Teaching Experience #2 - Intro to Gymnastics
Instructor: Angela Bragato
Grade Level: 1st
School Name: Central Elementary
Date: February 18, 2010
Lesson: Intro to Gymnastics
Equipment: jump ropes, whistle
Objectives: Students will practice locomotor skills and animal walks. Flexibility and balance will also be targeted.
Preparation: Put 25 jump ropes out on the stage
Warm up (5 minutes)
- Arrange students around perimeter of the basketball court
- Teaching Cue: Be arms' length apart! Do not touch or pass the person in front of you!
- Routine:
- Slide to the right
- Slide to the left
- Run clockwise
- Run counter clockwise
- Stretch forward (touch your toes)
- Stretch Right (with hands over head)
- Stretch Left (with hands over head)
- Stretch backwards (hands raised, lean back)
- 2 Waist Circles (hands up: sky, left, back, right, toes)
- 2 Straddle stretches (sit on ground, legs spread out, reach forward, left, forward, right)
- 2 Back arches (prone position, lift chin to sky)
- 10 sit ups
- 10 push ups
Activities (20 min)
Partner Matching Parts (5 min)
- Have students line up in 2 lines next to each other
- Teachers partner up students standing across from each other and send them to opposite baselines of the gym. Partners should stand across from each other.
- Teacher will call out two body parts and a locomotor skill, then students will have to use that locomotor skill to meet their partner in the middle of the gym and match the body parts together.
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- Teaching Cues: It's not a race. Touch each other gently.
- Locomotor Skills (ideas)
- Skip
- Tip toe
- Hop
- Gallop
- Jump
- Run
- Walk
- Slide
Matching Parts (ideas)
- Hand to hand
- Knee to knee
- Elbow to elbow
- Feet to feet
- Back to back
- Head to head
- Head to back
- Elbow to foot
- Knee to shoulder
- Elbow to ear
- Nose to knee
-
Animal Walks (5 min)
- Students spread around the perimeter of the gym
- Teacher demonstrates, students minic.
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- Teaching Cue: Do not pass the person in front of you.
-
- Animal Walks
- Elephant Walk: Arms straight, hands clasped together, bend at waist, walk slowly swinging arms and swaying the whole body
- Camel Walk: Hands on middle of lower back, bend at waist, move up and down by standing on toes and bending knees
- Crocodile Walk: Lay on tummy, move right leg and right arm, left leg and left arm to crawl forward
- Kangaroo Walk: hands cupped, palms down and touching chest, jump on two feet
- Giraffe Walk: hands cupped together, arms extended overhead, walking on tip toe using the arms as the giraffe’s head.
- Frog jump: squatting with hands between legs jumps all at once, landing on both hands and feet simultaneously.
- Snake Walk: Slither on ground like a snake
- Monkey Walk: walk like a monkey
- Bear Walk: Hands on floor, legs straight, move hand and foot on the same side
- Galloping dog: Run on all fours without touching knees.
- Crab walk: With belly up, walk on all fours.
- Wet-cat footwalk: Walk on three limbs and shake one.
- Donkey kick: Place hands on mat and kick feet in air, then land in squat position.
- Snail drag: Keep legs inactive and drag body with arms.
Balance Beam Practice (10 min)
- Have studnets line up to receive jump ropes (handed out by teachers)
- Students scatter across the gym with their own jump rope, spread out on the floor in front of them like a balance beam
- Walk across your balance beam, heel to toe with arms out
- Arabesque
- Walk across heel to toe, with hands on hips
- Balance on 3 points
- Hop across on one foot
- Hop across on other foot
- Arabesque
- Walk on heels
- Walk on toes
- Balance on two points
- Step, touch, step, touch, step, touch
- Walk with hands on head
- Arabesque
- Make a Y (hands in the air) and bow!
- Students line up to give ropes to teacher
Concluding Activity (5 min)
Octopus Tag
- Three people are "it." Whoever it tagged becomes a stationary octopus and can tag other students with arms
- After a few mintues, or until everyone is tagged, switch taggers
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Comments
I taught this lesson last Thursday.
The Partner Matching Activity was a hit! I kept it going because they seemed to enjoy it so much. I didn't get to all of the animal locomoter skills but went through most of them. I think they liked it. Unfortunately, I ran out of time for for the balancing activity and just skipped to Octopus Tag. Initially, the students were didn't understand that they were supposed to freeze but in the second round I made sure they understood.
Noelle is teaching more Gymstanics next week and will start out with the balancing activity.
Overall I felt like it went really well. The students were activity and seemed to enjoy themselves. They listened very well too.
I like how you presented your work. It was well organized and full of information. Perhaps since you said in your own comments that you ran out of time maybe you can shorten the lesson plain to a minimal size. This way you won’t seem like your trying to rush through the lesson plain due to so much work you have planned for the class. Another thing is that when you put the students on the court it would be better to organize them instead of letting them to scatter because what would happen if there doing an activity and on students bumps or hits the other student on accident. This is way safety is perhaps the important factor so it’s better to organize them.
Good thoughts Manny, but I would much rather be over prepared than under prepared. I didn't rush through anything, or feel like I had to complete everything either. The activities that were used this time will be used later (so I don't feel like I wasted time.) I know you're supposed to "stick with the lesson plan" as much as possible, but I'd rather have the freedom to be fluid - if an activity is a dud, cut it short, if it's going good, keep it going.
Also, you're right about how "scattering" could be chaotic. However, the first couple lessons with this class, we scattered them according to hoola hoops that were placed around the gym. Now they have an idea of what "spread out around the gym" means so when we tell them that, they spread out really well. As long as they appear to understand, I think it's a valuable exercise in personal space. I also walk around the gym to make sure no two students are too close. If they are, I tell them spread out more.
Over preparation is definitely a good strategy. Good comments so far.
My specific recommendation regarding this lesson is to cite resources that support your lesson plan. This makes the lesson plan more credible, even if it is already a good one. Certainly these ideas for games came from somewhere, so you would just need to cite that source appropriately. Simple citations like including a reference for your list of locomotor skills can go a long way. Use reputable professional sources for this too, perhaps something like a motor learning textbook or teaching methods source for the aforementioned example. Usually, website citations are not very strong in this regard. This is important to demonstrate professional support for what you are doing with your students and to also provide some legal protection. In other words, you are showing that you follow standard practices in the profession.
I use visual markers (i.e. poly spots) at the beginning of the school year (only with my primary students) in order to get them organized and facilitate a "home position" for them when I am giving instructions. Eventually I "wean" them off the visual markers.
I also like having them scattered because it teaches them to account for their own personal space (whether standing still or moving) - which is one of their P.E. standards.
Teaching 1st graders is tricky and I often characterize them as "puppies" because half of the lesson is focused on training them to "follow directions."
I liked your lesson plan. I agree with Prof. Sather that it is better to have too much than too little - especially with this age group.
I would make a couple of suggestions with your transitions. Rather than hand out the jump ropes yourself, have the students get their own jump ropes by calling colors. What I mean is, say a color (i.e. blue), and if they have that color on their shoes, shirt, shorts, etc., than they can go get their jump rope. This way you can hand out the jump rope and keep them engaged. I would also tell them that they have to use a specific skill when they are retrieving their rope (i.e. walking on heels). This allows them to continually practice the skills you've taught, and prevents them from running to the jump ropes. Transitions with primary (especially 1st graders) is especially important.
I really like those ideas Rosette! Thanks!!!
Opps, I meant to include citations, but forgot. I'll be sure to include that!
Thanks!
Your lesson is very organized. Great job using various activities but it might be to many activities for one lesson. I know in my own personal experience it was hard hard to put lots of activities into one class period especially with younger children. You have great Ideas for activities in which you can make into a couple different lessons. I love the partner matching parts game it makes the children more aware of their bodies and their peers bodies great game the younger grades really enjoy this activity. Great Job I hope this lesson works well these are all very good activities.