Cooperation
Theme: Taking the Lead Film: The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (PG-13) 4:32
It is an epic tale of the war between good and evil in Middle Earth. The ring of power has appeared, and the evil Sauron will do anything to get it. To destroy Sauron's plans for conquest, someone must destroy the ring. To destroy the ring, someone must cast it into the fires of Mordor. Amidst bickering and name-calling, the courage of the least likely hero of all forces the group to realize that the fate of men, elves, hobbits and dwarves lies in the possibility of working together. This 2001 film from New Line Cinema is directed by Peter Jackson and written by J.R.R. Tolkien, Frances Walsh, Phillippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson. It is produced by Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne, Tim Sanders and Frances Walsh and stars Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, and Sean Bean.
Teaser Question: What inspires people to join others?
Going Deeper: Have you ever had to take a risk to accomplish a group goal?
Making Choices: Your teammates constantly bicker and are not playing well. You have recently joined the team and you are the youngest member. How can you help your team?
“The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation.” —Bertrand Russel
“Take care, don't fight, and remember: if you do not choose to lead, you will forever be led by others. Find what scares you, and do it. And you can make a difference, if you choose to do so." —J.M. Stracynski
It is an epic tale of the war between good and evil in Middle Earth. The ring of power has appeared, and the evil Sauron will do anything to get it. To destroy Sauron's plans for conquest, someone must destroy the ring. To destroy the ring, someone must cast it into the fires of Mordor. Amidst bickering and name-calling, the courage of the least likely hero of all forces the group to realize that the fate of men, elves, hobbits and dwarves lies in the possibility of working together. This 2001 film from New Line Cinema is directed by Peter Jackson and written by J.R.R. Tolkien, Frances Walsh, Phillippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson. It is produced by Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne, Tim Sanders and Frances Walsh and stars Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, and Sean Bean.
Teaser Question: What inspires people to join others?
Going Deeper: Have you ever had to take a risk to accomplish a group goal?
Making Choices: Your teammates constantly bicker and are not playing well. You have recently joined the team and you are the youngest member. How can you help your team?
“The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation.” —Bertrand Russel
“Take care, don't fight, and remember: if you do not choose to lead, you will forever be led by others. Find what scares you, and do it. And you can make a difference, if you choose to do so." —J.M. Stracynski
Theme: Teamwork Pays Off Film: Apollo 13 (PG) 2:38
They are stranded over 200,000 miles away from earth, trapped in a spacecraft that is crippled, without power and losing breathable air by the minute. It will take all the skills and teamwork of three Apollo astronauts, along with the support of the ground crew in Mission Control, to survive. This 1995 film from MCA/Universal Pictures is directed by Ron Howard and written by Jim Lovell, Jeffrey Kluger, William Broyles, Jr. , and Al Reinart. It is produced by Brian Grazer and stars Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise and Ed Harris.
Teaser Question: When the going gets though, how important is trust in the group?
Going Deeper: Have you been in a situation where teamwork was essential to succeed? Describe the situation. What enabled your team to succeed? What stood in the way? How can a team build trust?
Making Choices: You are the captain of the your team. You need your teammates' support in order to be an effective leader. One of your teammates has a very negative attitude. How do you handle this?
“The greater difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.” —Epicurus
“Individually we are one drop. Together we are an ocean." —Ryunosuke Satoro
They are stranded over 200,000 miles away from earth, trapped in a spacecraft that is crippled, without power and losing breathable air by the minute. It will take all the skills and teamwork of three Apollo astronauts, along with the support of the ground crew in Mission Control, to survive. This 1995 film from MCA/Universal Pictures is directed by Ron Howard and written by Jim Lovell, Jeffrey Kluger, William Broyles, Jr. , and Al Reinart. It is produced by Brian Grazer and stars Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise and Ed Harris.
Teaser Question: When the going gets though, how important is trust in the group?
Going Deeper: Have you been in a situation where teamwork was essential to succeed? Describe the situation. What enabled your team to succeed? What stood in the way? How can a team build trust?
Making Choices: You are the captain of the your team. You need your teammates' support in order to be an effective leader. One of your teammates has a very negative attitude. How do you handle this?
“The greater difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.” —Epicurus
“Individually we are one drop. Together we are an ocean." —Ryunosuke Satoro
Theme: Doing Your Part Film: Antz (PG) 1:30
"Every ant has his day." At least that is what Z hopes. He feels utterly insignificant and out of touch with the rest of the colony. While the other worker ants appear content to cart around dirt all day. Z keeps looking for a better place and a better life. When his fellow workers rely on him to hold them together, Z's heart is not in the task. The result? He drops the ball!
This 1998 computer-animated film from Dreamworks is directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson and written by Todd Alcott, Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, and Chris Miller. It is produced by Brad Lewis, Aron Warner and Patty Wooten and stars the voice talents of Woody Allen, Dan Aykroyd, Anne Bancroft, Jane Curtain, Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, Grant Shaud and Christopher Walken.
Teaser Question: What happens when someone does not fully join in the group's task?
Going Deeper: When is it a good thing not to cooperate with a group? Or even join a group?
Making Choices: Your best friend is an outsider. You invite her/him to join a group you belong to. Your friend agrees but only participates half-heartedly. What do you do?
“Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”
—Vince Lombardi
“I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion." —Mia Hamm
"Every ant has his day." At least that is what Z hopes. He feels utterly insignificant and out of touch with the rest of the colony. While the other worker ants appear content to cart around dirt all day. Z keeps looking for a better place and a better life. When his fellow workers rely on him to hold them together, Z's heart is not in the task. The result? He drops the ball!
This 1998 computer-animated film from Dreamworks is directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson and written by Todd Alcott, Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, and Chris Miller. It is produced by Brad Lewis, Aron Warner and Patty Wooten and stars the voice talents of Woody Allen, Dan Aykroyd, Anne Bancroft, Jane Curtain, Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, Grant Shaud and Christopher Walken.
Teaser Question: What happens when someone does not fully join in the group's task?
Going Deeper: When is it a good thing not to cooperate with a group? Or even join a group?
Making Choices: Your best friend is an outsider. You invite her/him to join a group you belong to. Your friend agrees but only participates half-heartedly. What do you do?
“Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”
—Vince Lombardi
“I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion." —Mia Hamm
Theme: When Trust is Gone Film: Ice Age (PG) 1:11
In a prehistoric age, three unlikely allies: a woolly mammoth, a loopy sloth, and a saber-toothed tiger join forces and brave dangers to return a small human baby to its people. Along the way they discover an amazing friendship, but all appears lost when its revealed that one of them has betrayed the others. Once trust has been shattered, cooperation appears to be impossible... or is it?
This 2002 computer animated film from Twentieth Century Fox is directed by Carlos Saldanha and Chris Wedge and written by Michael J. Wilson, Michael Berg and Peter Ackerman. It is produced by Lori Forte and starts Dan Leary Goran Visnjic, and Jack Black.
Teaser Question: How do you cooperate with someone who has broken your trust?
Going Deeper: How do you trust someone who has let you down? How easy is it to forgive the person... or to forget?
Making Choices: Your sister promised to take you to your all star soccer competition but she forgot. You missed the game because you had no other ride. Now the tables have turned and you desperately needs you to take her somewhere. What do you do?
“Only trust thyself, and another shall not betray thee.” —William Penn
“Trust everybody, but cut the cards" —Finley Peter Dunne
In a prehistoric age, three unlikely allies: a woolly mammoth, a loopy sloth, and a saber-toothed tiger join forces and brave dangers to return a small human baby to its people. Along the way they discover an amazing friendship, but all appears lost when its revealed that one of them has betrayed the others. Once trust has been shattered, cooperation appears to be impossible... or is it?
This 2002 computer animated film from Twentieth Century Fox is directed by Carlos Saldanha and Chris Wedge and written by Michael J. Wilson, Michael Berg and Peter Ackerman. It is produced by Lori Forte and starts Dan Leary Goran Visnjic, and Jack Black.
Teaser Question: How do you cooperate with someone who has broken your trust?
Going Deeper: How do you trust someone who has let you down? How easy is it to forgive the person... or to forget?
Making Choices: Your sister promised to take you to your all star soccer competition but she forgot. You missed the game because you had no other ride. Now the tables have turned and you desperately needs you to take her somewhere. What do you do?
“Only trust thyself, and another shall not betray thee.” —William Penn
“Trust everybody, but cut the cards" —Finley Peter Dunne
Moving Students to Reflection and Action:
Keeping a Journal
As an in class activity, the students write two entries into their journal under the heading of "Cooperation" answering the following questions:
1. Of all the examples of cooperation demonstrated in the clips, which was your favorite? Why?
2. Tell of a time when you showed cooperation in your life.
3. Tell of a time when you were uncooperative. What were the consequences?
Activity 1: "Give One-Get One"
Performance Objective:
The learner will be able to identify examples of cooperation in history and present these examples in written or oral form.
Materials Needed:
Pencil, paper
Teacher Instructions:
Ask each student to get out a sheet of paper and brainstorm a list of characters in a story, in a history lesson or in current events that clearly demonstrate cooperation.
Student will be given 3-5 minutes to complete their lists. Once students have completed their individual lists, they will be allowed to get up and move around the room to at least five of their fellow students to get ideas from their lists.
The student may only get an idea from another student if the student gives them an idea of his/her own.
Students return to their seats.
Lead a discussion about how the students learned through cooperation by asking several individuals to give an example of what they learned from another student and name the student who was helpful to them.
Write these examples on the board.
Activity 2: Cooperation Games
Performance Objective:
Students will learn to work together for a common goal with limited resources.
Materials Needed:
Paper plates (about 1/3 as many as persons in the group).
Teacher Instructions:
The students move half the desks to one side of the room, the other half to the other side of the room, creating a clear wide lane in the middle of the room.
Gather all the students to one side of the room and say, "Imagine that you are being chased and need to get across a field of hot lava."
Hand out the plates (about 1/3 the number of plates as people) and say, "If you step on these plates you will not sink into the lava. Only one person can be on the plate at a time. The plates can be picked up and moved."
The key to the game is that only part of the group will be able to cross the field at a time and one person will need to work their way back across the field at a time and one person will need to work their way back across the field to help the rest of the team across.
A time limit can be placed on this game.
After the game lead a whole group discussion that helps students understand the role of cooperation in reaching group goals.
(From, So, You Wanna be a Playa? The Freechild Project Guide to Cooperative Games for Social Change, by Adam Fletcher Sasse with Kari Kunst, https://freechild.org/
As an in class activity, the students write two entries into their journal under the heading of "Cooperation" answering the following questions:
1. Of all the examples of cooperation demonstrated in the clips, which was your favorite? Why?
2. Tell of a time when you showed cooperation in your life.
3. Tell of a time when you were uncooperative. What were the consequences?
Activity 1: "Give One-Get One"
Performance Objective:
The learner will be able to identify examples of cooperation in history and present these examples in written or oral form.
Materials Needed:
Pencil, paper
Teacher Instructions:
Ask each student to get out a sheet of paper and brainstorm a list of characters in a story, in a history lesson or in current events that clearly demonstrate cooperation.
Student will be given 3-5 minutes to complete their lists. Once students have completed their individual lists, they will be allowed to get up and move around the room to at least five of their fellow students to get ideas from their lists.
The student may only get an idea from another student if the student gives them an idea of his/her own.
Students return to their seats.
Lead a discussion about how the students learned through cooperation by asking several individuals to give an example of what they learned from another student and name the student who was helpful to them.
Write these examples on the board.
Activity 2: Cooperation Games
Performance Objective:
Students will learn to work together for a common goal with limited resources.
Materials Needed:
Paper plates (about 1/3 as many as persons in the group).
Teacher Instructions:
The students move half the desks to one side of the room, the other half to the other side of the room, creating a clear wide lane in the middle of the room.
Gather all the students to one side of the room and say, "Imagine that you are being chased and need to get across a field of hot lava."
Hand out the plates (about 1/3 the number of plates as people) and say, "If you step on these plates you will not sink into the lava. Only one person can be on the plate at a time. The plates can be picked up and moved."
The key to the game is that only part of the group will be able to cross the field at a time and one person will need to work their way back across the field at a time and one person will need to work their way back across the field to help the rest of the team across.
A time limit can be placed on this game.
After the game lead a whole group discussion that helps students understand the role of cooperation in reaching group goals.
(From, So, You Wanna be a Playa? The Freechild Project Guide to Cooperative Games for Social Change, by Adam Fletcher Sasse with Kari Kunst, https://freechild.org/
Optional Teaching Strategies
Go on "faith walks" - one student is blindfolded and has to completely trust the person who is leading her.
Engage in team-building activities outdoors, such as "hide and go seek", in which the person who finds the one who is "it" has to hid with that person until the last person finds the whole group.
Work together to create an audio/visual presentation showing examples of how their classmates have cooperated to get a task done.
Re-act the scene of one of the clips, but with a different ending.
Involve students in peer mediation to solve classroom conflicts.
Multiple Intelligences Addressed:
Verbal-Linguistic Musical-Rhythmic
Visual-Spatial Interpersonal
Bodily-Kinesthetic Intrapersonal
Go on "faith walks" - one student is blindfolded and has to completely trust the person who is leading her.
Engage in team-building activities outdoors, such as "hide and go seek", in which the person who finds the one who is "it" has to hid with that person until the last person finds the whole group.
Work together to create an audio/visual presentation showing examples of how their classmates have cooperated to get a task done.
Re-act the scene of one of the clips, but with a different ending.
Involve students in peer mediation to solve classroom conflicts.
Multiple Intelligences Addressed:
Verbal-Linguistic Musical-Rhythmic
Visual-Spatial Interpersonal
Bodily-Kinesthetic Intrapersonal