Musilton’s Musing: Thought Provoking Questions, Statements, and Other Ponderings From a P.E. Teacher.

Mr. Usilton has been teaching P.E. for 28 years; the past 20 years at the elementary level. He has been the co-op for 45 student teachers. Mr. Usilton is the father of 4 children 12-14 years old (12 yr. old triplets). He is continually observing everything he can about children and sport. The following is the second in a series of articles. These articles are opinions and observations. Most however, are research based.

Extreme activities "Circus Arts" in Elementary Physical Education Class

written by Michael Usilton, Fern Hill Elementary School, West Chester PA

Not everyone wants to participate in team sports. Alternatives need to be explored even at the elementary age. I purposely used the word "extreme" to get your attention. The word extreme brings with it visions of danger and broken bones. We certainly aren't jumping motorcycles or skateboards off of ramps or steps in Physical Education class. We are however using alternative methods to explore individual tastes.

For the past 10 years I have taught a unit I call "Upper body strength, balance and timing." This unit includes the following: A cargo net, ropes with big knots, a rope with little knots, a rope with no knots, all of which go up to a 16 ft ceiling, a traverse pegboard, a wall climber, long jump ropes (for single long rope and for double dutch), a team balance board, go go's (4 wheeled foot pedaled scooter), a tug of war balance square game, pogo sticks, stilts, cup walkers (easy stilts), balance boards (indo boards), and unicycles.

This unit was originally designed to make our children stronger, and enhance balance and quickness for our following gymnastics unit. I quickly discovered that the unit took on a life of its own. One of our school's favorite units, it allows for individual tastes and also for perseverance through some very difficult tasks.

Society is so enamored with the "get it now philosophy." Success in some of the above activities must be truly earned through trial, error, and failure upon failure. I, of course, ask the students to move to all 3 disciplines while in class. Many times at the end of class I will ask how did you work on your...(i.e. balance)? Typically I will reserve the last 5-7 minutes of class (we have 30-40 minutes two times a week) to work on strength alone via climbing the appropriate apparatus.

In the following paragraphs I will describe the activities mentioned above, and safety concerns and techniques used for success. Before I start, I mentioned to a staff member yesterday that I just had 2 boys jumping pogo stick back to back while preforming double dutch at the same time. The response I got was expected if not solicited! "I guess the nurse will be seeing some injuries today." (Sorry about that, I just hear it too much from the uninformed) My response: "No she won't be seeing anyone.These children are experts."

I certainly don't take things like this lightly or haphazardly. I do however "push" my students to be their best! I also identify hidden or potential talent, and suggest activities and strategies to enhance that talent! As the "expert," only you know what your children can handle. Don't let the naysayers and uninformed dictate your program.

The cargo net is 20 feet wide and 16 feet high. I use this as a beginning step on a hierarchy of more difficult climbing tasks. Starting in Kindergarten the children are allowed to climb to a comfortable height for themselves. Many go part way up the net and a few climb to the top. Three parts of their body must be touching the net at all times. (Two hands and one foot etc.) I also tell the children that no one has ever fallen off the cargo net that hasn't "let go" on purpose. They are told to ask for help if afraid at any point. Standing on the crash mat I can reach 9 feet high. Rarely do I ever have to climb after someone.

The rope with big knots is the next piece of apparatus in this hierarchy. The rope traverses up to the ceiling as mentioned. The big knots serve as a resting place for moderately strong students. The students must simply jump from knot to knot or pull their legs up underneath themselves to get to the next knot. I have two of these ropes as the majority of students are working at this level (they can make it to the top of the cargo net).

Next in the hierarchy is the rope with very small knots. This rope simply allows the students to get a better grip with their feet. Their upper body strength starts to come into play on this rope, as does the foot clamping technique.

Last is the rope that we all grew up with, (70 years old plus) the rope with no knots. Upper body strength, strength to weight ratio, clamping technique, and other extraneous factors come into play on this rope (ie hand size). On all the ropes the children are reminded that sliding down is not acceptable, as it causes friction and friction burns! This year 17 percent of my K-5 (480) students were able to make it to the top of this rope, including an extremely strong four year old sibling of a first grade student who I invited in (I was shocked). Of note is that all the above apparatus are matted with 4' X 8' X 12" crash matts for safety.

Another strength building activity is the wall climber. It goes straight up on a slightly outward angle in the air from 5 feet to about 10 feet. The wall climber is simply a ladder that the feet are not used on. Matts are used below in case of a fall (none has occurred).

The pegboard is the last of my upper body strength building activities. Traditionally a pegboard (seen in many middle and high schools) goes straight up in the air. I found this was too difficult for my students so I improvised. I had two boards, so I turned the first one sideways and the second one I set at a 45 degree angle upwards. I screwed the pegs in with decking screws in the appropriate pattern. Lastly, I color coded the pegs so that the students could have 4 different pathways to the top. Different colors mean different difficulties. Matts are provided below for safety of course.

Long Jump ropes are used for various pre-taught jump rope games. These games enhance quickness and endurance, not to mention that they are quite fun. Please see them below.

Examples of these games would be school, chase and rapid fire. School is a game that, with each successful chance, you advance a grade (i.e. in first grade you jump in, jump one time, and then jump out). Chase is a game played in a figure 8 pattern where the jumpers enter, jump one time, and exit. Following the figure 8 pattern one jumper tries to catch another. Rapid fire played well is the hardest of the three. In this game a line of 5 to 15 students get ready to jump in, jump once, and jump out using the figure 8 pattern. The catch is a student must enter and jump once on every turn of the rope! Double dutch is also performed at this time in third, fourth and fifth grades. This is a precursor to the jump rope unit.

The next part of the unit is based upon balance. A team balance board is the first piece of apparatus used. It is a 15" X 15" piece of wood about 9 inches off of the ground. Students work together to try to balance as many classmates (for 10 seconds) as they can on this board. The current school record is 11 students balanced on that small board. You can imagine what that looked like, and the fun that occurred in participating.

Go Go's are the next piece of apparatus that I use. These can be described as 4 wheeled foot pedaled scooters. They look simple but can be very difficult if taken lightly (you will find yourself on your bottom very fast). My students love them! Many have asked their parents for these at Christmas time.

A tug of war (for lack of a better visual word) balance game is next. Two twelve inch squares of foam (dense) that are 1 inch thick are placed 6 feet apart. A ¾ inch rope that is approximately 10 feet long is strung between the two students standing on the squares. On the predetermined signal they start to compete. You will notice that I did not use the word pull, as pulling is a sure way to lose. The trick is to get your opponent off his or her square without letting go of the rope. Matts are provided behind the squares in case of a backward fall.

Pogo sticks are next, as they provide quite a dynamic balance test. I use these in every grade except kindergarten. I have pogo sticks that are rated from 40-80 pounds and 80-160 pounds. The more advanced children prefer the heavier pogo sticks. For this activity a square of mats is made around a "jumping area." I usually have 2-3 of these areas. Helmets are also worn as an extra precaution. I find this to be an extremely safe activity until children become quite accomplished and start "testing" their abilities. I need to be vigilant in this area, and warn them when they go to high.

Stilts and cup walkers (much easier stilt with strings) are another way to enhance balance. I have traditional stilts (4 pairs) that are arranged with different levels of difficulty. The highest level has the foot pegs about a foot off the ground. The cup walkers are about four inches high with a string attached. I find that these are appropriate for any age.

A set of balance boards, known by the brand name "indo boards," adds to the difficulty factor as you must be very precise with your balance adjustments in order to stay balanced. Matts are provided under this apparatus in case of a quick loss of balance. The indo and similar boards provide a free rolling drum of about 4 inches in diameter and 20 inches long. The board itself is an oval shaped 27 inches long and ¾ inches thick. I also have several other balance boards that are a bit easier to balance on.

Unicycles are the newest addition to this unit. For the past 3 years we have enjoyed trying the very challenging unicycle. To do this I purchased two 16 inch, two 18 inch, and one 20 inch unicycle. The summer before I decided to add the unicycles, I spent 10 hours teaching myself. By the way I'm 48 years old. I have to admit it was not easy, but I'm very persistent. I had hopes that my students would also be persistent!

We use door jams to get up and balanced (we have 4 of them in the gym). A bit of momentum is necessary right out of the gate (door jam). As in everything, the more skilled the teacher the better the students perform. This Christmas I bought my own 24" unicycle and learned to "free mount" (no door jam.) This was a freeing experience as now I can ride anywhere. This process took about 3 weeks as I went from one in twenty tries to about nine out of ten now.

Riding on bike paths and venturing off road has been a recent passion. Next year I will teach my students who are riding well free mounting in class. Of all the things mentioned above, unicycles are the most difficult but also the most rewarding. Some of my higher skilled students even used unicycles in our jump rope for heart show off time as they jumped rope and played the chase game mentioned above on their unicycle.

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