TEAM ATB ACTIVITY GUIDE
Team ATB is a great way to introduce and reinforce important entrepreneurial concepts
and skills in a club setting. The club format appeals to kids. They like belonging
to a group, and the shared experiences and group dynamics will build over time,
bringing them closer together. The increased comfort level and trust that develops
will help kids express their ideas and participate in discussions, brainstorm, learn
from one another, and experiment. Regular Team ATB meetings also allow you to build
on and solidify kids’ understanding of the entrepreneurial concepts.
As you watch their skills expand and grow, you’ll see kids begin to internalize
Team ATB concepts and behaviors (such as responsibility, teamwork, flexibility,
and leadership) that are important to both your program’s mission and to kids’ lives.
As the Team ATB leader, you play a key role in helping kids to think like entrepreneurs.
And you can learn right along with them!
Choose a 6- or 10-week Team ATB (see
Activity Pathways or create your own pathway). Alternately, you may choose
to integrate individual Team ATB activities into your existing program.
As you plan for your Team ATB,consider the following questions:
· How many sessions should I run? (There are enough activities in this guide to
support 10 or more club meetings. See
Activity Pathways.)
· When and where will I hold the club meetings?
· How do I recruit kids for Team ATB? What’s the minimum and maximum number of kids?
· What are my staffing needs? Where can I recruit volunteers, if needed?
· What training do I need to provide to my volunteers?
· Decorate the meeting room (if it is your regular meeting space):
–Before your first meeting, decorate the room with All Terrain Brain colors
and art. (Visit the Educators Printables
section to download reproducible Team ATB posters, stationery, and T-shirt logos.)
If your meeting room changes from week to week, decorate a large box with Team ATB
materials and bring it with you each week.
–Create a Team ATB bulletin board.
–Display a quote of the day on the bulletin board or wall. You can change or add
other quotes from subsequent Team ATB meetings.
–When completed, display kids’
Life Trees, ATB Road Maps for collecting ATB Badges (the ATB Road Map and
Badges are available online at allterrainbrain.org), and any other artwork or flipchart
lists from the activities.
· Set up a Team ATB Store (a small area in your room or a box) with inexpensive
prizes, priced in Team ATB Bucks, that kids can purchase. A dollar store is a great
place to look for prizes such as mini-notebooks or coin purses.
· Set up the DVD player and monitor/TV for watching the ATB videos. The DVD
is on the inside back cover of this guide or access the videos online at allterrainbrain.org.
All Team ATB meetings follow a similar routine (see below), except for the launch
meeting and the wrap-up meeting. Meetings generally last from 45 to 60 minutes (actual
times may vary). Below is a suggested agenda for each—adapt as needed
· Ask if any kids completed the Team ATB Web Challenge since the last meeting. (See
suggested challenges in each of the activity units, except the Wrap-Up unit.) Briefly
discuss the challenge and whether or not they liked it and what they learned. Hand
out 3 Team ATB Bucks to each kid who completed a non-badge challenge (see Team ATB Bucks ). Check to see if any kids earned ATB
Badges since the last meeting. Have them put the badge(s) on their ATB Road Map.
(5 minutes)
· Watch and discuss an ATB video(s) during the first meeting for each activity
unit, except the Wrap-Up. The activity units include a list of all theme-related
videos and a featured video(s). (5 minutes)
· Discuss the quote and/or profile during the first meeting for each activity unit,
except the Wrap-Up. (5 minutes)
· Review Life Tree
progress, if applicable, during the second meeting of each activity unit. (5 minutes))
· Introduce (or reinforce) the activity unit’s concepts and themes. (5 minutes)
· Do related activity(ies). (See the
Activity Pathways for suggestions.)
5–20 minutes for a JUMPSTARTER
activity
20–30 minutes for an
EXPLORE IT! activity
45 minutes for the IN_DEPTH
activity
· Recap the key concepts and themes. (2 minutes)
· Present the Team ATB Web Challenge for the next meeting. (1 minute)
· Close meeting (2 minutes)
Note: Periodically throughout Team ATB, give kids the opportunity to cash in their
Team ATB Bucks at the Team ATB Store.
Preparation: Before the meeting, write the ATB Entrepreneurial Concepts on a flipchart.
You can use the list as a visual reminder as kids explore what an entrepreneur is.
· Explain to kids that they are about to embark on an exciting new experience that
may change their lives forever! It’s called Team ATB and they will learn about and
explore entrepreneurship and their own entrepreneurial spirit through fun and interesting
activities.
· Describe the general format of meetings (see Typical Team ATB Meeting above).
· Tell kids how often they will meet, when, and where.
· Be enthusiastic! Kids will get excited if you are.
Kids may or may not know what an entrepreneur does. Ask kids if they have heard
the word entrepreneurship and what they think entrepreneurs do. Explain that entrepreneurs
are people who start and run new businesses, generally in response to identified
opportunities. They provide many of the products and services we use everyday. They
also provide jobs that help our communities thrive and grow. Tell them that
at Team ATB meetings, they will do activities that help them explore their own entrepreneurial
spirit. (For more information on entrepreneurs, see the
resources.)
Distribute the Team ATB Membership Cards. Kids can sign their names and attach the
cards to pieces of yarn or string if they want to wear them. Ask kids to bring their
cards to each meeting.
Kids will earn Team ATB Bucks for certain activities that they can exchange for
small prizes at the Team ATB store—so quintessentially entrepreneurial.
Show kids the ATB Roadmap. Tell them that they can earn an ATB Badge for each entrepreneurial
concept online at the ATB web site between meetings. Kids can display their
badges on their ATB Roadmap in the meeting room. For more details, check out the
ATB Roadmap and Badges at allterrainbrain.org.
Watch and discuss the suggested ATB video(s). (See the Team ATB Launch activity
unit.) Tell kids they will watch ATB videos on entrepreneurial concepts at
each meeting.
See the Team ATB Launch activity unit.
· Recap the key concepts, themes, and Team ATB goals.
· Introduce and present the Team ATB Web Challenge for the next meeting.
· Close meeting.
· Select one or more combination of ideas from the Team ATB Wrap-Up activity unit
to implement with the kids. Make your plans several weeks ahead, so you have time
to get organized and to invite guests (kids’ families and friends, or guest speakers).
Plan to have snacks for your guests. Whichever wrap-up idea(s) you choose, make
sure to have an awards ceremony (with or without kids’ families and friends) and
distribute the Team ATB Entrepreneur Award.
· If you decide to continue Team ATB with kids’ entrepreneurial projects, schedule
your next meetings.
· Have kids answer some brief evaluation questions.
· Have kids’ take home all Team ATB work.
· Read each activity first to get a sense of the activity and the entrepreneurial
concepts related to it, and to see how to adapt the activity to your particular
group.
· Watch the video(s).
· Review Team ATB Web Challenges online.
· Gather and prepare all the materials.
· Copy handouts as needed.
· During the activities be ready to provide prompts for kids. If kids are not progressing,
ask a question to help them get back on track: “What do you think would happen if
you . . .” or “What do you think you should do?”
· If they are stuck trying the same thing as someone else, encourage them to try
something different. Remind them of what’s already been tried.
· Reiterate an important step if kids miss it.
· Model activities when necessary.
· Have kids demonstrate their learning by explaining the thinking behind their work.
· Throughout and at the end of activities, try to make connections back to real-world
examples from your own and the kids’ experiences.
· Set ground rules and expectations. Praise and criticize specific behavior rather
than individual kids.
· Establish a stop-and-listen signal like flashing the room lights or raising your
hand.
· Hand out materials only when you are ready to begin the activity.
· Be enthusiastic, it’s contagious!
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