I really enjoyed the physical and health literacy lesson by Cheryl, Elizabeth, Mary and Rob. I liked how there were so many choices for activities and many of them allowed students to be creative. When I first went into the gym I thought there were four stations but then saw that there were 16. I thought that was great because there was less of a chance for line-ups so students can try many different activities. I saw at the obstacle course a group of students made a hungry hippo game with just two crates, 2 scooters and bean bags. They seemed to really be enjoying themselves. I think that is something that we should all be instilling in our students that simple materials can create fun games. They had many games where a person had to be aware of their body and what it could create. The instant activity had you using your body to create letters and the warm up and cool down had you using your imagination to turn into animals or imagine that you were in certain situations.

The discussion we had was very interesting because it made you reflect on how much exercise a child actually gets in a day and what is considered exercise. When you break down the 60 minutes required it is actually very doable. A teacher can do cross-curricular activities to teach subjects that can involve physical activity. Or a quick activity in the morning or brain break can also be incorporated. Sometimes just that little bit of exercise can make a difference. In my school all students have to go outside to play and are not allowed to stay in the classroom unless it is really cold outside and I think this is very good. A child needs to run around or at least have a change in environment to function.

I think the group had a good balance of activities that incorporated all different interests of students. Some students prefer individual activities and others enjoy working in groups. Good job!

Last Friday’s group did a great job on physical literacy! Both the warm-up and the cool-down were really memorable! They were able to have consistency with the animal theme; something that I think is a great strategy for a Grade 2/3 class, for any class! It was a great way to get us students to use our creativity and imagination; something we should all be striving to do in our lessons. I think we can get lost in the content of what we have to teach that we have a hard time getting creative. Although, using the new curriculum, we will have more opportunities to be inventive with our lessons.

I thought the main activity was also a great way to teach us physical literacy! Liz, Rob, Cheryl and Mary were effective educators in giving us the Bingo task. They told us we did not have to complete it and that we had the choice to go to any of the stations as we pleased; just as long as we were moving and completed at least 2 of the stations. It was a great way to show us students that it was more important to be moving, exploring and having fun with it. I think that is what physical literacy is all about, being able to apply the different aspects of movement into every day play and being able to balance the different bouts of knowledge, in our daily routines. For example, there was a station to create a healthy routine and a healthy plate; giving us the option to have fun with the food options and while educating us. I personally enjoyed the cheering station! I love the rhythmic gymnastics ribbons, they are so much fun to run around with and it was very fun to cheer for our classmates!

Well done to the physical and health literacy group this week! It was a lot of fun being offered choice to explore stations of interest and to pursue new stations or activities if we were curious. I think this ability to choose really allows students to engage more with the lesson as they cater to individual interests, skills, and strengths (or weaknesses). This lesson also did a great job in incorporating cross-curricular competencies and activities in order to demonstrate physical and health literacy, which is a great way to involve activity into other core subject matter. For example, the Spell Ball game was a great activity for students to work on their spelling, while incorporating other skills like passing, dribbling, and strategy.

The discussion in the smaller group settings also allowed for a dialogue to distinguish between DPA and PE. Daily Physical Activity is different from PE and should occur on every non-PE day for 30 minutes during the school day, extended to another 30 minutes outside of school. It is important for students and parents to understand the importance of activity and the positive outcomes it may have on your body. By implementing school based physical activity, we are able to prepare and encourage students to live physical and healthy lives, as well as to think alternatively about PE classes for students who may not consider themselves ‘athletes.’

Awesome job to the group for demonstrating how we are able to incorporate health and physical literacy in a cross-curricular manner!

This week, our group taught a lesson on Physical and Health Literacy. In general, I really love the idea of Physical Literacy. I myself am not a “team” or “organized” sport type, and I am so glad that schools are encouraging students to find a love of physical activity and to make a commitment to healthy living.

I was very proud of our lesson. During planning, we wanted to create a lesson that would encourage students to start pinpointing aspects of physical and health literacy that they enjoy. Because none of our learning objectives were skill based, and because this lesson/unit would be used as a cumulative one, focus was placed on enjoyment rather than skill building. Along with this, the 2 Stars and a Wish self-assessment intends to help students reflect on their experience and draw tangible connections between enjoyment and physical activity. By giving students choice, whether it was through choosing what bingo station they wanted to go to, who they wanted to work with, words they wanted to spell, or group size, students felt autonomous in their decision about their health, and thus could choose to pursue activities they enjoyed. We did want students to try things they wouldn’t normally try, and not to get too stuck in any one activity, thus we gave the instruction that students must fill their whole bingo card by the end of the unit. However, the enjoyment factor was again addressed by telling students they were welcome to revisit and adapt stations as much as they wanted during the unit.

Mary and Cheryl did a wonderful job with the warm up and cool down, and Rob did as well with the Instant Activity! When we were planning, we decided that we wanted to take a cross-curricular approach, and weave in as many connections with other curricular areas that we could. This was reflected in the instant activity (The Moving Alphabet) and its connections to literacy, and the warm up and cool down connections to animals and environments. Activities within healthy bingo showed connections to Math, SEL, Literacy, and competencies such as critical thinking and communications, as well as pulling together different movement skills that students would have learned throughout the term in PHE.

Another of the concepts that we wanted to weave into our activity was cooperation and teamwork. Students had the option to work together in small or large groups, or to work individually on tasks. Again, choice gave students autonomy and ownership over their healthy activities, and they could draw on constructivist learning models to stretch understanding and skill building.

Overall, my main goal was to create a fun and supportive environment for active participation and exploration, and I think that that goal was achieved!