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I was going back through all of my resources that I've had at my
fingertips the last two years during my tenure at PELinks4U headquarters
and I couldn't believe what I had found. Not only what I had found,
but more importantly what I hadn't even used yet. Don't get me wrong,
there are some months where I have way too many resources, but there
are also those dreadful months where the information is sparse at
best. And here was all this information crammed in to a file that
I had barely even opened. JACKPOT!!!
When I came to PELinks4U, I was overwhelmed to say the least. Thrown
right in to the technology world straight out of undergrad and trying
to balance a full graduate class load while putting together webpages!!!
Are you kidding me? I'm about as close to a computer genius as Michael
Jordan is to being a baseball player! Now, two years later and many,
many sections created, I'm going to miss this. I'm going to miss
not only presenting, but learning from all the other members of
our PELinks4U team. Including you, the reader, thanks for having
an open "eye" and helping us to make this site one of
the best physical education resources out there.
Take a look at this months section and your going to see some of
those great resources I was talking about. For instance this first
article "At Peak Performance" came from a website called
NASAExplore. This site is great! It not only provides great articles
and resources, but also gives three lesson plans for each. Another
great article this month comes from Carol Goodrow titled "Make
PE Days, Healthy Days".
Another cool game from Jean Blaydes, and some fantastic summer
time activities, including two variations of a scavenger hunt.
Lloyd Gage - PELINKS4U Graduate
Assistant
Interdisciplinary Section Editor
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| Let's Have A Scavenger Hunt |
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Name of Activity: Nature Scavenger Hunt with Pedometers
Academic content: Science, Math
Purpose of Activity: To integrate the classroom study
of plants/soil/rocks within a physical education classroom.
Prerequisites: Students have been studying plants/soil/rocks
in their classroom. They are able to recognize various types of
plants, rocks and soil, as well as the parts of plants. Students
are also aware of the various locomotor skills that can be used
for traveling.
Suggested Grade Level: 2-5
Materials Needed: scavenger hunt worksheet, clipboard
and pencil for each group; pedometer for each student
Physical activity: Locomotor Skills
Description of Idea
- Introduce/instruct the students on the value of pedometers.
- Demonstrate how to use the pedometer and give the students
some short practice time to experiment.
- Divide the students into small groups (4-5) and give each
group a scavenger hunt worksheet. Students will use their knowledge
of plants/rocks/soil to find items listed on the scavenger hunt
worksheet.
- Review all of the items on the list that they are to find.
- Students are to use a different type of locomotor skill as
they travel to each site. Record the skill that was used on
the scavenger hunt worksheet.
- Discuss the boundaries for the hunt outside, if needed.
- When the list is complete turn in the clipboard and wait
for the other groups to finish.
- Once everyone has finished move back inside and open up the
pedometers. Ask students to write down the number of steps on
the scavenger hunt worksheet.
- Use this time to discuss:
* place value;
* estimation (Estimate how many steps that they think they
might take during the activity and then have them subtract the
actual steps and estimated steps to find out the difference.
Have they over estimated or under estimated?);
* addition,subtraction,multiplication, and division;
and
* the ability to categorize the objects found (How are
they classified?).
- Track or record steps taken (compare/contrast steps taken
between/among activities). (Older students could compute total
distance covered over the course of a unit [in miles] or even
the average number of steps taken per activity.)
Teaching Suggestions: Be sure to identify plants ahead
of time that students should stay away from (ie. poison ivy!).
Variations: This activity could be modified for any age
group by creating a more difficult list of things to find as well
as increasing the area used in the search of the items. It can
also be modified by telling the students that they must run between
each item.
Designate a certain locomotor skill to perform after finding
the first object - second object and so on.
Infuse concepts of physical fitness [training heart rate] and
technology [distance covered].
Assessment Ideas: The assessment is on the scavenger hunt
worksheet. Did they find all of the objects listed and did they
move around to find them?
This lesson plan came from PE
Central
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Fun Beach Activities for Kids
They've played in the water, buried Dad, and built a sandcastle,
and now the kids are getting a little antsy. What to do? Though
the beach is full of fun things to keep the kids occupied, you
may need to exercise a little creativity if you're going to keep
them amused for an extended vacation at the beach house.
Check out some of these suggestions for keeping the kids (and
adults) happy:
Scavenger Hunt
Have a scavenger hunt. Make up a list of things you can find on
a beach, shells, rocks, seaweed, horseshoe crabs, use your imagination,
and see who's the fastest at finding everything on their list.
If you want to get educational, try this link for some suggestions
on using a scavenger hunt to teach your kids about sea life: www.beach-net.com/Oceanshellslist.html
Sand Games
Play sand games. Sand offers lots of opportunities to make up
new games to play, since you can draw on it and build things with
it. Try tracing out a dartboard and tossing rocks or shells to
see who can get a bull's-eye. Draw a tic-tac-toe square or a hopscotch
court. You can even play "beach bowling" by constructing
pins from sand and rolling a ball to see who can smash them. Or
make a sand giant. Trace your shadow in the sand and decorate
it with rocks and shells.
Arts & Crafts
Do arts and crafts. Shells, sea glass and other beach finds can
be used to create art projects that will not only keep the kids
busy, but will give them a souvenir to take home. Plan ahead and
bring construction paper, glue and other craft items with you
on your trip. Have them search the dunes for pretty rocks and
different colored polished glass. (But be sure to remind them
to stay away from sharp glass or other dangerous items.) Then
have them use their collection to make a picture or decorate a
piece of driftwood. You can even make "sand mosaics"
by drawing out a picture in glue on a dark piece of construction
paper, then covering it with sand.
Water Games
Make up new water games. If you've got squirt guns and beach balls,
you can have a race. Draw a starting line in the sand and set
the beach balls there. Then use your squirt gun to push the ball
along with water, seeing who can go the fastest. Use your imagination
and you'll think of lots of other games you can play with squirt
guns.
These activities are great for days when it's too chilly to go
in the water, or when the grown-ups want some time to themselves.
Just be sure to keep an eye on things. Kids should never be left
unsupervised on the beach, and should be monitored for overexposure
to the sun. Check out our article on beach safety for the details
on sunburn and other beach hazards.
For more on this article and more beach
information click
here.
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| Article #1 At Peak Performance |
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Everyone knows that if you’re tired, you can’t do your
best work. Your reactions are slower, your attention fades, and
that can lead to big mistakes. How do you know when you’re
too tired to work well? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was
a test that would show exactly when you need to stop and get some
rest? And, wouldn’t this concern be especially important
for astronauts in space?
Meet the MiniCog, a hand-held device that looks a lot like a
video game, and works like one, too. MiniCog isn’t a game,
though; it’s a tool for measuring when your mind and reactions
aren’t performing at their best. MiniCog uses several simple
tests to measure a person’s levels of performance at various
tasks that require alertness and fast reactions. Cognitive impairment
occurs when these levels aren’t at their best.
The nine different tasks include the Stroop Test—where the
name of a color is printed in a color that doesn’t match
its name. When your attention is lagging, you may find it difficult
to name the color shown (not the written word). Another test measures
vigilance—whether you can spot a certain item and respond
quickly. This type of test is particularly helpful for luggage
screeners at airports. Another test asks you to pay attention
to both shape and color at the same time, and press one button
for particular shapes or colors, and another button for other
shapes or colors.
Working memory tasks involve keeping a mental list of objects
while doing something with that information. Spatial memory tasks
ask you to compare an object’s location to where it was earlier.
Verbal tasks involve sequences of numbers, noting any changes.
Higher level problem-solving tasks offer two true sentences and
ask you to determine if a third statement is logical based on
the information given (example: Birds have feathers. Birds can
fly. Anything with feathers can fly.).
Perceptual motor control testing involves pressing a key when
objects flash near key pads. This measures quick reactions and
responses. Cognitive set switching exercises are where you see
a sequence of items, and you must determine why one doesn’t
belong.
“People with stress, fatigue, or sickness sometimes don’t
realize when their ability to think clearly has been affected,”
says Jennifer Shephard, project manager at the National Space
Biomedical Research Institute’s neurobehavioral and psychosocial
factors team. “When someone is tired, they often react by
saying, ‘No, no, I’m fine,’ because we may feel
it’s a sign of weakness to need some rest. It looks bad to
say, ‘I can’t do this—I need a break,’ so
an objective measure of performance helps prevent risky situations.
If you take the MiniCog test and it shows you’re fatigued,
there’s no question that you need a break.”
For the rest of this article and many other great
resources, lesson plans, and articles see this great website from
NASAExplores.com
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| If you have ideas, comments, letters to share,
or questions about particular topics, please email one of the
following Health & Fitness Section Editors: |
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| Article #2 -Carol Goodrow |
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Make PE Days, Healthy Days
by Carol Goodrow
HEALTHY DAYS
It's great to think that you will be able to inspire and influence
your students every day of the week. But while that should be a
long-term goal it's more practical to start with small goals. For
example, on the two days that you actually teach your students plan
to make these days "Healthy Days." A great way to reach
this goal is to have children record healthy habits in a PE/HOME
journal.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES
It's 10:00 when the children enter the gym, but it takes time for
attendance, introducing your lesson, making sure shoes are tied,
and the clock is ticking away. The kids haven't even started to
warm up yet. By 10:25, each student needs to be back in the classroom,
cooled down, with thirst quenched, layers back on and ready for
math. There's not a minute for extras, and yet the demand is increasing
to integrate literacy and/or math skills in the PE classroom. Just
how can this be done without deeply cutting the moments spent with
physical activity?
Young students don't have the time to keep a detailed diary in
PE classes with thoughts, goals, and summaries - at least not with
the time constraints that PE classes are now working under. But
a simple school/home log might work for you. Here are a few simple
ideas that can be used so that kids can "journal" in PE.
PE/HOME LOG
1. Prepare a journal made of log pages that students can
carry from home and back to school on PE days.
2. Have them record physical activity in a block that requires
only one sentence (or less) for each PE class. Students can copy
from a board or they can create their own brief entry.
Keep the writing "age graded". The youngest kids write
just one word in their daily entry. Example: "Dribbling."
Older children can write a sentence. Example: "We learned how
to use our finger tips when dribbling a basketball in the gym."
3. Use a color-in time tracker. Try a circle divided into
sixths (one wedge for each 10 minutes exercising). Students color
in 2 sections for exercising for 20 minutes at the end of PE. They
carry this with them and color in another 2 after recess. It's clear
and simple. The goal is for students to stay active for another
two 10-minute periods at home, bringing the total to one hour. Brief
discussions can relate these diagrams to time, fractions, and data
analysis, depending on the age level.
4. Add a healthy food award square. Divide it into fourths.
Students can reward themselves with smiley faces, stars, etc. for
each fruit, vegetable, or other healthy food eaten during the day.
Use it to add a little writing or art, by writing or drawing the
healthy foods eaten.
ENCOURAGE RESPONSIBILITY
Students can carry their journals with them to and from PE class
and home, just as a homework agenda. Have extra "log"
sheets on hand for kids who forget journals so that they can always
be filling in PE data.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carol Goodrow is the founding editor of KidsRunning.Com,
a Runner's World Micro site. As a classroom teacher, she has had
a running program for seven years, in which journal writing and
math has been a strong component. This spring, she will be leading
an after-school club called "Miles of Math" with 89 first
and second graders, and volunteer parents. The children will walk/run
and learn about nutrition. Then, with parents by their sides, the
children will use Carol's new book Happy Feet, Healthy Food, Your
Child's First Journal of Exercise and Healthy Eating, Breakaway
Books, to read about physical activity and healthy eating and to
record: their daily physical activity, time exercised, healthy snacks,
and more. You can contact Carol at goodrow@infionline.net.
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| "Thinking on Your Feet" w/ Jean Blaydes |
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This section within the Interdisciplinary page is updated each
month with a new idea from Jean Blaydes' book Thinking on Your
Feet. This month's idea is called "Breakfast Boogie" This game
will teach kids about nutritional information while using creative
movement activities.
Click here to learn more! For more information about
Jean Blaydes and Action Based Learning click here.
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