Together we stand
Gifted learners sometimes have a difficult time working with others in a group situation. They may struggle with:
- Trusting others to do their part in a quality way
- Feeling frustrated with the group work process
- Sensing a loss of control
- Feeling an overwhelming personal responsibility for making sure there is a positive outcome
- Empathizing with others who do not share a similar commitment to the process
Learning to be a group member can begin at home with as a family and cooperating with siblings. Children can learn to appreciating the strength of others while working with younger and older siblings. Whether siblings are all gifted or not, everyone has strengths and skills that can be noticed and appreciated.
Working at home on simply projects, making an herb garden, cleaning the bathroom, sanding and prepping the deck for painting, or any project whether large of small will help build group work skills.
It helps to devise a plan as a family group. Each person decide how he/she can best contribute and then everyone works together with a common goal. When frustrations arise, stop and talk about what is happening. Be kind. Realize you are all different and unique and have strengths unlike other family members. Be patient and realize that the process is as important as the outcome.
The Task Ahead
Parent Instructions: Have family participants choose reading parts. Allow them a moment to read the part before reading aloud.
The goals of this readers’ theater unit are:
- Self-confidence in ability to succeed
- Positive attitude toward work and learning
- Demonstrate empathy
- Demonstrate ethical decision making and social responsibility
- Use effective collaboration and cooperation skills
- Demonstrate effective coping skills when faced with a problem
"the Wonderful Wizard of oz" excerpt
By Frank Baum. Adaption & Activities by K5 Gifted.
Parent Instructions: Ask your children to choose reading parts. Complete the activity.
Characters: Dorothy and Scarecrow
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Dorothy:
I bade my friends goodbye, and again started along the road of yellow brick. When I had gone several miles, I thought I would stop to rest, and so climbed to the top of the fence beside the road and sat down.
Dorothy:
There was a great cornfield beyond the fence, and not far away I saw a Scarecrow, placed high on a pole to keep the birds from the ripe corn.
Dorothy:
I leaned my chin upon my hand and gazed thoughtfully at the Scarecrow.
Scarecrow:
My head was a small sack stuffed with straw, with eyes, nose, and mouth painted on to represent a face.
Scarecrow:
An old, pointed blue hat, that had belonged to some Munchkin, was perched on my head, and the rest of the figure was a blue suit of clothes, worn and faded, which had also been stuffed with straw.
Scarecrow:
On my feet were some old boots with blue tops, such as every man wore in this country, and the figure was raised above the stalks of corn by means of the pole stuck through my back.
Dorothy:
I was looking earnestly into the strange, painted face of the Scarecrow, and I was surprised to see one of the eyes slowly wink at me.
Dorothy:
I thought I must have been mistaken at first, for none of the scarecrows in Kansas ever wink.
Scarecrow:
I nodded my head at her in a friendly way.
Dorothy:
Then I climbed down from the fence and walked up to it, while Toto ran around the pole and barked.
Scarecrow:
Good day.
Dorothy:
Did you speak?
Scarecrow:
Certainly. How do you do?
Dorothy:
I’m pretty well, thank you. How do you
do?
Scarecrow:
I’m not feeling well, for it is very tedious being perched up here night and day to scare away crows.
Dorothy:
Can’t you get down?
Scarecrow:
No, for this pole is stuck through my back. If you will please take away the pole I shall be greatly obliged to you.
Dorothy:
I reached up both arms and lifted the Scarecrow off the pole, for, being stuffed with straw, he was quite light.
Scarecrow:
Thank you very much. I am glad to be set down on the ground. I feel like a new man.
Dorothy:
I was puzzled at this, for it sounded strange to hear a stuffed man speak, and to see him bow and walk along beside me.
Scarecrow:
Who are you? And where are you going?
Dorothy:
My name is Dorothy, and I am going to the Emerald City, to ask the Great Oz to send me back to Kansas.
Scarecrow:
Where is the Emerald City? And who is Oz?
Dorothy:
Why, don’t you know?
Scarecrow:
No, indeed. I don’t know anything. You see, I am stuffed, so I have no brains at all.
Dorothy:
Oh. I’m awfully sorry for you.
Scarecrow:
Do you think, if I go to the Emerald City with you, that Oz would give me some brains?
Dorothy:
I cannot tell, but you may come with me, if you like. If Oz will not give you any brains you will be no worse off than you are now.
Scarecrow:
That is true. You see. I don’t mind my legs and arms and body being stuffed, because I cannot get hurt.
Scarecrow:
If anyone treads on my toes or sticks a pin into me, it doesn’t matter, for I can’t feel it. But I do not want people to call me a fool, and if my head stays stuffed with straw instead of with brains, as yours is, how am I ever to know anything?
Dorothy:
I understand how you feel. If you will come with me, I’ll ask Oz to do all he can for you.
Scarecrow:
Thank you.
Dorothy:
We walked back to the road. I helped him over the fence, and we started along the path of yellow brick for the Emerald City.
Activity
- What is Dorothy’s attitude about her ability to help the Scarecrow off of the pole?
- How did Dorothy and the Scarecrow build a trusting relationship to work together to get the Scarecrow off the pole? How can you work with others at home to build a team relationship?
- How were listening and speaking important to their success?
- How do you know that Dorothy felt empathetic toward the Scarecrow and his situation?
- She could have waved or looked the other way and walked past him. What do you think she thought about as her ethical and social responsibility in helping the Scarecrow? If you see a sibling struggling with a situation at home, how can you help or help them feel supported?
- Did Dorothy have a mindset that Scarecrow was born the way he was without brains and shouldn’t even try to learn, or a mindset that with the right opportunities he could learn? What were her thoughts?
- How did they use collaboration and cooperation skills? What can you do to better collaborate with the other members of your family? When can you use cooperation at home? How can it help your family?
- What effective coping skills did they use when faced with Scarecrow’s problems? What was their plan? Think about a problem that you or someone in your family has. What plan could you make as a family to work through the problem?