Teaching Collaboration with Intention

I realized this year, before starting a new group project with my Grade 6 Humanities class, that I spend very little time teaching my students how to work well with one another. I was great at reacting when things went off the rails and used these opportunities as "teachable moments," however, I never taught collaboration in a proactive way. I know! Unbelievable! But I don't think I'm on my own with this. We put kids in groups all the time and expect them to work well with one another without putting much time into fostering the necessary skills. So this year, I have made it a focus to teach collaboration with intention. Here is a short clip that summarizes students using a reflective feedback model to discuss their experiences:

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