Putting the Fun back into Fitness - The Nuts & Bolts of the Fitness Unit

If you've read previous posts you will already know that I don't particularly agree with fitness testing in Elementary School. (Link Here to Fitness Testing in Primary Schools - YES or NO?)

For Grade 5 we overlapped the Athletics Unit (an intro to Track & Field) with the Fitness Unit in order to introduce the students to a wide range of the components of fitness (health and skill).

For the lower Grades we focus six lessons (three cycles) on cherry picking the components of fitness that we feel appropriate for the specific age groups.

In this post I am not going to go into depth into the Athletics unit (Grade 5), but the events covered within that unit will help highlight where certain components of fitness fit across the two units.

Grade 5 Athletics (Intro. to Track & Field)

Athletics Unit 2018
Lesson 1: Into. to Sprinting
Lesson 2: Sprinting
Lesson 3: Intro. to Middle Distance 1500m
Lesson 4: Middle Distance 1500m
Lesson 5: Intro. to Long Jump
Lesson 6: Long Jump
Lesson 7: Intro. to High Jump
Lesson 8: High Jump
Lesson 9: Javelin

A constant theme throughout this unit are the components of fitness, particularly:
Health: cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, muscular endurance, strength and
Skills: agility, balance, coordination, reactions, rhythm, power and speed.

Added onto the Athletics Unit for the Grade 5s are the following lessons, which make up the Fitness Units for the younger Grade groups.

Fitness Unit 2018
Lesson 1: Intro. to three new bodyweight exercises through a tag game. Followed up by Fitness Prisoner Dodgeball.
Lesson 2: Intro. to three new bodyweight exercises through a tag game. Followed up by Fitness Prisoner Dodgeball.
Lesson 3: 'Old School' (warm up), one partner circuit. Followed by a Dodgeball game or Yoshi.
Lesson 4: 'Old School' (warm up), one partner circuit. Followed by a Dodgeball game or Yoshi.
Lesson 5: Interval training via a timed tag game. Followed by a Dodgeball game or Yoshi.
Lesson 6: Interval training via a timed tag game. Followed by a Dodgeball game or Yoshi.

The breakdown of lessons 1 and 2 introduces 6 bodyweight exercises over the course of two lessons.  This is achieved by playing 'everyone is it' tag or the fast tag in the world. Each time someone is tagged they perform 5-6 repetitions of the exercise we are learning about. The game is repeated three times introducing the three exercises. A lot of emphasis is place on form and doing the exercise right.

The first three exercise were the Star jump, Mountain Climbers and the Burpee.

Each exercise was taped to a board so they could be stood up around the gym.

The second half of those lessons is devoted to a game the students really have a lot of fun playing. With prisoner dodgeball when the students are hit or if they get caught, they go to the side and perform one of the exercises introduced that lesson. Once they have completed the exercise they make their way to prison and the game continues.  Each time they head to the side to do an exercise they are advised to rotate through the three and if they get hit a fourth time they start back with their first exercise.

By the time the students get to lessons 3 and 4 they know their six new exercises really well. After an 'old school' warm up, as a class we run some shuttles, the students break in to pairs and make their way clockwise round the gym doing their new circuit. Rep. ranges for the easier exercises are 20 and for the harder exercises 10.

For the second half of the lesson we play a fun game of the students choice, usually dodgeball or Yoshi.

In lessons 5 and 6 we play a tag game as part of the fitness element of the unit. The tag game introduces interval training. I don't know what the tag game is called, but I will attempt to describe it below.

Interval Tag Game.
The game is divided into 10 rounds.
Each round is 30 seconds long or each round gets progressively longer by 3-5 seconds.
Mr. Weston starts off as the sole tagger, carrying 4 mini noodles.
In the first 30 seconds I have to tag 4 students.

Once round 1 is over, if the students have not been a tagger or have not been tagged they receive a lollypop stick e.g. if they have successfully evaded the taggers that round they get a lollypop stick.

After the first round, if the students do get tagged they have to surrender their all their lollypop sticks to the tagger. You can not get tagged back within that round.

After 10 rounds we have a quick show of hands regarding who has how many lolly sticks.

Another possible timing opportunity would be to pyramid the times e.g. start at 30 seconds, increase by 5secs until you get halfway through the rounds and then start decreasing the time back to 30 again.

Again the second half of the lesson is devoted to a popular student game, Dodgeball or Yoshi.

That's it for a rough nuts and bolts for elementary fitness.

Sprint Technique

Partner feedback card for developing body position, arm and leg action for the sprint.

Athletics pt.1: Running - exploring sprinting and middle distance running techniques

Athletics part 1 - exploring the track

How do we run for speed? and how do we run for distance?

Tuning in (speed)

Students will sprint the 100 meters and the 400 meters.
As a whole class we explorer the concept of running and speed, the discussion ranges from football to playing tag. Two areas of focus are identified, running and fitness and running technique.

The lesson starts with tag

Finding & Sorting out 

Focusing on technique the students agree that we can divide our bodies movement into three areas: body (including head), arms and legs.

On poster paper I quickly draw up a table consisting of three columns: Body Position, Arm Action and Leg Action. I put on a YouTube video showing highlights of the 100 meters sprint through the ages of the modern Olympics. The class focus on the three previous identified areas of body, arms and legs. Post it notes are available for the students to record any prior knowledge or observations and to post them on the poster paper in the specific column.

The great thing about YouTube is you can loop the video, so if the students move away

Once we have our observations we read through them taking 2-3 points per body part area; high knees, hands going from hip to lip etc.

After all that observation and note taking we all need to get moving. In order to practice our technique a partner gives feedback as the runner sprints on the spot - it a good way to start and it lets partners give feedback straight away, whilst the runner focuses on form.

At some point the issue of arm movement arises (even though students have observed big arm moments from the athletes, they don't immediately apply the lip to hip movement to their own running technique)  and so we experiment with different techniques, not all of them correct! For example we experiment with running without the use of our arms, or with low knees or small steps.

Eventually after some partner/group trial and error work we have a technique that doesn't look too dissimilar from our earlier observations.

The students now have a bit of a technique to work on.

The next step is to explorer the uniqueness of the sprint start and why we think sprinters start low to the ground etc. and what observations did the class make regarding the sprint finish...

As a class we practice our sprint starts together, and then we combine our starts and our newly developed running technique across 10-15 meters, remembering always to finish strong (we don't slow and then stamp our foot on the finish line!)

Going Further

2nd lesson and the class heads for the track with stopwatches in hand and a partner to give feedback in order to help develop overall technique (start, sprint technique & a strong finish).

In the 400m lesson we discuss the staggered start and the advantages or disadvantages of running in particular lanes.

Tuning in (distance)

Provocation: What is pace? As a class we used Think, Pair and Share - or in this case the students noted their discussions on a sheet of poster paper.

The majority of the students suggested that they already had an understanding of the concept... but could they put that understanding into practical use?

Playing with the concept of time and distance I set up a couple of small tasks to get everyone thinking about what is pace.

Finding Out
The first drill was the Centipede, where a small group of 4 run in a line passing a baton backwards. Once the baton reaches the back, the last run speeds up and goes to the front for the process to start all over again. The drill forces the students to run together and to pace themselves to the slowest runner. I originally used rubber chickens for this drill, but they proved too distracting for the students.

The second drill went from asking students to jog anywhere in the gym at a certain pace, but to return to me when they thought 30 seconds was over.  The drill was run a number of time using a variety of time differences e.g. 30, 45, 60, and 90 seconds.

I changed this second drill by having a set distance, which the students had to complete in given time eg. they have to run round a cone and be back at the start at 20, 30, 45 and 60 seconds.

I noted that during the centipede drill the students were so distracted with passing the baton back that they easily ran continuous for 7 minutes without complaining or groups stopping or slowing down. I chose 7 minutes as the goal as it is the average time last years Grade 5 ran the 1,500 meters in.

Sorting Out
The class returned to their partners from the beginning of the lesson and adjusted their understanding of pace on the poster paper and as a class we discussed any additional thoughts and discovery's about pacing ourselves and the idea of running for an extended period of time. 

Going Further

2nd lesson up to the track to experience the 1,500m and a waterfall start. The goal is to find a comfortable pace and to stick at it, leaving enough in the tank for a sprint finish.

G5 Athletics (Track & Field)

This is a great unit for the G5's.

It's a great individual pursuits unit, we explorer body mechanics, they time and measure, set PB's and future goals. Plus we get to visit the high school track and field facilities which are outstanding - using the facilities motivates and inspires the G5's to really push themselves and be the best that they can be. 

The unit itself is split between the primary school gym and the high school track & field facilities. We usually explorer the mechanics and techniques the lesson before in the gym and then take it up to the track the following lesson to time/measure.

The unit fits under the learning journey of the elements of movement.

The enduring understand for this unit: Movement techniques impact our performance.

The compelling questions are: 

How do we move our body to develop our running for speed and distance?

How do we move our body to develop our jumping for height and distance?

How do we move our body to develop our throwing for accuracy and distance?

I usually start with sprints, move into jumps and throws and then we extend the running distances, exploring pace and strategies. We finish the unit with an all-out assault on the Mile. 

What I do notice (and love) is that before the unit, you mention the mile run and you'll get one or two students let out a small groan. But, by the end of the unit, attitudes have changed and myths put to bed. The mile run isn't seen as this near death experience, it's seen as a challenge, and each student now has a good idea of how that distance feels and they have a strategy on how to run it.

This year the events we inquired into were: 100m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, Mile, Long Jump, High Jump, Indoor Javelin & Indoor Shot Putt. For the G5's we classified the 100 & 400m as sprints and took the 800, 1500 & Mile as middle distances.

Over the years at JIS I have been diligently collecting the data from the events, so when a student asks 'what should I be aiming for' etc. I can give them rough targets to aim for (an informed answer), but as I tell the students at the beginning of the unit, this is all about setting personal targets and challenging yourself. Though a little friendly competition is good for them.

Reflections on the unit 

Again I return to the MTV (Making Thinking Visible) reflection of 'I used to do/Now I do'

I really emphasized that I wanted the students to pullout just one of the learning journeys they have be on during this unit and to write about it...

Some "Now I Know/Do's"

G5 Athletics: Health & Fitness/Track & Field

This unit is all about introducing the students to Athletics (Track & Field). With a focus on achieving personal bests (PBs). The events we will be covering are the two jumps, high and long. Two of the throws, shot put and modified javelin. Three track, 100m, 400m, and 1500m. In the build up to the 1500m event we will examine our own personal fitness levels,in order to set achievable goals in the run up to the event.

The approach to each event will usually consist of the students watching a clip from an athletics meet, a brief discussion on rules, techniques and our own biomechanics, and then one or two practice drills in the gym followed by a complete lesson up at the HS track where the students get to put all they have learnt and practiced into action/context.

 

 Student questions will help shape the Athletics Unit this semester

100, 200 & 400m Sprints.

Key Physical Objectives:

• High Knees.
• Powerful, Active Arms.
• The Sprint Start
• "ON YOUR MARKS" measuring your starting position and placing your hands.
• "SET" bums in the air, leaning forward, looking up.
• "GO!" Drive & Acceleration.
• Don't SLOW DOWN until you cross the finish line.
• Run in your lane & NO physical contact with other participants.
• Introduction to staggered starts.

Each individual students personal best (PB) was recorded.

400m

400m

Shot Put

Key Physical Objectives:

• Holding the Shot "seeing daylight"
• High elbows.
• Clean Palm, Dirty Neck.
• Weight transfer - Back to front.
• Travel - From low to high.
• Add a twist (the coiled spring)
• Throw high!
• Flick your wrist on the release.
• Grunting is optional :)
• Enter and exit from the back of the circle (Throw and Collect only when Mr. Weston tells you to). 

Again, each individual student will be recording their best throw.

Shot Put

Javelin

Key Physical Objectives:

• Holding the Javelin "different grips & laying it down the hand, rather than across, palm facing up".
• Delivery "non-throwing arm at approx 45 degrees, throwing hand remains facing up, pull through the Javelin".
• Transfer of weight.
• Throw high and flick your wrist.
• Don't over step the line!

Record PB

Javelin

Javelin

Long Jump

Drills:

• Warm Up: Hopping for Height & Distance
• Standing Long Jump with 2 leg take off
• Standing Long Jump with single leg take off
• Distance jumping competition - 3 continuous and successive 2 footed jumps
• Circle (Hoop) Jumping
• Box Jumping
• Elementary Long Jump techniques with 3 bounding strides

Key Physical Objectives:

• Use your ARMS!
• Jump for height as well as distance
• Jump 1 foot to 2 feet
• Take of behind the line
• Fall sideways or forwards when you land
• Keep your head high

Long Jump Practice in the Gym

Long Jump Practice in the Gym

Long Jump

Long Jump

High Jump

Drills & Key Objectives:

• Warm Up: Hopping for Heigh
• Jump back onto the mat - flicking hips high, bringing knees to chest, keeping chin on chest and landing on your upper back
• Introduction to the Scissors and which foot do you prefer to take off from?
• Using the Scissors to clear a low line.
• Remember: Always take off from the foot furthest away from the mat & and run in at an angle.
• The Fosbury Flop - will be introduced when we get to the HS on the professional High Jump equipment (American athlete Dick Fosbury first brought it to the world's attention in 1965 and won a gold medal in the 1968 Summer Olympics).

High Jump Practice

High Jump Practice

High Jump

High Jump

More Photos:

400m

Modified Javelin

Shot Put

High Jump Practice - Gym

High Jump Practice - Gym

Long Jump Practice - Gym

The Unit concludes with the Middle Distance: 1500m

In preparations for the run students have used the Cooper 12 minute run (flat and as an obstacle course) to help them judge their pace and to get an idea of distance (I have the Cooper course measured - so the students can track and compare how far they travel in 12 minutes). Most of the students are surprised how far they travel during the test! In addition getting them to run and possibly pass the 1500m mark helped dispel the rumors that the 1500m is a near impossible distance to achieve!

In the build up to the run we discussed pacing, and the different body position we run in compared to short distance sprints. The need for staying re-hydrated when running in the sun, and some simple strategies they could possibly use to help make their running efficient with the goal of achieving a PB.