Collaborative Problem Solving

Overview

Lesson 3 of 4 in Beyond the Ball: Teamwork Unleashed. Students work in teams of five to plan, communicate and complete cooperative obstacle challenges, then reflect on how their teamwork and problem-solving strategies affected performance.

Learning intentions

• WALT communicate clearly and listen actively during team challenges.
• WALT use planning, cooperation and problem-solving to overcome physical challenges.
• WALT support others and contribute positively to a team.
• WALT reflect on strategies that helped our group succeed.

Success criteria

• I can explain my idea and listen to others before acting.
• I can take a useful role and encourage my teammates.
• I can adapt our plan when a challenge does not work.
• I can describe one teamwork strategy that helped our group.

Curriculum links

• Participate in physical activity and develop movement skills in a range of environments.
• Understand how teamwork, communication and cooperation influence participation and performance.
• Develop strategies for managing challenges, making decisions and solving problems in physical activity.
• Key competencies: relating to others, participating and contributing, thinking, and managing self.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 minutes – Welcome, purpose and safety

Meet students at the activity area and explain that today’s focus is solving problems together rather than being the fastest individual. Open with the teamwork challenge introduction and ask: “What makes a team effective when nobody can solve the problem alone?”

Establish safety expectations: walk when carrying equipment, keep adequate space, use equipment as directed, and stop immediately on the teacher’s signal. Students remain responsible for respectful communication and safe choices.

2. 5–10 minutes – Warm-up: Move and connect

In pairs, students jog, skip or side-step around the space. On a signal, they find a new partner and complete a quick cooperative task, such as matching three body parts to the floor or balancing side-by-side for five seconds.

Add prompts such as “Give one clear instruction” and “Ask your partner for an idea.” Briefly connect these behaviours to successful teamwork.

3. 10–15 minutes – Team roles and challenge briefing

Place students in six mixed-ability teams of five. Explain that each team will rotate through three obstacle challenges. Suggested roles are navigator, equipment manager, encourager, safety checker and recorder/observer; roles change at each station so everyone contributes.

Use the challenge instructions and teamwork roles to show the course layout, rules and success criteria. Teams have two minutes to plan before beginning. Emphasise that a successful attempt includes communication, inclusion and safe decision-making, not just completion.

4. 15–35 minutes – Team obstacle challenges

Set up three stations and have teams rotate approximately every six minutes, with one minute for movement and reset.

• Island Crossing: The team must travel from one line to another using a limited number of hoops or mats. No student may touch the “water”.
• Equipment Transport: The team moves several soft objects across a marked area using agreed equipment, without carrying them in their hands.
• Silent Sequence: Without speaking, the team orders themselves by a criterion such as height, birthday month or first-name alphabetically, then completes a short movement sequence together.

Circulate, observe and question rather than solve the problem for students. Ask, “What is your plan?”, “Who has not shared an idea?”, and “What could you change?” Pause a group briefly if communication becomes unsafe or disrespectful.

5. 35–43 minutes – Improve and repeat

Give each team one challenge to revisit. They identify one change based on their first attempt, such as using shorter instructions, sharing leadership, slowing down or checking that everyone understands.

Teams repeat the challenge and compare the two attempts. Invite students to notice evidence of improvement in communication, cooperation, inclusion or efficiency, rather than focusing only on time.

6. 43–50 minutes – Cool-down and team debrief

Lead slow walking, breathing and gentle stretches. Students then sit with their team and discuss three questions shown on the reflection discussion prompts: What worked well? What problem did we face? What did we change?

Each team shares one strategy that another team could use. Encourage specific examples, such as “We repeated the plan so everyone knew their job” rather than “We worked well.”

7. 50–60 minutes – Individual reflection and plenary

Students complete a verbal or written reflection: “One way I contributed was…”, “A strategy that helped us was…”, and “Next time I will…”. Use the final reflection and exit prompt to structure responses.

Invite several students to share. Revisit the learning intentions and explain that the final lesson will require teams to apply these strategies in a new collaborative activity.

Resources

• Cones to mark boundaries and stations
• Hoops, low benches or mats
• Beanbags, tennis balls or other soft objects
• Skipping ropes or pool noodles
• Six team markers or coloured bibs
• Stopwatch or timer
• Whistle or agreed stop signal
• the teamwork challenge slide deck
• Optional clipboard and observation notes for the teacher

Assessment

• Observe whether students communicate clearly, listen, include others, take changing roles and adapt their plan.
• Use questioning during challenges to assess students’ reasoning and ability to explain decisions.
• Collect or hear individual reflections, looking for a specific teamwork strategy and a realistic next step.

Differentiation

• Support groups with a simpler course, fewer rules, extra equipment or a teacher model of effective communication.
• Provide sentence starters such as “I suggest…”, “Can you explain that again?”, and “Let’s try…”.
• Allow students with mobility, sensory or coordination needs to take meaningful roles such as navigator, safety checker or equipment manager, with adapted distances and equipment.
• Extend confident groups by reducing equipment, adding a communication restriction or requiring them to justify why their revised strategy was more effective.
• Pair EAL learners with supportive peers and demonstrate each challenge visually before beginning.