete the following tasks:

__________ Take your toy apart and put all the pieces in the storage bin.

__________ Make sure all the pieces are disconnected. Do not leave chunks of the toy together in the
bin.

__________ Check your table space to make sure all building pieces are in the bin.

__________ Check your floor space to make sure all building pieces are in the bin.

__________ Make sure your Self-Reflection Sheet is entirely filled out.


LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will . . .

Work together and support each other to plan and implement an authentic task.

Develop the ability to work effectively within a group to accomplish a shared goal.

Follow directions.

Develop critical thinking and evaluation skills through group interaction.

Learn to identify and effectively utilize the individual skills, strengths, and abilities of each
member of their team.

Learn how to negotiate differences and work with diverse individuals to reach a common goal.

Develop effective communication skills for dealing with conflict and negotiating successful
resolutions.

Develop stronger interpersonal skills and intrapersonal awareness.

Become effective and productive team members by learning how their personal strengths
complement the personal strengths of classmates and peers.

Assess their individual contributions to their teams overall success.

Assess their team success at accomplishing am authentic task.

Determine what they would do differently to be more successful in the future.

Identify and explain the literacy skills used in this project.

Increase speaking skills by present their projects orally to peers.

Increase listening skills by being active listeners as peers give oral presentations.


TEACHING TIPS

Students love this activity! Its a great activity to use to build a sense of community and collaboration in
the classroom!

I typically do this activity three times a year the first week of school, the week before winter break,
and the last week of school. Each time, I tell students the outcome should be a higher quality than
previous times, as their skills have increased. Students do not necessarily work on the same teams each
time, as teams are assigned randomly.

I try to have no more than four or five on a team so each student really has an opportunity to bring their
strengths to the table and the team relies on one another for overall success.

I accumulate interlocking building blocks at yard sales and flea markets. I have asked parents to
consider donating unwanted interlocking building blocks to the class. I have even (successfully!)
solicited donations of toyss via Craigslist. (If you use Craigslist for this purpose, please heed all
recommended safety precautions.) From time to time Dollar Stores will have small boxed sets of
interlocking building blocks and I always snatch a few when they do.

Before I accumulated interlocking building blocks, I simply asked students to bring theirs from home.
There was never a shortage of building pieces for several teams when students brought their own in.

I have had some teams work with small building blocks and other teams work with the giant
interlocking blocks designed for preschoolers. Students love the variety!

I store interlocking building blocks in plastic bins, one bin per team.

Students always want to trade building pieces with other teams. I generally do not allow them to trade,
as I want them to use critical thinking and problem-solving with the materials they are provided.
However, from time to time I make an exception. For example, if one bin ends up with three wheels and
another bin has five wheels, they can trade. This is really personal preference, but it helps to pre-teach
ahead of the activity what students can and cannot do.

Students will ask if they can get water, as many teams design floating toys. I do not address this ahead of
time, but if it comes up, I allow them to do so. I keep a couple of plastic washtubs in the storage closet
and will allow them to use one. Again, this is personal preference . . . if you do allow them to
demonstrate their toy using actual water, be prepared to deal with spills.

The length of time I give students to complete this task varies, but the more time they have, the higher
quality work they produce. My 7
th
and 8
th
graders have completed this in 45 minutes, but when they
have 90 minutes, the quality of their work increases exponentially.

Be sure students know beforehand NOT to break apart their toy until after their presentation to the class.
Otherwise, as soon as you signal them to stop working, some groups will immediately break their toy
apart and have nothing to show the class.

I dont give students their clean-up task card until after all presentations are completed. Otherwise, some
groups try to clean up during presentations.


TEACHING TIPS

I have found it important to pre-teach that no one may throw building blocks. Throwing pieces will
result in students immediately being removed from the activity. You may want to have an alternative
activity ready for students who need to be removed. This rarely happens, but when it does, I have a
jigsaw puzzle for the student to work on individually. If that is unsuccessful (translated: the student
throws the jigsaw puzzle pieces) then the student reads a novel for the remainder of class time.

Of course, there are any number of ways to divide the class into groups. For this activity, I have students
choose a paint chip (I accumulate several samples from my local hardware store.) I have five or six
color groups, depending on the number of teams I will have. Within that color group, I will have four or
five shades (depending on the number of students in each group.) Once everyone has chosen a sample
card, I have them split into groups. Sometimes I have students group themselves so that everyone in the
group has the same color family (i.e.: everyone in your group must have a shade of blue). Other times,
students group themselves so that each group member has a different color. In this way, grouping
students becomes a collaborative, problem-solving activity, as well.

Of course, I do a quick scan and may have some students switch groups. I tell them we are setting
everyone up for success so that moving groups has a positive rather than a negative connotation.

Have your camera ready! This activity lends itself to great snapshots of your students and your
classroom community!

More great teaching resources are available at my TpT store:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Sherri-Munger-tyler


COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

Reading 7 - Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually
and quantitatively, as well as in words.

Writing 4 - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Speaking and Listening 1 - Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and
collaborations with diverse partners, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly and
persuasively.

Speaking and Listening 2 - Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats,
including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Speaking and Listening 4 - Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners
can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience.

Speaking and Listening 5 - Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express
information and enhance understanding of presentations.

Speaking and Listening 6 - Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks,
demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

Language 1 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English grammar and usage when
writing or speaking.

Language 2 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English capitalization, punctuation,
and spelling when writing.

Language 3 - Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts,
to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

Language 5 - Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in
word meanings.

Language 6 - Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and
phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level;
demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term
important to comprehension or expression.


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