[nonamepaper]

I was wondering if any of you would have an idea on how to work with a "team theme". The other first grade teacher was thinking about having some sort of team theme to encourage teamwork. But I'm not big on sports, so I was wondering on how to make it work. We don't have to have the same theme, but we will be working so closly together it would make it easier. Any ideas?

[Sass in Class]

I am using the team theme next year. I received a lot of great ideas from beth newingham's website. You could have the students decide what would make good teams. It doesnt have to be sports, it can also be team colors "The Red Team" , animal teams "The Wildcats" The Eagles Team" etc.. Just have fun with it and and read and discuss books related to teamwork the first week of school. I have plenty of ideas on the sports team theme if you change your mind..

[missd]

I used the team theme last year with the motto: Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM). We emphasized being able to work together as a team all year. I had a homework chart that went with the theme and awarded them a prize when everyone on the team had reached a set goal (i.e. 10 stickers on the chart). I know you said you really weren't big on sports, but Really Good Stuff has some great team decorations. What I liked best about them was they depicted a few sports to appeal to a variety of interests rather than just one specific sport.

[stlcardsfan]

I don't know how you groups your students. If you use tables or groups you could call each one by a different sport or you could use mascots of schools or colleges in your state or something they might be familiar with.
You could also have races between the groups so they have to use teamwork to complete some tasks.

[jerzgirl]

I also do the team theme. My students' team name is "The Can Do Kids", and our motto is "You can do it!" We make pennants the first week of school that complete the sentence prompt, I can... and display on a bulletin board. Throughout the year as one child or another struggles, you'll often here the kids pipe up, "You're a can-do kid. You can do it!!"
I also give the kids a magnet with that phrase to hang on their refrigerator at home. I hang a class picture on the outside of our door with Can-Do Kids under it. Last, I hope to make t-shirts this year in Sept. for us to wear throughout the year, maybe every Friday or once a month.
I have found that spending the first month of school, building "the team" and a sense of community has really helped the classroom environment and enables me to to teach without any kind of behavior mod. plan. Guess it depends on the group of kids you have, but they do buy into it!

[navymom]

What grade do you teach? I like your idea but think it may seem too young for 5th grade.

[ConnieWI]

Go to this website www.evan-moor.com/survey/0779.pdf and look at pages 95-95, 127-130, and 255. The other pages are worth looking at too!

[FSPS07]

I LOVE your ideas! I am going to use them this year in my 2nd grade class. This is my first year to teach and I have been searching for ideas. Thank you sooooo much!

I did the "team" thing the last week of school. My kids loved it sooooo much that I'll do it all year this time. We got t-shirts that said Team Haic, my last name, with the numbers 07 on the back...the year. All their names were on it. The front had our school name and a paw print. The kids made up Team Haic chants and terrorized the pep rally with it! It was fun. This year I want to make a rug that looks like a football field.