I was so tired after today’s lesson! The warm up activity was very fun and would be easy to teach to a grade 5/6 class. This group had us jog around in one area to wait for the instructions to follow. For example, they would yell out “8 feet” and we had to get into a group of 8 people (including ourselves) and put eight of our feet in the middle. If we were unable to find a group to meet the instructions, we had to go off to the side and do five jumping jacks before going back into the game. The instant activity was a good game to teach the fundamentals of track and field such as opposite arms and legs while running. They split us up into two groups of rabbits and roosters and had us line up within our groups facing the opposing team. It was slightly confusing for me to remember when it was my turn to chase and when I should run, but it was fun nonetheless. I loved the main activity Jen, Megan, Michelle, and Devon did! We were put into groups of about four and each group was spread out around the track. Some of the teams had a baton. The person with the baton was at the front of the line and they had to run to the first person of the group in front of them and pass the baton then join the back of the line of the new group. The group without the baton had to practise opposite arms and legs while continuing to walk around the track while waiting for the baton to come around again. The activity that this group came up with can have everyone in the class participating and one person was not put on the spot. There was still a little bit of competition among us, but it was all friendly as we ran to each group to pass the baton. The cool down activity was entertaining with all the different moves to calm our bodies down while still moving and stretching.
Good job Jen, Megan, Michelle, and Devon!
I agree with Brianna’s post in that yesterday’s individual/dual activity group did very well with their lesson. The group was able to be creative and cater to children’s interests with the rabbit rooster game, as well as work on important teamwork/icebreaker games to set the tone for the rest of the day. Without us even recognizing it, the group was able to teach us progression fundamental movement skills from walking (with opposite arms), to hopping, to skipping, and finally to running through an activity. In this way, they were able to educate us on the movement concepts that we would need in order to succeed in the main activity. The group activity we did was the marching baton sprint, which I surprisingly really enjoyed. I noticed everyone was having a good time, and the marching speed gave opportunity for everyone to take a breather after a heavy sprint. The warm-ups and instant activity were really well done as I found myself to be focusing on my oppositional arm swings as I ran from my line to the next group. Understanding movement concepts enable us to recognize how our body works, and how fundamentally sound we can perform if we work on technique and form. Something such as this could translate into a unit on health and stretching because by recognizing what muscles are involved with certain movements, focus can be honed in to stretch those muscles.
Job well done to Jen, Megan, Devon, and Michelle!
I also really enjoyed the Friday track and field lesson. I have never been on the UBC track before so it was nice to be outside and have a different atmosphere for our gym class.
I thought the warm up game was really fun and something I think my class would really enjoy doing in gym. I liked how at first they told us to walk but then modified it with us running to get us more active. The game was very inclusive and no one felt left out. You just quickly did your jumping jacks and then got back in the game. I also liked the rooster and rabbit game. There was a couple of times when I forgot which animal I was or at the end I thought Megan was going to call out the animal but Michelle did but I thought that was good because it forces you to listen. The baton game was also very inclusive and everyone was constantly active.
I think the discussion on diversity was very interesting and was well incorporated into the activities we did. Even though some people may not be strong in track and field they had activities that built on one another. As teachers, we must always look at our students and always create a lesson where they can contribute in some way. Not every student is going to be strong in every activity but if you include them they are more likely to participate.