Teaching Preparation

Tomorrow will be the day I teach my gymnastics lesson in field.  It is also the day Dr. Miller is coming to observe, so no pressure right?  I have been giving this lesson some thought and I want it to be extra good.  Every other Tuesday we do not have field because that is a teacher in-service day.  Because of this we have less teaching practice which is somewhat causing my teaching to deteriorate.  In order to improve I am going to write down my main points onto a note card, as well as some of the items Dr. Miller will be looking for.  During the lesson the students will be split up into 4 groups, each group having a gymnastics mat, and then there will be an extra gymnastics mat in the middle for demonstration purposes.  I will have each mat marked with a colored cone, that way I can easily call on a group to come to the middle and demonstrate.  The students at my field are on a 6 day rotation so between the rotation and missing every-other Tuesday it has been almost impossible to learn the names of very many of the students.  Having the colored cones will make not knowing their name easier.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to improve a lesson or teaching skills let me know!  

Games That Work

Throughout my past two posts I have been mentioning that little kids need easy, simple, repetitive games to play.  Below there are a few games that my field partners and I have played with the 1st and 2nd graders that were a success.  Some of them are ones that we found and others are ones our Co-op uses.  All but 2 are games that require no equipment.

The following game was one we found for a scooter lesson plan, it was a huge hit and the kids still ask if we are going to play it again. 

Pirates of the Caribbean:
Equipment: 1 CD, 1 CD player, 28 Scooters, 8 Hula- Hoops, 5 polyspots, & 25 Bean Bags

Directions: Hula hoops are set up on either side of gym (we went width wise), one side hula hoops are empty, this is where students will start, the other side has "treasure" or bean bags in the hula hoops, students must scooter from their side to the other to retrieve the "treasure" and bring it back to one of the empty hula hoops.  While they are doing this there will be "cannon ball" throwers standing along the middle of the gym on poly spots, they will each have one Gator Skin ball, they will roll the Gator skin ball at the students scootering across trying to tag them.  The "cannon ball" throwers must stay on their poly spots in order to tag a scootering student.  If they miss then they may retrieve the ball and return to their poly spot.  If they hit the scootering student then the student must return to the end line and begin again.  Every couple of minutes we switched the "cannon ball" throwers out, giving as many students a chance to scooter and be "cannon ball" throwers.
This game is fairly chaotic with students scootering around, but they loved it and everyone in the class was moving.


Zoo Animals:
Equipment: Several pictures of Zoo Animals (or any type of animal)

Directions:  Tape the animal pictures up around the gym, as students come into the gym they will be curious why there are pictures hanging up.  First make sure that the students know where all of the pictures are and what animals are in each of the pictures.  Instruct them to go to the picture that looks like a bear, or frog, or kangaroo, etc.  You can have them do any locomotor skill to each of these pictures.  Then have the students do different movements that correlate with the pictures, such as, jump like a kangaroo to the kangaroo picture, slither like a snake to the snake picture, roar like a lion to the lion picture, etc.  Next have certain groups of students go to different pictures, "If you are wearing a red shirt crawl like a bear to the bear picture."  This can go on for as long as you desire. 


Yes/No Game:
Equipment: A gym

Directions: One side of the gym will be the "yes" side, and one side will be the "no" side.  Have the students point the either side to make sure they know which is which.  Then ask yes or no questions, Ex. Are you wearing a red shirt?  At this point the students should run to the designated "no" side.  


What Time is it Mr. Fox
Equipment: A gym

Directions: Have students line up on one side of the gym, choose one student to be the "fox," they will stand on the opposite side of the gym.  Students will ask the "fox," "What time is it Mr. Fox?" The "fox" will then give the students a time, "7 o'clock!" The students will then take that many steps, this will continue until until either the students have made it to the "fox" or until the "fox" says, "Dinner Time!"  If they say this then the students will run back to the side of the gym they started on while the "fox" chases them.  If the "fox" catches any of them then they will go with the "fox" and help with saying what time it is and tagging the rest of the students.  This will continue until all or most of the students are "foxes."


Clean Up the Backyard
Equipment: 50 Gator Skin balls, 5 gym mats

Directions: Divide the class into two teams.  Set gym mats up across half the court.  Each side of the court will have one team.  Before the game starts each team should have "garbage" (Gator Skin balls) in their "yard."  When the game starts, the students will throw their "garbage" into the other "yard." The goal is to try and rid their "yard" of all the "garbage."


Those are a few of a the games we play at my field that the students really enjoy!

Keep it Simple

This past weekend I had to write a lesson plan on Gymnastics for my field.  I was finding it hard to choose activities for the students to participate in.  To me somersaulting for 3min is boring and not fun, however, I have to keep reminding myself that these students are young and find running around like crazy fun!  They are easily entertained.  In addition I am constantly trying to find easy games for them to play at the beginning of class as a warm up.  This past Thursday I tried teaching them elbow tag and it was a complete flop!  They could not grasp the concept of the game at all.  In elbow tag the person being chased changes frequently, which is great for an older P.E. class, but the first and second graders were too confused by all this change.  In the end I discarded any hopes of playing elbow tag with them and switched to a simple "yes" or "no" game they have played many times.   All they have to do is run to the "yes" side of the gym or the "no" side of the gym according to the questions asked.  Ex. "Are you wearing a red shirt?" "Yes" (run to the "yes" side).  They absolutely loved this game and it got them moving!  Keeping games simple and repetitive is just one of the things I have learned in my field experience!

452 Elementary Field Experience

Hello everyone!! My blogging topic will be about my 452 Elementary Field Experience.  This past week my field partners and I were teaching throwing to 1st and 2nd graders.  Most of them could demonstrate pretty well how to throw, however, they did not necessarily know or remember the steps of throwing (arm with ball goes back behind head, arm without ball reaches out in front, opposite foot of the arm with the ball is forwards, ball is thrown, and follow through).  At the beginning of class we demonstrated how to throw, while verbally going through the steps, then we had a couple of the students demonstrate, and afterwards everyone got a ball and practiced throwing it against a wall.  During this time my field partners and I provided feedback.  After this we played a game called, "Clean Up the Backyard," the students are divided in half, one half goes on one side of the gym and the other on the opposite side.  They are then throwing Gator Skin balls from one side of the gym to the other over a wall of gymnastics mats, the goal is to rid their side of any Gator Skin balls.  This game is incredibly simple but they loved it.  Our Co-op has played this with them before and suggested it for our lesson.  By the end of the class the students had had a refresher on how to throw and had been able to practice this skill by actively moving around.