Y5-5: Week of 12/1/2014

Locomotor Go Fish:  This week, grades K-5 will be participating in an activity called Locomotor Go Fish (see previous blog post for activity specifics).  Students young and old enjoy this activity.  Students review locomotor skills (skip, hop, gallop, jump, run, walk) in a competitive activity.  The activity is a little like the card game Go Fish crossed with a relay race.

Young Fives will participate in a variety of bean bag, hula hoop, and low organization games.  These will include Bean Bag Helper, Musical Hoops, and Clean Out Your Backyard.  These games review and reinforce following basic game rules, locomotor skills, space awareness, and throwing/rolling skills.

Bean Bag Helper:  Each student balances a bean bag on their head.  They walk around the play area - without touching or holding onto their beanbag.  If their beanbag falls down, they are frozen.  Others who are not frozen can **carefully** bend down and pick up classmates' beanbags, place them in their hands, and then the frozen student is back in the game.

Musical Hoops:  This game is like musical chairs.  When the music is on, they move around the play area using different locomotor skills.  When the music stops, they have to find a hoop.  Different from musical chairs, they can share space in the hoop when the music stops.  They're "in" the hoop if only one foot is inside the hoop.  I usually stop the game with two hoops left.

Clean Out Your Backyard:  The gym is divided in half with cones.  The class is divided in half, and each team must stay on their half of the gym.  The foam balls are "trash", and nobody wants trash in the backyard!  In this game, they throw or roll the "trash" onto their neighbor's yard.  (I do mention that in real life, you should throw trash in trash cans!!)  Students are reminded of the elements of overhand throw/underhand roll/underhand throw.  No kicking or hitting the ball allowed.  Students encouraged to throw into open space.  Playing this game in young fives and kindergarten prepares students for Guard the Pin, the reward game day for grades 1-2.

Scrambled Eggs!!

Scrambled Eggs is a low organization game we played with lower elementary classes in the past two weeks.  Students move to music around the gym using locomotor skills:  skip, gallop, hop, jump, walk, sideways slide-step.  While they're moving, they are "scrambled eggs".  When the music stops, students stop and listen for what type of egg they are to be.

Hard boiled egg:  curl into a ball on the floor.
Soft boiled egg:  lay flat on the floor on tummy.
Fried egg:  lay on back, wiggle hands and feet in the air.

Here's a picture of "Fried Eggs", which was many students' favorite part of the game:

This game, and others like it, include many important PE concepts and skills:  locomotor skills, personal space, space awareness (staying in "the box", boundary line around the edge of the gym), following directions, and listening skills.  For lower elementary students, all of these skills are the main focus of our first several PE classes, and are emphasized throughout the year.