Collaboration

The tools have been grouped according to the “Ceed” or skill that they are attempting to guide, teach, or practice. Many of the tools in this toolkit correspond to more than one ceed and are therefore listed in multiple places.

Collaboration: The action of working with someone to produce or create something, using skills of communication and careful listening.

All about Activists

Youth brainstorm a list of activists, leaders, philosophers, philanthropists, and others who have made a difference in their communities and/or the world. They identify the

Ants on a Log

A fun and physical activity that encourages teamwork and collaboration. You will need an even number of youth to participate, ideally close to 10. Find

Autobiographical Story

To create an autobiographical story, start with the problem, tension, conflict or personal realization that will serve as the heart of the story. Then work

Beanbags of Cooperation

A fun, noncompetitive game that clearly demonstrates concentration, cooperation, and commitment. You will need a large indoor or outdoor space and many bean bags (or

Bigger Than or Less Than

Using bigger than, less than, or equal signs, role-play different scenarios the youth face on a day to day basis to evaluate whether or not

Blind Teamwork

This is a fun game that emphasizes clear communication, listening skills, and teamwork. Choose a large indoor or outdoor area and divide youth into two

Brain Breaks

The brain alternates between various cycles (high and low) and hemispheres (left and right) throughout the day. To boost energy, enhance wellness, or get youth

Build a Shelter

A collaborative outdoor activity in which youth are challenged to build a shelter with a limited number and type of materials (ie. no more than

Celebrations

It is really important to celebrate both small and large successes, honor the people involved, maintain momentum, and continue to inspire improvement. Remember to build

Change the Ending

Revisit an event that ended with a less than desirable outcome. Encourage youth to create their own alternative endings. Why did they make the choices

Character Lenses

While doing creative writing, have youth investigate the people involved in their storyboards. What types of people were involved? What do you think they were

Collaborative Leadership

Includes four steps: 1) Connect, 2) Ground, 3) Practice, and 4) Reflect. Group members must be as diverse as possible, there must be a shared

Compass Points

An interactive activity that increases awareness of our own and others’ preferences and opens doors to empathy. Create four signs on large chart paper –

Conflict Resolution Drama

Research shows that practicing pro-social behaviors is essential to internalizing these dispositions. Have youth form small groups of two to four. Hand out a sample

Count to Ten

Have children sit or stand in a circle. The group counts from one to ten. Anyone can say a number, but if two people say

Don’t to Do

Instead of “Don’t hit,” try “Touch nicely” and demonstrate. Reinforce by asking, “How do you touch nicely?” Instead of “Don’t touch the lamp,” say, “You

Double Listening

Includes active listening plus listening for the counter story. A counter story is one that will introduce possibilities of resolution or that will help you

Drama and Dance

Use drama and dance to build community, foster active learning, and support youth growth. Use both to aid classroom management, address multiple intelligences, and to

Expository Writing Structures

Although narrative structures are more easily remembered and come more naturally to youth, ask them to try these expository writing structures: Compare & Contrast (discuss

Family Cultural Sharing

Identify cultural treasures from the families in your classroom. Have families come in and share their cultural traditions. Highlight ways of celebrating community through dance,

Family Meetings

Plan meetings as a whole family (try for weekly) where members discuss the upcoming week. Identify where family members might need some help. Family Meetings

Feedback

The use of feedback can reduce stress and confusion. Immediate feedback should be specific and focus on ways that youth can improve. Try to avoid

Fight or Flight

When people are upset, they access the fight/flight part of their brain. Do not try to solve problems if you or the youth are angry

Find the Light in Others

Make it a practice to look for the “light” in others; see their kindness, compassion, strengths, and talents. Sit in a circle of 4-6 people,

Good Thinker’s Toolkit

A valuable resource for learning how to think critically and responsibly about multicultural and social justice issues. It is made up of seven letter prompts,

Group Conflict Challenge

Research and examine the different contemporary and indigenous systems for resolving conflicts. Form teams of problem-solvers representing the various systems. Each team is given a

Grow a Garden

Consider the benefits of establishing and maintaining a garden….. time with nature, cultivation of living plants, growing of edible foods, time to reflect, and many

History Jigsaw Puzzle

Each participant explores the same time or event in history from the perspective of a different person or group. Individuals then come together and share

Hopes & Dreams

A reflection activity that can be done as part of a family meeting, intervention, restorative justice session, or other time in which a “big picture”

How does it feel?

After analyzing the information surrounding a problem or challenge, what is your reaction? Were the systems fair? Why or why not? Identify one or two

Ho‘oponopono

Learn about Ho‘oponopono, the Hawaiian system for ‘setting it right,’ and restoring individual and community harmony and balance. It promotes acts of healing interpersonal conflicts

Human Bingo

An interactive game to learn names and qualities about people in a group, that teaches skills of investigation, appreciating diversity, identifying similarities and differences. Photocopy

I Statements

Used to confront a behavior without placing blame on another. . Also used to recognize one’s emotions. Another use is to state a point of

I Wish My ________ Knew

Have youth respond in writing to the prompt “I wish my __________________ (fill in person or role) knew…….” in order to learn more about their

Identify Needs & Interests

More likely than not, when people are angry or upset, they are expressing their “position” or a hardline stance on something. It’s important to teach

Individual Work & Group Pairings

Youth need to feel comfortable sharing their ideas and feelings, so allowing space for individual work, one-to-one work and group work is critical for self-reflection,

Intellectual Safety

In order to develop respectful relationships between all members of a group or community (classroom, team, family unit, etc.), there must be a clear and

Kind and Firm

It is the AND that brings kind AND firm together to avoid extremes. Begin by validating feelings and/or choices when possible. Examples, “I know you

Kupuna Sharing

Bring in a knowledgeable kupuna (elder) to share their life story. Discuss how roles, rights, and responsibilities look similar or different in Hawai‘i (or elsewhere)

Land Management Systems

Mauka (mountain) to makai (ocean) management. In teams, draw an ahupua‘a (Hawaiian term for a large traditional socio-economic/geologic/climatic subdivision of land that was cooperatively managed).

Let It Settle

A great visual tool to show the imbalance of a brain that is experiencing anger or rage, and how it is possible for the anger

Literature Circle

Use a literature circle to discuss major elements of a story that is developmentally appropriate to the audience. Include its characters and events. Are the

Mindful Breathing

Teach youth how to belly breathe by having them lie down and put their hands on their bellies. See how deep they can breathe in

Mirroring

Repeating the meaning of a person’s words in a warm and caring tone assures the speaker that you seek to understand instead of judging or

Mix Pair Share

Have the children/students mix, then teacher calls “pair” and the youth pair up. Teacher then asks a question and gives the pairs thinking time. Pairs

Mo‘olelo

The Hawaiian word for story or tradition; use classical Hawaiian stories to teach literacy, science, and culture. In so doing, youth build their own stories

My Community

Focusing on wants and needs, have youth each draw their own classroom, school and/or family. How would they meet their needs? They will most likely

Name it to Tame It

Help youth to get more specific and expand their emotional vocabulary, replacing basic feeling words with more sophisticated terms. They graduate from using words like

Neighborhood Walkabout

With gloves and buckets, walk the neighborhood and pick up rubbish off of sidewalks, in public parks, or on the beach. Combine with lessons about

Open-Ended Questions

Teach youth how to ask effective open-ended questions to learn more. These are typically: How, When, Who, What, and Why questions that cannot be answered

Peace Table

Providing a space for problem solving is important. A peace table designates expectations for where and how youth will engage with each other. Peacebuilding literature,

Play It Out

Create an end of the semester or end of the year skit or play on a particular historical event. Each child/student has a role. Play

Positive Interdependence

Structure a small group activity to create a picture or diagram that shows how youth are linked in a way that they cannot succeed without

Process Writing

Break up a writing task into the following components: Pre-Write; First Draft; Mini Lesson; Peer Share; Revise; Edit; Publish. To Pre-Write, youth research, brainstorm, and

Puzzles

Puzzles are a good way to encourage critical thinking with all ages of youth. In order to successfully complete a puzzle, they must work with

Recognize-Absorb-Admire

In more diverse classrooms or other groups, have youth share their cultural heritage through music, food, literature, language, art and so on. Have each of

Reflect and Reenter

When an incident occurs, youth can spend time in reflection by writing and identifying: a) what happened; b) what was my role in the problem?;

Restorative Practices

Restorative Justice (RJ) is a form of restorative practice and a problem-solving approach that focuses on relationships and building community. It is an approach to

Revision Toolbox

Teach youth that the writing process isn’t finished after the first draft. A good Revision Toolbox has tools that work with word choice, writing structures,

Roots of Empathy

An international evidence-based K-8 classroom program (started in Canada in 1996), which has shown significant effect in reducing levels of aggression among school children while

Rose and Thorn

A very simple communication and exploration exercise that can take place with youth and adults just about anywhere. Ideally, it would be used in a

Rotating Facilitators

A way to build commitment, buy-in and skills is to alternate between facilitators during family meetings or classroom group work. Teach youth the skills of

Round Table/Robin

There is usually one piece of paper and one pen for the team. A subject, idea or problem is introduced. One youth makes a written

Saving Face

Teach youth the importance of face-saving in a conflict. Teach them how to calm themselves or another angry person through deep breathing and validation of

Shared Decision-Making Pacts

Identify the things that everyone in a group needs to resolve problems. Identify how decisions will be made in families, schools and workplaces to ensure

Shared Values and Commitments

What do we want to see in our community, classroom or home? Identify shared rules together. Call them “peace actions” or ask individuals what they

Silent Signals

Adults often talk too much and our youth tune out. A silent signal speaks louder than words. Smile and point to the shoes that need

Six Thinking Hats

A simple, effective parallel thinking technique developed by E. de Bono that helps people be more productive, focused, and mindfully involved. It forces people to

Socratic Seminar

Titled after the Greek philosopher, Socratic dialogue transforms a student’s learning experience by allowing youth to generate and express their own ideas via the teacher

Story Board

Make a storyboard of a particular event in history that involves a social injustice (slavery, women’s rights, settlers coming to America, Hawaiian history). Have youth

Structured Academic Controversy

An opportunity to explore controversial issues and divergent positions and work to reach consensus on what may have happened– highlighting the complexities of particular perspectives,

Talking Stick

Use a tangible object like a stick, a flower, a ball, or something important to the group to facilitate civil discussions and collaborative activities. Three

Technology Blackouts

Set aside times during the day when no one in the family touches technology. Turn off all cell phones, televisions, computers, etc. Youth who are

Thankenstein

Adult writes at the top of a blank paper, “I’m so grateful that if I were a monster created by a mad scientist, my name

The World Peace Game

TWPG is an elaborative hands-on, youth-driven game/exercise. Founded in 2010, TWPG Foundation is dedicated to sharing the global mission of peace, developing self-awareness, and the

Think Pair Listen Share

Have youth think individually and record their views about a particular issue. Then have them share their ideas with one another. Teachers/parents can foster careful

Think Tac Toe

An alternative assessment method that can be used with all grades and subject areas. In the tic-tac-toe 9-square grid, list a variety of activities and

Treasure Hunts

Take youth on team treasure hunts. Ask critical questions along the way to solve a problem. With each treasure is a clue to solving the

Try It On

n exploring conflict, commit to trying on different perspectives in the conflict. Draw out of a bowl a particular role with an attached explanation. Play

Twenty Questions

A great game in so many ways! Have one player think of an object. The other players will need to ask yes/no questions in an

Wagonload of Compassion

Share individual stories of people in need. Identify what everyone can contribute. Where could we find the needed materials? Together as a group, deliver the

What Should We Do?

Show pictures and/or video of certain situations at school and in the surrounding neighborhood. Examples include: seeing garbage on the floor, an elderly person dropping

Where in the World?

Show youth a variety of pictures of celebrations involving young people from around the world. Place cut-outs of known children/students into the celebration picture (make

Winning Cooperation

Youth feel encouraged when you understand and respect their point of view. Express understanding for the youth’s thoughts and feelings. Show empathy without condoning, share

Yes, But to Yes, And

A great way to foster collaboration and validate the opinions of all people in a discussion. Try this: With a partner, choose a topic to