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Working With a Group

Working in a Group dovetails several sophisticated communication skills, problem solving skills, and executive functioning skills. Learners will recognize the key language phrases and strategies that effectively help groups work together to distribute tasks, accept suggestions, respectfully disagree, and keep others on task.

Preview an SEL skills lesson: Working With a Group

1 Show the video to your students

00:00:12.373 –> 00:00:15.867
Everyone has their own opinions
and feelings about things.

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We want to be aware of how often
we are disagreeing.

00:00:33.578 –> 00:00:35.287
If we agree most of the time,

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others will have positive feelings
about us.

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It’s okay to disagree once in a while,

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but too often can make
it seem like we’re arguing,

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or insisting on having our way
all the time.

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Other people might stop
inviting us to do things with them

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if we’re always disagreeing.

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To help you, think about
when it’s likely you’ll get your way

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and when it’s not likely.

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You’re not likely to get your way
when no one agrees with you.

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That’s a time when you should
give up your idea

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and agree with someone else’s.

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We remain calm and friendly
when we’re agreeing to someone else’s way.

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It’s okay to say what you wanted
as you agree to someone else’s idea.

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We never agree to an idea
that’s unkind, hurtful,

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or against the rules.

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In those situations,
we stick to our opinion

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even if we’re the only one
who’s doing the right thing.

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One of the ways we stay enjoyable
to be around

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is agreeing more often
than we disagree with others.

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To do this, we:

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Agree many times
before you disagree one time.

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If no one in a group is agreeing with you,

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it’s probably a good time
to back down on your idea

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and agree with someone else’s idea.

00:02:50.604 –> 00:02:53.378
Agree to other’s ideas
with neutral emotions,

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or friendly words and tones.

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Let’s see how Shay agrees
more than he disagrees.

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Shay: Alright. We should figure out
our Halloween costumes.

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Niko: Definitely! We should go
as something with three characters

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so that we all can go together.

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Andy: Yeah, let’s go
with something scary.

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We can get paint our faces
or put on masks.

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Niko:
Yeah, let’s do it.

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I have a werewolf mask!

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Shay:
Guys, I got it.

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Let’s be a band.

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We could have guitars and spiky hair.

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Niko: I don’t really know
if I have the clothing for a band.

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Andy: Yeah, and I don’t really want
to carry around an instrument.

00:03:31.264 –> 00:03:32.826
Shay:
You guys aren’t listening to me!

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Niko:
No, we are.

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We just don’t really want to be a band.

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It’s no big deal.

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Shay: I’m doing
my own Halloween costume!

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I don’t want to be in your group
or trick or treat with you!

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What happened there?

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Shay had a suggestion,
but others didn’t agree with him.

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Would he have been better off agreeing?

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Let’s see what others are thinking.

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Andy:
It’s hard to hang out with Shay.

00:04:00.230 –> 00:04:02.044
He always disagrees with us.

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Niko: If Shay doesn’t get his way,
he just leaves.

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He misses out on a lot of fun stuff.

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Shay:
I had a better idea for costumes!

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We should do my idea!

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Shay wouldn’t consider a new idea
or listen to what the group wanted.

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This made his friends feel annoyed.

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Now, Shay’s going to miss out
on trick or treating with them.

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What could he have done instead?

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Let’s watch Shay try again.

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Shay: Alright. We should figure out
our Halloween costumes.

00:04:37.601 –> 00:04:40.435
Niko: Definitely! We should go
as something with three characters

00:04:40.592 –> 00:04:42.146
so that we all can go together.

00:04:42.403 –> 00:04:43.815
Andy: Yeah,
let’s go with something scary.

00:04:43.840 –> 00:04:46.591
We can paint our faces or put on masks.

00:04:46.616 –> 00:04:47.724
Niko:
Yeah, let’s do it.

00:04:47.749 –> 00:04:48.959
I have a werewolf mask.

00:04:48.984 –> 00:04:50.654
Shay:
Guys, I got it.

00:04:50.739 –> 00:04:51.749
Let’s be a band.

00:04:51.965 –> 00:04:53.928
We could have guitars and spiky hair…

00:04:55.184 –> 00:04:57.680
Niko: I don’t really know
if I have the clothing for a band.

00:04:57.705 –> 00:05:00.202
Andy: Yeah, and I don’t really want
to carry around an instrument.

00:05:01.951 –> 00:05:04.041
Shay:
No one agrees with my idea.

00:05:05.339 –> 00:05:07.143
I really wanted a band costume.

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I have been disagreeing with them lately.

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If I agree with them,

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I’ll have a group to go
trick or treating with.

00:05:14.927 –> 00:05:17.713
Shay:
Okay, we can be scary costumes.

00:05:17.738 –> 00:05:18.643
Andy:
Awesome!

00:05:19.502 –> 00:05:20.923
Niko: Awesome!
This is going to be so fun.

00:05:20.948 –> 00:05:22.277
Who do you guys want to go as?

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Shay:
I’ll be Dracula.

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Andy:
I’ll be a skeleton.

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Niko:
I’ll be a werewolf!

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Let’s see what others think about Shay now.

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Niko: I can’t wait to go trick or treating
with Shay and Andy.

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Andy:
That was easy to decide!

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I’m glad we all agreed.

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Shay:
I’m glad I agreed with the group.

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Now we’ll have a lot of fun on Halloween.

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That time,
Shay agreed to the group’s plan.

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This kept him in the group so everyone
can have fun trick or treating.

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Andy and Niko had positive
thoughts about Shay

00:05:57.892 –> 00:05:59.807
when he agreed more than he disagreed.

00:06:00.086 –> 00:06:01.697
Even if we don’t get our way,

00:06:01.832 –> 00:06:04.875
it’s important to think about what’s fun
for more people in the group,

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not just us.

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What did we learn?

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If we agree more than we disagree,

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our friends and others
will enjoy being around us.

00:06:15.677 –> 00:06:18.854
Agree many times
before you disagree one time.

00:06:20.242 –> 00:06:22.244
If no one in a group is agreeing with you,

00:06:22.269 –> 00:06:25.143
it’s probably a good time
to back down on your idea

00:06:25.168 –> 00:06:27.041
and agree with someone else’s idea.

00:06:28.138 –> 00:06:30.838
Agree to other’s ideas with neutral emotions,

00:06:30.863 –> 00:06:32.799
or friendly words and tones.

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