Grade 5 Fitness Unit Progress Report!

Into the unit deep now and going well

We are well into the fitness unit and continuing to refine how we are exercising, recording data, and deciding upon what is best as we move forward. It has been imperative to assess what they know to date as it helps me to better plan out next steps. As we began today's class, I asked my students to do a quick warm-up walk with an elbow buddy and discuss something they now know that they didn't know at the start of the unit. Here are some of their answers:

We know that :
-fitness is about cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, and flexibility
-when we exercise we can do sets or intervals 
-we need rest time in between sets
-we know heart rate can tell us how hard we are working

I'll be asking the same question to my other grade 5 classes and get their answers as well. I will use these answers to create a visual that shows understanding to date which will be a great reference point for future discussions in this unit, especially as we lead toward the summative assessment task. 

As you can see by the photo above, I have included the use of basketballs and soccer balls as options to use when trying to work on cardiovascular endurance. The students know that cardiovascular endurance is about working the heart. After each activity that they decide to do, they are working to maintain a heart rate of 160 bpm or higher for a certain length of time. As they create different activities using the basketballs and soccer balls, they must check heart rate after a determined amount of time to see if they are in the right zone. If they are too low, they decide how they can make the activity a bit more rigorous, take a bit of a rest, then go at it again. Each time they are expected to record their heart rate in their fitness journals. 

The students have done short, burst type cardio activities and have created games that last a few minutes in length to help get them into their desired heart rate zone. In the video below, 2 of my students decided to give the stationary road bike a go. They took turns doing 4 one-minute intervals. Each interval was timed by the non-riding partner. At the end of the interval, the rider checked his heart rate while the non-riding partner used a stop watch to time. Great teamwork indeed by the 2 boys that you see in the video. They went on to play a very active basketball game that they created that lasted about 4-5 minutes. Superstar work by these 2. 


There are a few students still struggling with what activities to do and how to record their data, but I expected this. It is clear to see who these students are and step in to give them the guidance and support needed to move them forward. A fun unit to date. I truly believe that my students are learning loads about fitness. 

---