KG Obstacle Course, Teamwork & Problem Solving

This proved to be a lot of fun...

At this moment in time my two KG classes are both having issues with pushing, shoving, who goes first etc. without them really knowing why they want to go first...

After a little time working on an obstacle course, with the concept that the floor is quicksand (their decision) they had to travel as a class safely from point A to point B. I was interested in noting that the majority of the class would think nothing of pushing their fellow peers into the quicksand just to be the first to get up a ladder or be the first to jump a ravine etc...

In order to address this issue I placed an expanse of quicksand between the starting point and the rest of the obstacle course. I designed it in such a way that it would force the class to come up with a plan and work as a team. It also gave a couple of them the opportunity to demonstrate their leadership skills.

Their first attempt witnessed the class abandoning 5 class members to the quicksand as they rushed to safety! The second attempt proved a bit more successful with all students making it to the end of the obstacle course.

G5 Ethics in Sports through the Physical Education Learning Lens of Basketball

The G5 Basketball Unit will have a conceptual focus on Ethics in Sports, particularly Sportsmanship vs. Gamesmanship.

Taken from my conceptual map for Primary Physical Education

Burning Questions on Basketball

What do the students want to know about this sport?

Click to Enlarge

Using the questions above will help give direction/content when constructing the sequence of lessons within the unit.

But what do they understand by Ethics? Particularly the concepts of Sportsmanship vs. Gamesmanship...

I asked the following question:

What do you know and understand about Sportsmanship vs. Gamesmanship?

The student showed that the majority have an understanding of what is Sportsmanship/ Gamesmanship. Interestingly what the exercise did highlight was some common misconceptions between Sportsmanship, Gamesmanship and something else?

What are the G5s misconceptions about what is Sportsmanship/Gamesmanship?

1. Don't care if you win or lose

2. Not sharing the ball

3. Fun (Gamesmanship was deemed to be fun, and Sportsmanship wasn't)

4. Caring for the other team

5. Being competitive (if you show sportsmanship you are not being competitive?!)

6. Giving the other team a chance... (I guess I can see the logic in this one (e.g. not beating the other team 100,000 - 0))

7. It is when you are less competitive?!

8. Play as a team/Teamwork

9. Working together not playing to win (I guess there is a kinda logic there... The idea of playing for fun and not competitively)

Reexamining the others...

It is really important if the students are going to develop into a good sportsman/woman that they understand that if you follow the code of sportsmanship you do play competitively, have fun, strive for the best you can be (even if it's not winning), and you do care if you win or you lose, and if you lose, you do it graciously, but you learn from the experience and come back stronger next time and if you win you don't rub it in your opponents faces.

What the G5s did agree upon as examples of Sportsmanship and Gamesmanship

Addressing the Misconceptions

 

Two Key Questions

Why don't the remaining statements (the misconceptions) fit into either categories?

Can you think of other categories that some of these misconceptions would have a better fit?

Using Video Delay Feedback on the Set Shot and Jump Shot 

Some Truly Honest and Great Reflections from G5 

G4 Relationships in Team Sports through the Physical Education Learning Lens of Touch Rugby

The G4 Touch Rugby Unit will have a conceptual focus on Relationships within the Sport.

Taken from my conceptual map for Primary Physical Education

Burning Questions on Touch Rugby

What do the students want to know about this new sport/unit...

Click to Enlarge

Touch Rugby in Action

All of the photos are taken from the G4s warm up. What I loved about this warm up/photo is that the G4s took the concepts of monkey-in-the-middle and expanded them to incorporate the lateral pass. As you can see from the photos, it proved very popular with the whole class.

Modifying the rules to Touch Rugby really nailed it for this Grade group. I dropped the automatic turnover if the ball was dropped (I turned a blind eye to the odd accidental knock-on). The result was the students on the fringes who were not particularly big risk takers (worried about letting the team down if they missed a pass) got involved a lot more.

Reflections on Teamwork & Touch Rugby 

G3 Peer Coaching and Feedback through the Physical Education Learning Lens of Volleyball (Newcomb Ball)

The G3 Volleyball (Newcomb Ball) Unit will have a conceptual focus of Coaching and Feedback within it.

Taken from my conceptual map for Primary Physical Education

First Things First... An Introduction to the Key Skills.

Lets start with the basics. Over the next couple of lessons the G3s will be introduced to the overhead pass and the forearm pass. It is during these lessons the students are introduced to the rules and simple scoring.

Lesson 4 & 5: Peer Coaching and Feedback

The G3s were introduced to the checklists that the G5s had created for the overhead pass and the forearm pass (The G5 Volleyball Unit). Working in 3s (assessor, feeder & the assessed) each student got feedback in the form of a brief diagnostic on each skill. Main areas for improvement/development were highlighted with the assessor and the feeder both suggesting possible ideas/solutions to help the assessed student develop and improve their skill levels.

Coaching the Overhead Pass

Coaching the Overhead Pass

Coaching the Overhead Pass

Coaching the Forearm Pass

Coaching the Forearm Pass

Coaching the Forearm Pass

Reflections on Coaching, Feedback & Volleyball

When asked to best describe what FEEDBACK meant to them the class used words like REAL, HONEST & HELPFUL.

G2 Relationships in Team Sports through the Physical Education Learning Lens of Striking & Fielding I

The G2 Striking & Fielding Unit I will focus on the concept of Relationships.

Taken from my conceptual map for Primary Physical Education

An Introduction to Fielding - What do my G2s know about fielding?

(The account of the lesson below is a combination the first lesson on striking and fielding with my three G2 classes)

The lesson started with the question "What do you think the role of the fielder is?"

I had also printed out a photo to help students with the question.

We talked about the differences between the two sports pictured... how one wears a mitt etc. After noting down concepts such as throwing and catching the answers dried up a bit... I broke out the Kwik Cricket bats. Mr. Weston was going to go into bat and the class were going to be the fielders. All they had to do was work as a team to get Mr. Weston OUT.

This resulted in 16-20 students racing after 1 ball and Mr. Weston scoring lots of runs...

Time to Reflect

Everyone was brought back in, and 2 Questions were posed:

1. Are they achieving their objective?" (Stop Mr. Weston from scoring or GET HIM OUT!)

2. Are they acting as a team?"

On reflection they decided they were not acting as a team and observations were added to the sheet: split up, spread out, field in space. The students now spread themselves round the gym. We played a little bit more... I noticed something that needed to be explored...

Question: What is faster, throwing the ball or running with the ball?

After a moment of experimentation the class decided that throwing the ball was quicker than running with the ball and that they should pass the ball to get it back to the wicket quicker. Play continued... Mr. Weston's scoring rate was definitely slowing up as the fielders organized themselves.

More Reflection

Passing the ball is faster than running with the ball, but how can we get the ball back to the wicket even faster?

To speed up getting the ball back to the wicket, passing the ball changed to throwing the ball directly towards the wicket. We continued to play... I noticed some of the students started to organize themselves into simple roles i.e. placing themselves next to the wicket should the initial throw miss the target.

Conclusion: The 2 Questions

The 2 questions were reflected upon again: "Are they achieving their objective?" and "are they acting as a team?"

The answer to both questions were now YES. Could it get better? YES, but this is just the first lesson... :)

The rest of the lesson was spent playing an orderly game of Kwik Cricket! 

An Introduction to Batting - What do my G2s know about batting?

(The account of the lesson below is a combination the second lesson on striking and fielding with my three G2 classes)

Question: What is the role of the batsman and the batting team?
hitting the ball, focus on the ball, running fast where generally the first couple of answers.

Highlighting the word ROLE and adding "What is the objective of the Batting side? (compared to the fielding side?)" 
All three classes generally answered: to score points or to hit into gaps on the field (I loved the tactical, spacial awareness answer).

After some thinking and reflecting on the photos and their past experiences (including last lesson) they got to:  it is the batsman's job to protect/defend the wicket, and to score points/runs.

We then compared the fielder's role to the batsman's role, and identified that the fielding team could not score, but they have to "get out" the batting team as quickly as possible, in order to get themselves "into bat" to score.

We then inquired into how and where you stand as a batsman and how you hold a cricket bat in order to defend the wicket.

After some practice in 3's we got into a competitive game of Kwik Cricket.

The Language used in this unit of Striking and Fielding so far: Bat, Batting, Batsman, Fielding, Wicket, Stumps, Wicket Keeper, Bowler, Runs, Out, Catch, Throw, Aim, Target, Defend, Protect, Hit.

Batting, Bowling and Fielding Practice in 3s. 

G3 Touch Rugby Unit

A new unit at PIE: Touch Rugby.
Rugby in Indonesia is going from strength to strength and having a history of rugby both as a player and as a coach I thought it would make a wonderful opportunity to introduce it at PIE.

With the G3s I wanted to reinforce the idea that to be able to reflect on their learning is just as important as participating in the lesson. I gave each G3 class an opportunity to write one line on their learning after each of the lessons. As you can see from the results below, other classes embraced the opportunity to reflect more than others.

Reflections

Final Competition

To compete the unit of touch rugby the G3 classes met in the morning before lessons to play each other.

They played on Monday and Wednesday, with their respective classroom teachers coaching their teams.

This proved to be a really positive way to end the unit as the students showed their teachers, parents and each other that they could play competitive touch rugby at pace and with an element of flair - congratulations G3.