Ima Sample
PE/Health Methods

Title: Cooperative Relay
Grade Level: 3-4, Level II

Date Taught: October 20, 200x

Number in Class: 24

Materials

  • 6 medium cones
  • 6 floor marking spots
  • 6 five inch gatorskin balls

Purpose

To practice cooperative skills by having the students participate in various locomotor activities in partner groups, and to have the students demonstrate their understanding of the correct mechanics and qualities of locomotor skills.

Objectives

  1. TLW demonstrate an understanding of cooperative skills by performing the locomotor activities with a partner, from one side of the gym to the other, with correct mechanics for seven of the eight mentioned locomotor activities.
  2. TLW demonstrate understanding of mechanics of locomotor skills by performing the relay activities (mentioned below) from one side of the gym to the other, with correct mechanics for seven of the eight mentioned locomotor activities.
  3. TLW demonstrate his/her knowledge of basic locomotor skills by performing the locomotor movement as instructed by the teacher for seven of the eight activities.

Introduction

  1. Have students stand in their assigned squad spots for shoe check. (1 minute)
  2. Warm up (App. 4 minutes)
  • Students will perform rabbit and turtle jogs in place at their squad spots for one minute. (Thirty seconds for each type of jog).
  • While students jog in place, the teacher will set up the 6 cones on one side of the gym and the 6 markers on the other side.
  • After the students have jogged for a minute, the teacher will call out the various stretches to ensure all of the exercises have been completed.
    • Stand and reach up with both arms (15 seconds)
    • Toe touches with legs straight (15 seconds)
    • Trunk rotations (15 seconds)
    • Arm circles, forward and backward (30 seconds)
    • Sitting stretches with head down (30 seconds
  • At all times, make sure students are stretching properly

Activities

  1. Teacher will ask students to gather close around her while she explains the activity for the day. They are to perform various locomotor skills at various levels or directions with a partner. Before the relay begins, she will state which locomotor activity the students are to perform, and, if necessary, will demonstrate (with a student volunteer) beforehand how the students are to perform the locomotor skill together. She will then remind the students that they are to offer a compliment or encouraging word for each partner group after they have relayed. (3 minutes)
  2. Relay teams will be assigned by having the students line up and number off by sixes.  (6 relay teams of 4 students). Teacher will tell students which side of the gym they are to assemble, and which groups are to line up at which marker spots. She will then say “GO!” and the students are to turtle jog to their marker spot for their respective group. (2 minutes)
    • The teacher will ensure that there are four students per group before the relay begins (unless there happens to be an absence, in which case a group will have three relay members).
  3. After she has checked to make sure each student has found his/her group, the teacher will call out the following locomotor activities, the qualities of movement which are to accompany, and how the students are to perform the activity together in partners. To avoid the confusion of long explanations, before each relay race, the teacher may choose one student which will serve as the “example partner,” for the teacher to demonstrate how one performs the locomotor movements with a partner. The students are to perform the activity around the cone, not just up to the cone. Both partner groups in the group of 4 will perform the activity, and will receive upon the groups’ return, a positive word of encouragement or high-five from the partner team next in line. (App. 12 minutes total)
    • Power walk up and back (arms linked-back to back: one walks forward while the other walks backward)
    • Jumping backward up and back (arms linked: both facing same direction)
    • Slide at a low level (feet do not leave the floor) up and back (arms linked-students slide back to back: one slides forward while the other slides backward)
    • Skip up and back at a high level (facing one another-holding hands: one skips forward while the other skips backward)
    • Gallop up and around cone (facing one another and holding hands-gater skin ball between partners’ stomachs)
    • Hop up and around the cone on non-dominant foot, and hop back on dominant (arms linked: both facing forward)
    • Run up and around cone (partners run side by side while keeping a gater skin ball between their hips)
    • Leap up and back (holding hands-facing one another: one leaping backwards, the other leaping forwards).

The teacher is to continuously assess students on their movements to ensure correctness and appropriateness.
 
Teacher will also watch to make sure each partner group is offering a positive word to the other partner group upon their return.

Closure

  1. Have students return to squad spots for rest time (1 minute)
  2. In a soothing voice, teacher tells students to line up by squad sections (20 seconds)

Evaluation

Teacher will conduct a visual assessment of skill achievement based on criteria mentioned in objectives.

Diversity

Because of the range of locomotor activities offered (walking to running) and quality of activity (low level and high level) students who may struggle with particular movement skills can feel confident in their abilities for at least one of the relay activities.

Reflection

I am pleased at how smoothly this lesson went. I made sure to keep my back to the wall at all times (for liability and safety purposes). I also gathered the students in to give them directions, rather than had them go to their team spots, and then have to shout directions at them. This way, I ensured that all children could hear and see me give the directions. Another strength of this lesson was my enthusiasm for the activity. I walked around from team to team, and gave encouraging comments, clapped my hands, and smiled at the students. I want my enthusiasm for the lesson to be contagious!

There are a few things I would do differently when teaching this lesson again, however. When demonstrating to the students how to do a cooperative locomotor activity, I would have all of the teams come gather by me again or at least move in so they could hear and see. Sometimes I felt while I was giving directions, I was not reaching the students on the very ends (Teams 1 and 6); thus, they might have missed out on a particular quality of the locomotor skill, or a direction I may have been giving at the time. I also need to make sure that the activities that I am having the students do are not too dangerous. For example, a student fell on her bottom while doing the slide low back-to-back. Before I assign my students to do an activity, I should try it out myself and make sure it is safe for my students to do. All in all, this was a fun lesson to perform and teach.

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