Magic Carpet Ride

• A queen or king-sized blanket or sheet

• Ample floor space to lay the blanket or sheet out completely flat

Magic Carpet Ride begins the process of removing physical boundaries as students work together to solve a complex challenge.

1. Explain that this activity will require students to have enough trust in one another for them to feel comfortable letting certain students step up into a leadership role, while others follow.

2. Tell students that they will all stand on the sheet or blanket, and theirngoal will be to flip the sheet or blanket over without anyone having to step off of the sheet.

3. Allow time for students to collaborate and propose novel ideas and solutions for the task.    Write the proposed solutions on the board.

4. Have all students stand on the sheet or blanket and try various solutions to accomplish the task.

5. Close the activity with a debrief, either verbal or written, using a few of the questions from the Stage 3 Debrief Prompts.

To increase rigor: 

• Allow only one student to speak while the students flip the sheet or blanket.

• Blindfold students.

• Give students only a certain number of attempts to complete this activity.

To increase scaffolding: 

•Allow students to complete the task in increasingly smaller groups, rather than as an entire class.

• Provide a word bank and have students refer to it when describing their proposed solutions.