Tock's Team Up Book
Share the goal. Share the work. Go further together.
What is collaboration?
Collaboration means working with other people to do something none of you could do as well alone.
It's more than sitting at the same table. In a real team, everyone knows the goal, everyone has a job and everyone's ideas make the work better.
Big problems are solved by teams: people with different skills, and now AI tools as well. Knowing how to share work, listen and sort out a disagreement is a skill you'll use for the rest of your life.
How this book works
Every chapter has the same four parts.
- Read it. One big idea, with pictures.
- Try it. An activity you play right here on the screen.
- Away from the screen. A game for paper, pencils and friends.
- Quick check. Three questions. Get them all right to earn a star.
There are 9 stars to collect. Got a question wrong? No problem. Read the hint and have another go. That's how thinkers learn.
Choose a chapter
Chapter 1 · Teamwork skill one
Share the goal
A group of people becomes a team when they all want the same result.
Four kids building four sandcastles on the same beach are a group. Four kids building one giant sandcastle together are a team. The difference is a shared goal.
A good team goal is clear enough that everyone can picture it, and you can tell when it's done. "Do some stuff about frogs" is fuzzy. "Make a poster showing the life cycle of a frog by Friday" is clear.
Is each one a clear goal that a whole team shares?
Away from the screen: the goal check
You need: a team of three or four and a small task, such as building a tower from blocks
Before you start, each person secretly writes down what they think the goal is. Compare. Are they the same? Agree on one goal sentence, write it where everyone can see it and then begin.
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 2 · Teamwork skill two
Find your role
In a team where everyone does the same thing, some jobs get done twice and some don't get done at all.
Roles fix that. Each person takes a job, and the team trusts them to do it. Roles can match what people are good at, or what they want to get better at.
A role isn't a rank. The organiser isn't the boss. Swap roles next time so that everyone learns every job.
Read what the team needs. Which role looks after it?
Away from the screen: role cards
You need: four cards, a pencil and a team task
Write the four roles on four cards and deal them out. Do a ten-minute team task with everyone doing their role. Then swap cards and do another. Which role did you enjoy? Which was hardest?
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 3 · Teamwork skill three
Take turns
In a good team, everyone gets to speak and everyone gets to do. Nobody takes over, and nobody is left out.
Some people jump in quickly. Others need a moment to think. If only the fast talkers are heard, the team loses half its ideas.
In maths: fair shares
If 4 people have 20 minutes to present, a fair share is 20 ÷ 4 = 5 minutes each. Division is the maths of sharing fairly.
Work out a fair share for each team.
Away from the screen: the talking stick
You need: a small object, such as a pencil or a beanbag, and a team
Only the person holding the object may speak. When they finish, they pass it to someone who hasn't spoken yet. Use it for one whole team discussion. Afterwards, ask: who did we hear from that we don't usually hear?
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 4 · Teamwork skill four
Build on ideas
The best team ideas don't belong to one person. Someone starts, someone adds, someone improves, and the idea grows.
The magic words are "Yes, and…". They mean: I heard your idea, and here's something to add. "A treasure hunt!" "Yes, and the clues could be maths puzzles!" "Yes, and the treasure could be extra play time!"
The words that stop ideas are "No, but…" and "That won't work." You can raise a worry later. First, see how far the idea can go.
The team is planning a class party. Does each reply build on the idea or block it?
Away from the screen: one word at a time
You need: a circle of three or more people
Tell a story together. Each person adds only one word, going around the circle. You can't plan ahead, so you have to build on what came before. Then try one sentence each.
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 5 · Teamwork skill five
Disagree kindly
Good teams disagree. That's not a problem. It means people are thinking. What matters is how you do it.
Disagree with the idea, not the person. "I see it differently, because…" is fine. "That's dumb" isn't.
The team disagrees. Which response is the fairest way forward?
Away from the screen: two truths and a plan
You need: a partner and something small you disagree about, such as which game to play
Each person says what they want and one reason why. Then say back the other person's reason. Now find a plan you can both live with: combine, compromise, try both or take turns.
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 6 · Teamwork skill six
Help each other
A team is only finished when everyone is finished. So good teammates watch out for each other.
Helping doesn't mean doing someone's job for them. It means asking "Want a hand?", showing them a trick, or holding the ruler steady while they draw the line.
The other half is harder: asking for help. Being stuck in silence slows down the whole team. "I'm stuck on this part. Can someone show me?" is one of the most useful things a teammate can say.
Pick what a good teammate would do next.
Away from the screen: the helping hands tally
You need: a team task and a sheet of paper
During your next team task, make a tally mark every time someone offers help and another every time someone asks for it. Count them up at the end. Which was higher? Why do you think that is?
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 7 · Teamwork skill seven
Keep your word
Teams run on trust. Trust grows each time someone does what they said they'd do.
If you say "I'll bring the glue", the team stops worrying about glue. If you forget, everyone is stuck. Being reliable is how you make other people's jobs easier.
Sometimes you can't do what you promised. That happens. The reliable thing is to say so early, while there's still time to fix it.
In maths: plan backwards
The poster is due at 3:00. Gluing takes 10 minutes, colouring takes 20 and drawing takes 15. That's 10 + 20 + 15 = 45 minutes, so the team must start by 2:15.
Does each action build the team's trust or break it?
Away from the screen: the promise chart
You need: a sheet of paper and a team project
Draw three columns: Who, What, By when. Fill in one promise for each person. Stick it on the wall and tick each one off when it's done. At the end, count how many were kept on time.
Quick checkEarn your star
Chapter 8 · Teamwork skill eight
Look back together
When the job is done, great teams do one more thing. They look back, so that next time is even better.
It takes two minutes. Ask two questions: What went well? and What would make it even better? Talk about what the team did, not about who to blame.
A good thank-you is specific. "Thanks for the help" is nice. "Thanks for redrawing the map when it tore" tells someone what to keep doing.
The team is looking back on its project. Is each comment helpful?
Away from the screen: two stars and a wish
You need: your team and three sticky notes each
After your next team task, each person writes two stars (things the team did well) and one wish (something to try next time). Stick them up and read them together. Choose one wish to act on.
Quick checkEarn your star
The last chapter · Put it all together
The big team-up
You now have all eight teamwork skills. Here they are, with the question each one asks.
| Skill | Ask yourself |
|---|---|
| Share the goal | What are we all trying to do? |
| Find your role | What is my job for the team? |
| Take turns | Has everyone had a go? |
| Build on ideas | What can I add to that? |
| Disagree kindly | What matters most to each of us? |
| Help each other | Who needs a hand? Do I? |
| Keep your word | Did I do what I said I would? |
| Look back together | What worked? What will we change? |
Before you go, show what you know. Answer all ten questions to earn your last star and your certificate.
Final testTen questions, every skill
Certificate of Teamwork
This certificate is proudly given to
for learning to share a goal, take turns, build on ideas and work things out together.
Look it up
Word bank
Every big word in this book, in plain language.
- Collaborate
- To work with other people towards the same goal.
- Compromise
- An agreement where everyone gives a little and gets a little.
- Contribute
- To add your part to the team's work.
- Fair share
- An equal part for each person.
- Goal
- The thing a team is trying to achieve together.
- Include
- To make sure someone is part of what is happening.
- Reflect
- To think back on what happened and what you learned.
- Reliable
- Doing what you said you would do, when you said you would.
- Role
- The job one person does for the team.
- Support
- To help someone so that they can do well.
- Trust
- Believing that someone will do what they say.
Parents, carers and teachers
Notes for grown-ups
Collaboration is learned by doing it, with a little structure. Children placed in groups without a shared goal, roles or turn-taking usually divide into one who does the work and others who watch.
Each chapter adds one piece of structure you can use in any group task. Chapter 5 (disagreeing) and Chapter 6 (asking for help) are the two that children find hardest and benefit from most. Rotating the roles in Chapter 2 prevents the same child always leading.
How to use the book
- One chapter per sitting. Each takes about 15 to 25 minutes, plus the off-screen activity.
- Ages 7 to 8 will get more from it with someone reading alongside. Ages 9 to 12 can usually work alone.
- Chapters build on each other, so going in order works best.
- Wrong answers are part of it. Every quiz question explains itself and can be tried again.
- Stars are saved in this browser on this device. Clearing browser data may reset them.
What each chapter covers
| Chapter | Idea | Where it helps at school |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Share the goal | Shared, clear goals | Group projects, success criteria |
| 2. Find your role | Roles and responsibility | Science investigations, group tasks |
| 3. Take turns | Inclusion, fair shares | Division, class discussion |
| 4. Build on ideas | "Yes, and", contributing | Shared writing, brainstorming |
| 5. Disagree kindly | Resolving conflict, compromise | Debate, wellbeing, playground problems |
| 6. Help each other | Offering and asking for help | Peer tutoring, any lesson |
| 7. Keep your word | Reliability, planning time | Elapsed time, homework and projects |
| 8. Look back together | Reflection, specific feedback | Self-assessment, goal setting |