WHAT IS POSSIBLE?
  • Welcome
  • The Aligned Leader Blog
  • Consulting and Coaching Opportunities
  • My TED X Talk
  • My Leadership Blog
  • Run Your Life Podcast Series
  • How PYP PE with Andy Has Helped Others
  • Good Teaching is L.I.F.E
  • The Sportfolio
  • Example Assessment Tasks
  • PYP Attitude Posters (printable)
  • Publications

LEADERSHIP, LEARNING, &  PErsonal Growth

PYP PE: Learner Profile in Action in PE

9/26/2011

0 Comments

 
0 Comments

PYP PE: Maths Integration for Kindergarten PE

9/22/2011

0 Comments

 
I did a blog yesterday about a maths integration activity for my grade 1 PE classes. A modified version of this game that I used for my kindergarten classes worked well, so I will describe the activity.

Game # 1 (warm up)
The same as warm up game for grade 1. Each team has their own set of ten colored dots. The dots are spread out all over the gym (face down). On 'Go' command, the students must run out, find their team dots, bring them back to their team area and place them on the floor in order(numbers 1-10). The game can be repeated with them creating new formations (square, triangle, zig zag) provided the numbers are in order. 

Game#2
The modified version of the grade 1 game is that they find numbers that add together to form a correct sum. However, it becomes a bit too complex for them to go out and trade numbers with other teams. If there is a super clever maths student, you can suggest to them to go to other teams to find a number they may need. Essentially, the game is very similar to the grade 1 maths activity as described in yesterday's blog. Try it out!

0 Comments

PYP PE: Maths Integration and Running! (Grade 1)

9/22/2011

2 Comments

 
A great game that I had my grade 1 students play yesterday was "Find the Dots and Add Them Together". Quite a wordy title, but I can't think of a better, more succinct name right now! Anyways, try this game out.

Materials needed
  • coloured sets of dots with numbers on them (if you don't have this, using markers, write numbers 1-10 on different coloured sheets of paper.
  • eager kids (not too hard to find!)
Game 1 (warm up)
Divide kids up into whatever number of teams you want (each team has its own set of numbers)
Take dots with numbers, or different sets of numbers you have written on paper, and spread them out around the gym face down.
On command "Go" each team must find their own set of numbers, run back to their team area and place them on the floor in order.
You can repeat this a few times having them structure the order differently each time. For example, they can form a circle with the numbers in order, or a triangle, or a zig zag pattern. Anything is OK provided the numbers are in order.

Game 2 (the real deal: Find the Dots and Add Them Together Game)

In this game, spread the dots all over the gym this time (some face up, some face down).  Rule change here is that the kids can take any colored number. It doesn't have to be their own color only. The object of the game is for your team to run out and collect numbers. Not just randomly, but to collect numbers that add together to form a correct sum. For example, 4 and 3 = 7. There are no addition signs or equal sign needed. They just have to run back to their team area and place the numbers down in a proper row (5 5 10 which really means 5 plus 5 equals 10). What you will find happen is that all teams will have uncompleted rows which is when all teams must work together sharing numbers in order to complete rows. For example, if team A has only 3 and 4 but not 7 they need to go ask another team for 7. Negotiations and trading take place, all positive of course. It really promotes mental maths and thinking skills. As well they need to be super active running around all over the place. I loved this game. TRY IT OUT.


2 Comments

PYP PE: Adventure Challenge Final Assessment

9/21/2011

16 Comments

 
We concluded the Adventure Challenge unit in today's class in grade 4. As a summative assessment task I had the students take part in a 'Final Challenge'. The activity was broken into 5 steps. The students had to complete the challenge set out before them at each step before moving to the next step. The class was divided up into 4 teams for the entire challenge.  Examples of student assessment and pictures of each activity can be found at the end of this blog entry. The 5 steps they had to complete were:

Step 1: Connect the Ropes
In this game each team member had a skipping rope. The challenge was that they had to tie all of their skipping ropes together, end to end. Sounds easy, however, they could only use one hand for this challenge. Communication and cooperation were keys to success. Using only one hand each, they had to manage to tie all 5 ropes together. Once completed this task, they had to stretch the ropes out to show me.




Step 2: Form a Shape
In this activity, still using on one hand each, while holding the now tied together team rope, the three teams had to come together and tie their team's rope(all 5 skipping ropes tied together is one team rope)  together with the other 2 teams to form a large circle of skipping ropes tied together. Essentially, the three teams combined into one team for this activity. As a large group now the students had to use their large rope to form shapes at the teacher's command. For example, if I told them to form a square, together as a group they had to use the large rope to form a square. The shapes I had them create were:
  • Square
  • Triangle
  • Figure 8
  • Circle
Step 3: Save the Injured Person
In stage 3 of the 'Final Assessment', the students went back on to their original 3 teams. The large rope from stage 2 was left in the center of the gym on the floor. Each team was in a corner of the gym. As each team had 5 players, the goal of the 'Save the Injured Person Game' was to have the team select 2 players from their team to be the injured persons. The group had to decide the best way to transport/carry these injured persons into the large roped circle in the middle of the gym. Carrying safely was a must in this game. Once each team transported its injured into the center they could move to stage 4.

Step 4: Build a bridge
Each team now had 2 injured people in the center roped circle. In the center of the circle were ten team dots. Using the 10 dots, the injured had to build a bridge of dots back to the rest of their team in the corner. Now the center circle was connected to each team by a succession of dots placed on the floor. The bridge had to be built before moving on to the 5th step.

Step 5: Capture the Gold!

With a bridge now built between the center roped circle and each team, the goal in this final activity was to cross the bridge of dots and collect as many beanbags as possible bringing them back to your team area. If a dot was dropped while crossing the bridge, it was returned to the center roped circle.

ASSESSMENT TASKS

Assessment A: After playing each step of the game, on an assessment sheet provided the students had to assess each game's level of difficulty and comment. Included was a team photo on this sheet.
Assessment B: On the back of this sheet was assessment task B. The students had to:


Draw a picture of their favorite adventure challenge game
Describe what they did well in this game
Explain what they could have improved upon in the Adventure Challenge unit in general
Talk about how they can apply what they learned in the Adventure Challenge unit (communication, trust, being open-minded) to their lives outside of PE, especially when they have issues or problems.

Please see slide show below for pictures of the activity and examples of student assessment. It really was a great conclusion to this unit!!



16 Comments

Learner Profile in Action in PYP PE

9/20/2011

0 Comments

 
0 Comments

PYP PE: Early Years PE Assessment

9/20/2011

0 Comments

 
We started off the year with a unit on improving basic fundamental skills in PE. My goal by the end of the unit was to have the kids be able to know and identify 7 essential skills: throwing, catching, kicking, bouncing, running, jumping, and hopping. Much of what we did during the first 8 weeks has been playing various games and activities that help them to improve upon these skills. Many times during the unit, we did a group rubric to see how they felt they were doing (see previous blog for pictures of rubric). In the last class of the unit yesterday, I had the kids pick out one skill they felt that they did well and one skill that they wanted to improve upon. As well, I had them recall (without my help) any skills that they could remember from the 7 listed above. Of course I gave them little hints, but they all managed to do quite well in recalling these skills. Please see slideshow below of assessment.

0 Comments

PYP PE: Learner Profile in Action in PE

9/14/2011

0 Comments

 
0 Comments

PYP PE: Adventure Challenge for Grade 2

9/13/2011

1 Comment

 
We are nearing the end of our adventure challenge in PE for the grade 2 classes at Nanjing International School in China. We are integrating with the classroom unit of inquiry on 'Rights and Responsibilities' highlighting that all students have a responsibility to:
  • communicate positively with their peers
  • ensure that their actions are safe and trustful
  • cooperate on teams
  • truly listen to each other
We have stressed the importance of being 'Open-Minded' throughout the unit as much of Adventure Challenge deals with sharing ideas in order to come up with the most effective ways to solve a problem. Being 'Open-Minded' creates a much more positive environment to share ideas. especially for those students that are shy. In yesterday's class we played the "Move the Ball" game. The challenge was that they had to move various-sized balls across the width of the gym and back. However, each time they went the width and back, they had to move it in a different way. Sounds easy, right?? Well, the teamwork aspect comes into this as there were 3 very important rules that the kids had to follow at all times.
  1. Everyone must be in contact with the ball at all times
  2. The ball cannot touch the floor at any time
  3. Hands cannot touch the ball ever!
Based on these three rules, they had to plan and create ways to move the ball. We started with a dodge ball, moved to a basketball, and finished with a Swiss ball. The kids were super creative and had a lot of fun while doing the activity. See pictures of slide show below.

1 Comment

PYP PE: Health Related Activities

9/12/2011

0 Comments

 
As discussed in an earlier blog, the grade 1 classes are doing a unit on Health Related Activities in PE. I am essentially aiming to have them understand that regular exercise makes the heart, lungs, and muscles stronger. I hope to get them to focus on the fact that the more work they put in, the more physically fit they will become. A quick and easy assessment task that I used a couple of weeks ago was to set 4 different activities for them to have a go at. They had to record their results after completing each activity and then assess their level of effort at the end of the class. We talked about being 'Principled' to ensure that the kids recorded their results honestly. Please see sample assessment sheets below in slide show.
0 Comments

PYP PE: Integrating Thinking Skills into Warm Up Games

9/11/2011

4 Comments

 
Transdisciplinary skills play a very important role in the PYP (check out pages 21-23 in 'Making the PYP Happen" handbook). Although it may seem that these skills are mostly taught and learned in the classroom, PE presents wonderful opportunities to address these skills as well. In the past I have used many different forms of tag games as a warm up which is always fun. However, I am working on compiling a list of warm up games that I have used that is more challenging to the students. Games that require students to:
A) Be super active
B) Work on teams (or on their own) solving simple to complex problems related to maths and language
C)
Communicate their thoughts and ideas to their peers 

If I can achieve all of the above in quick warm up games, I am very pleased as it makes me feel as though the activities I use are more challenging and stimulating to the students. I will be sharing some of these games soon. If you are reading this blog and have unique ideas and warm up games that you use in class, please let me know and I will add them. If you don't mind, I would like to use your name and your school as well. Let me know!!




4 Comments
<<Previous

    RSS Feed

    Author

    KAUST Faculty, Pedagogical Coach. Presenter & Workshop Leader.IB Educator. #RunYourLife podcast host. 
    Speaker. Husband, Father, Golfer #Physed #TedX

    Check out my about.me profile!
    Tweets by @andyvasily

    Archives

    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2021
    October 2020
    January 2020
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    RSS Feed

    RSS Feed

Helping Kids to Achieve Their Best
  • Welcome
  • The Aligned Leader Blog
  • Consulting and Coaching Opportunities
  • My TED X Talk
  • My Leadership Blog
  • Run Your Life Podcast Series
  • How PYP PE with Andy Has Helped Others
  • Good Teaching is L.I.F.E
  • The Sportfolio
  • Example Assessment Tasks
  • PYP Attitude Posters (printable)
  • Publications