https://nifa.usda.gov/ 

program/4-h-positive-youthdevelopment 

National Institute 

of Food 

and Agriculture 

United States 

Department of 

Agriculture 

lesson plan: activity 1.5 

lesson details introduction 

Building Block communication challenge! 

A FederAl PArtnershiP For steM educAtion 

expeditionary

skills

for life 

 

 

 

National Aeronautics 

and Space 

Administration 

age/grade level 

Elementary School 

learner outcoMes 

Youth will understand how to 

communicate in a team setting. 

success indicators 

Youth will demonstrate the 5 “Be’s” 

of team communication. 

life skills 

Teamwork, Problem Solving, Cooperation, Communication, Accepting 

Differences, Leadership, Contributions to group effort. 

national standards 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.1 

Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and 

collaborations with diverse partners, 

building on others’ ideas and 

expressing their own clearly 

and persuasively. 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.2 

Integrate and evaluate information 

presented in diverse media and 

formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. 

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.6 

Adapt speech to a variety of contexts 

and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English 

when indicated or appropriate. 

21st Century: Learning and Innovation Skills/CRITICAL THINKING 

AND PROBLEM SOLVING/Solve 

Problems/Identify and ask significant 

questions that clarify various points 

of view and lead to better solutions. 

prep tiMe 

15 minutes 

activity tiMe 

40 minutes 

Materials list 

•small interlocking blocks (alternatively use soft clay or modeling clay) 

•re-sealable bags 

•paper 

•a timer 

•index cards 

•pencils or pens. 

suggested space 

table and chairs for each small group 

suggested group size 

Small groups of 4-6 youth 

Background inforMation 

Prior to activity, create a simple 


structure using 12-15 interlocking 


blocks (or clay). For each team, place 

into a resealable bag the blocks (or 

clay) that they will need to recreate 


the simple structure. 


Write the following roles on individual note cards: 

Builder 

Runner 

Viewer 

Observer 

Each youth will need ONE card. If 


you have more than four on a team, 


create additional Observer cards.
 

resource 

5 Important Tips for Team Communication 

http://www.teamworkandleadership. 

com/2012/02/five-important-tipsfor-effective-team-communication-1. 

html 

c
ommunication is important among 

members of a team in order to 


accomplish their goals. Each member of a team is different. They each have 

cultural backgrounds, experiences and 

sometimes languages that can influence 

their communications, perspectives and 

opinions. These differences can have value 

as each member contributes to achieving 

the team’s goals. Remember to “Be” these 

five things when communicating. 

Be Clear. The expectation must be set that if any 

team member is not clear, they are responsible 

to ask. 

Be Present. Each team member must make a 

commitment to really listen, seek to understand 

one another, use appropriate body language and 

ask clarifying questions. 

Be Polite. Cutting people off when they are 

talking, not saying “thank you” “excuse me” and 

“please,” personally attacking team members 

and being mean are all examples of poor team 

manners that can result in poor work communication on teams. 

Be Flexible. Team members need to be flexible 

enough to support decisions different to their 

own desires. Supporting the decision doesn’t 

mean that everyone has to agree, but they must 

be willing to help make whatever has been 

decided a success. 

Be Kind. Team members must be careful to 

never talk bad or gossipabout each other. If you 

can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at 

all. 

continued next page >> 
page 2

lesson plan: activity 1.5 

Building Block communication challenge, continued 

expeditionary

skills

for life 

>> continued from previous page 

activity 1: Build it (40 Minutes) 

Have you ever worked with a group of people? People on a 

team need to work with each other. Every person is a little 

different. They may know different things, have special 

skills or come from other places. Each person helps to 

reach a team’s goals. Imagine if you couldn’t communicate; how would you feel? In what ways would you be able 

to complete a task? 

Today we are going to complete a team challenge. There 

are different roles you may play. 

The Builder (1) receives a bag of building blocks. The 

Builder is the only person who may touch the blocks. The 

builder takes direction from the Runner. The Builder may 

not speak and may not see the model. 

The Runner (1) tells the Builder what the Viewer told him/ 

her. When the Runner can’t remember any more details or 

wants to confirm a detail or ask questions, the Runner and 

Viewer may converse twice about the details. After that, 

they have to communicate without spoken language. The 

Runner may not touch the blocks - the Runner may only 

tell the Builder what to do. 

The Viewer (1) sees the original model. The Viewer looks 

at the original model and tells the Runner all the details he/ 

she can remember about the model. The Viewer may not 

see what the Builder is doing; only the Runner may see 

what is being built. The Viewer has three passes to look at 

the structure for 30 seconds after the initial 3 minutes. 

The Observers (1-3) are the other team members who 

will write down what they see about the communication. 

What did you see? Do the Builders know what they are 

being told to do? If not, what happened? Observers may 

only watch – they may not talk or answer questions. 

Directions: 

1.	 Have youth draw cards to determine which role they 

will be playing. Send youth into groups- make sure 

you have one Builder, one Runner and one Viewer. You 

may have several observers. 

2.	 Set up your original structure in a secure space. Set a 

timer for 3 minutes. Invite the Viewers to view the 

original model. 

3.	 Set timer for fifteen minutes. Groups proceed to build 

duplicate structures following the above stated rules. 

4.	 When the 15 minutes are up, bring each group together. Have the groups look at their structure and compare it to the original. 

Discuss: 

1.	 What did the observers notice? 

2.	 How did participants feel in their roles? What was 

challenging about this exercise? 

3.	 How similar is the group model to the original model? 

4.	 Were you able to communicate without using words? 

How would you apply these skills when communicating with others who may not speak English? 

deBrief activity (15 Minutes) 

1.	 Explain that there is give and take in any interaction. 

An export is what you give during the activity and an 

import is what you take/gain during the activity. 

2.	 Give participants an index card and pencil/pen and ask 

them to write one thing they imported on the front of 

the card and one thing they exported on the back of 

the card. 

3.	 Take about 10 minutes and have participants share 

with the group what they recorded on their cards. 

Any interaction has some degree of give and take. You 

might be able to write three or four things on each side of 

your card for this activity - there is no right or wrong 

number of responses. We need to remember that we all 

have to work with other people in our life. Make sure you 

are importing and exporting during each and every interaction and ensure you are contributing to solving the 

problem at hand. 

Variations 

With more time this activity can be repeated, giving all 

participants the opportunity to try the different roles of the 

task. If you used blocks for the original activity, you can 

try it with clay or other materials. 

continued next page >> 
page 3

lesson plan: activity 1.5 

Building Block communication challenge, continued 

expeditionary

skills

for life 

>> continued from previous page 

applied challenge 

The Peace Corp’s “The Blind Men and the Elephant” lesson 

(https://www.peacecorps.gov/educators/resources/ 

blind-men-and-elephant/) enables youth to examine the 

importance of perspective in how people perceive things. 

It uses a retelling of a traditional folk tale from India that 

illustrates how different people can have distinctly different perceptions of the same thing. Youth discuss how 

each blind men’s arguments differ when understanding an 

elephant. Even when presented with a real elephant, each 

man could “see” only what he already believed to be true. 

The story and this lesson is intended to encourage youth 

to develop perspective awareness—awareness that each 

of us creates a unique view of the world based on personal 

experience, language, and culture. 

instructor’s notes 
activity 1.5: learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

Q1 

Q2 

Q3 

activity 1.5: learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

Q1 

Q2 

Q3 

activity 1.5: learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

Q1 

Q2 

Q3 

activity 1.5: learner assessMent 

These questions are about things you learned during this 

activity. Please check the circle that best describes you. 

expeditionary

skills


expeditionary

for life

skills


for life 

I can ask questions when something is not clear to me. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can listen quietly while others share their ideas, even if 

those ideas are different from my own. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can learn about different ways of doing things. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can ask questions when something is not clear to me. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can listen quietly while others share their ideas, even if 

those ideas are different from my own. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can learn about different ways of doing things. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can ask questions when something is not clear to me. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can listen quietly while others share their ideas, even if 

those ideas are different from my own. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can learn about different ways of doing things. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

expeditionary

skills


for lifefor life

expeditionary

skills


Q1
 

Q2
 

Q3
 

I can ask questions when something is not clear to me. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can listen quietly while others share their ideas, even if 

those ideas are different from my own. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me 

I can learn about different ways of doing things. 

Not at all like me 

A little like me 

Somewhat like me 

A lot like me