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Each class that arrives to physical education must enter the gym, get into personal space, and await the teacher’s instructions. A student “caught being ready” (sitting still, listening, etc.) is chosen every class to go to the stage to be the Stretch Captain. Variation/Option: since most students want to be chosen, I’ve added a new stipulation in order to be selected as the Stretch Captain. In this variation I ask “who knows their multiples of 4 or 6 or 8, etc. This limits the number of students who raise their hands and challenges those students who do not know their multiples to learn them so that they may be chosen for a future class. The Stretch Captain will read and lead each stretch from the list of stretches, while counting to 10 or whatever multiple is chosen times 10. Upon completion, the Stretch Captain will roll the fitness die to determine what fitness activity all students must perform. Note: the teacher can supplement any fitness activity if a fitness die is not available. This is a great incentive for entering the gym correctly because EVERYONE wants to be the Stretch Captain! -
These are a few hands-on tools I use to engage students in the learning process. I simply tie them into a lesson/game that fits well with the tool I'm using. Although there is a small investment involved to add these products to your equipment, it's interesting to see how captivated students are when they can actually see and feel the effects of an occluded artery, or how much sugar and fat are in the foods they eat. Students also are amazed at the fat chunk and that although it weighs the same as muscle, it takes up twice the space, plus it is gross to feel. The Pack of Toxic Tar Display contains two removable cigarettes filled with gooey "tar." The tar in these two cigarettes represents the amount of toxic tar that a smoker receives from smoking one pack of cigarettes. -
Nonverbal cues are a great time management tool I often times implement in physical education to avoid disrupting the flow of learning when instruction is being given. Implementing the nonverbal cues allows me to quickly address and alleviate many problems instead of stopping the class, addressing the problem, and re-starting the class. For example, I’m demonstrating a skill and I notice a student who is talking to a friend; instead of calling them out and disrupting class, I simply make eye contact with that student and do the “cut it out” cue without hindering my demonstration. -
Helpers of the Month Here is a fun incentive I use with my 5th graders who excel and demonstrate great attitudes in physical education. Helpers of the Month assist me in promoting behavior expectations to other students. This incentive utilizes 5th graders as physical education helpers in daily setup, cleanup, errands, and other classroom management needs. 5th Grade Student Teachers Here is a fun incentive I use with fifth graders who excel and demonstrate great attitudes in physical education. This program utilizes fifth graders as student teachers at various physical education stations for kindergarteners. -
Objective: To practice strategy, honesty, fairness, and honorable sporting behavior. Derived from the rock, paper, and scissors games of Head Honcho I and II, Just Roll the Dice is also a fast-paced and exciting game, reinforcing math competency, strategy, luck, and honesty, but ultimately perseverance to become an elite Roll the Dice Champion. -
Objective: to utilize gymnastic mats and scooters to reinforce teamwork, offensive and defensive strategy, and aerobic fitness. The object of the game is to travel around on your scooter to try and destroy all of the other team's force fields (gymnastic mats) by knocking them down with the BIG ball. -
OBJECTIVE: It’s sometimes “Risky Business” trying to make money in today’s society, but with some hard work and some potential low or high risk investments, you can really make it big! The game of Risky Business is a cooperative challenge that provides a great way to introduce money recognition and counting money, while integrating running and fitness in the attempt to enhance persistence, teamwork, and camaraderie. -
Watch student teams “Launch It” in a cooperative game that will allow students the opportunity to explore various ways to develop and improve ball manipulation, and slingshot skills of trajectory, force, and accuracy. The game of Launch It is a great prerequisite to the games of Slingshot and Slingshot Golf. -
Objective: Feeling Lucky? Watch as teammates communicate and try to guess each round’s Tri Factor to earn valuable points with the ultimate goal of being the Tri Factor Champions. But look out! A wrong guess forces your team into one of six different fitness choices and multiple wrong guesses just may cover all of your fitness minutes for the day.