Content Area: Health and Physical Education

 

Index: 2.5B Grade 2 CPI 5

 

Standard: 2.5 - Motor Skills

 

Strand: B -   Movement Concepts 

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 5 -  The student will explain verbal and visual cues used to improve skill performance.

 

Grade: 2

 

Sample Activities:

 

·        ALIEN THROWING TECHNIQUES -  Explain that aliens from the planet Zargo have just landed on the local baseball field, right in the middle of a game. The aliens have been watching the Earthling teams play baseball but the aliens’ attempts at throwing a baseball are pitiful! Students help the Zargons learn to throw by describing and demonstrating an overhand throw.

Variation: Using a worksheet, students describe how to perform an overhand throw. Students name two activities that use an overhand throw and draw a picture of an overhand throw. Students discuss their responses and demonstrate the skill.

Variation: Use the “alien” teaching strategy for a variety of movement skills and tasks. One group of students pretends to be the aliens, and the other group teaches the skill.

Variation: Students create a series of drawings and flash cards to teach the skill in another language.

 

·        PICTURE THIS! - Develop a series of posters that illustrate the correct technique for a simple locomotor or manipulative movement skill. Use simple stick figures to focus on important elements of the skill, such as foot position or arm placement. Number each poster so the students can break the skill down into smaller parts. Hang the posters around the gym to create several stations. In groups of three, students move to each station. One student performs the task while the other two observe the skill. If the student performs each step of the skill correctly, the observers say “yes!” If the student has difficulty performing the skill, the observers note the skill number (from the poster) on a teacher-prepared task sheet or card. Circulate to each station to provide assistance to the groups. Students rotate as performers and observers and change stations when each skill has been performed by each
member of the group. Discuss the role of the observer and relate that role to the role of a coach in a sport.

Variation: Divide the class into pairs. Provide each pair with a specific task, and note several observational elements for that task. Provide students with a written or illustrated task card to provide cues for the observation. As one student performs, the other student observes.

 

·        BE THE COACH - As you demonstrate a specific movement skill, explain that sometimes you don’t always do the movement correctly. Students, acting as coaches, observe the demonstration and vote on the correct method. Demonstrate the designated movement skill correctly and then with an obvious flaw. Repeat and then have students vote for the version they think is correct. Students hold up one finger for the first choice and two fingers for the second (or use hands instead of fingers or give students numbered cards). Volunteers explain their selections and correct your poor skill performance.

 

·        YOU BE THE JUDGE - Give each student a set of small index cards, numbered 1 through 10. Show students videotapes of various athletic and dance performances. Students rate each performance on a scale of 1 (poor) to 10 (great) and hold up the appropriate card. Provide observational cues for the activity. Discuss the criteria used by students to rate an activity (e.g., I don’t like dance but I like basketball; I like the way Michael Jordan took that pass in for a basket; I like the dance but not the music). Discuss appropriate criteria for the various activities viewed by the students.