OBJECTIVE
Children will reflect on how collaboration and teamwork can help them to achieve more than they can achieve alone.
Values: teamwork and compromise
Prepared by: @Susana Resem
PREPARATION
Write in a board:
“None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.”
-Mother Teresa
- Ask the children what they think about collaboration
- How do they collaborate at school, at home or with friends?
Teaser: Write a phrase in a paper and then cut the paper so that there is only one word in each piece. Ask the students to put the phrase together.
LAUNCH LESSON
STORYTIME
The Tree and the Vegetables
By Pedro Pablo Sacristan
Once upon a time, there was a lovely vegetable patch, on which grew a very leafy tree. Both the patch and the tree gave the place a wonderful appearance, and were the pride and joy of the garden’s owner. What no one knew was that the vegetables in the patch and the tree couldn’t stand each other. The vegetables hated the tree’s shadow, because it left them only just enough light to survive. The tree, on the other hand, resented the vegetables because they drank nearly all the water before it could get to him, leaving him with just enough to survive.
The situation became so extreme that the vegetables got totally fed up and decided to use up all the water in the ground so that the tree would dry up. The tree answered back by refusing to shade the vegetables from the hot midday sun, so they too began to dry up. Before long, the vegetables were really scrawny, and the tree’s branches were drying up.
None of them suspected that the gardener, on seeing his vegetable patch deteriorating, would stop watering it. When he did that, both the tree and the vegetables really learned what thirst was. There seemed to be no solution, but one of the vegetables, a small zucchini, understood what was going on, and decided to resolve it. Despite the little water available, and the unforgiving heat, the little zucchini did all he could to grow, grow, grow…
He managed to grow so big that the gardener started watering the patch again. Now the gardener wanted to enter that beautiful big zucchini in some gardening contest.
And so it was that the vegetables and the tree realized that it was better to help each other than to fight. They should really learn how to live in harmony with those around them, doing the best they could. So they decided to work together, using both the shade and the water in the best combination to grow good vegetables. Seeing how well they were doing, the gardener now gave the best of care to his vegetable patch, watering and fertilizing it better than any other patch for miles around.
Narrated story: https://freestoriesforkids.com/children/stories-and-tales/tree-and-vegetables
DISCUSSION TIME
- In the beginning of the story, did the tree and vegetables look good and healthy?
- Why the vegetables and the tree didn’t like each other?
- Why the vegetables became so thin and unattractive?
- What did happen to the tree when there was no more water?
- What did none of them realize the gardener would do after seeing the vegetable patch so dried up?
- What happened that made the gardener water the patch again?
- What did the tree and vegetables decided to do after seeing what the zucchini did?
- How did collaboration help the tree and the vegetables?
- Did the change in his vegetable patch motivate the gardener to do better?
- How do you feel when you collaborate?
ACTING THE STORY
1) Reader’s theatre
Read the story out loud and while you read it the students perform the story in front of the classroom.
- Once upon a time, there was a lovely vegetable patch, on which grew a very leafy tree
- The vegetables and the tree were the pride and joy of the garden’s owner
- What no one knew was that the vegetables in the patch and the tree couldn’t stand each other
- The vegetables hated the tree’s shadow, because it left them only just enough light to survive
- The tree, on the other hand, resented the vegetables because they drank nearly all the water before it could get to him, leaving him with just enough to survive.
- The vegetables decided to use up all the water
- The tree decided to not provide shade to the vegetables
- The tree and vegetables were drying up
- The gardener stopped watering the vegetable patch
- Despite the little water, a zucchini decided to use all it could to grow, grow and grow
- The gardener got motivated to water the patch again seeing how big the zucchini grew
- The vegetables and the tree realized that it was better to work together than fight and they got healthier and even better than before
- The gardener was so happy that decided to give the best care to his vegetable patch
ASSESSMENT:
Ask the students what they learned about collaboration and how that is important in our lives
How collaboration was important for the tree and vegetables?
Give an example of how you can collaborate in different places
| Collaborative attitudes | |
| In my house | I can collaborate with my family by keeping my bedroom clean |
| At School: | |
| With our friends: | |
| At the Spiritist Center | |
| In the playground | |
| With nature | |
| During a playdate | |
| On the streets |