Chapter 5: Getting the Lesson Started
“When the child is greeted with the same old calisthenics
and laps, lesson after lesson, there is a message that perhaps these classes
are to be endured rather than enjoyed.”
Instant Activities
are a way to get kids moving as soon as they come into class. Most PE teachers I know have some kind of
protocol for letting students know what they do as soon as they enter the
gym. The whiteboard at the entrance is
where my students find quick directions for what to do. This is not a time to write lengthy instructions
or activity descriptions involving many steps.
Instant Activities or warmup routines should already have been taught
and practiced. Once the students are
familiar with an activity, then it becomes a good candidate for a warmup routine. Certain tag games are good candidates, as are cardio stations. Add a level of complexity by requiring
students to form teams of a certain size for a relay, or for volleyball popcorn
or circle-soccer popcorn.
Jogging laps are certainly quick and easy, but students are
soon bored by them. If you want students
to jog, add interest by doing a Jog and Chat.
I was taught this by a very experienced track coach friend who uses it
as a warmup with his runners. The idea
is that if students can talk while they’re running, they remain in the aerobic
zone at a medium intensity level.
Without the direction to “chat,” younger kids often automatically accelerate
into a run that will eventually take them beyond the aerobic zone and into
exhaustion. It’s rare for a PE teacher
to have time to chat with students one-on-one, and I find that I can spend a
nice chunk of quality time with two or three students every time we do a Jog
and Chat.
Another benefit to writing warmup instructions at the gym
entrance is that it reinforces the importance of reading and of paying
attention to instructions. When we
reinforce reading and math skills in PE class, students get the message that
academics have an application elsewhere in the “real world.”
Set Induction, AKA
Anticipatory Set or Cognitive Set is the strategy for
getting kids focused on and interested in what you’re planning for them to do
next. This is an area where teaching is
part art form. What can I say or do that
will get my kids really interested in doing this next activity?
One approach is to totally impress the students with your
amazing ability. If, for example, you’re
starting a unit on paddle sports, you might volley a ball against the wall 25
times without a miss. Right away kids
start counting and cheering. Or you
could take the opposite tack. (This
might come more naturally!) Demonstrate
how you’re unable to do a forward roll, and while doing so, make sure to
pinpoint the parts you’re having trouble with.
Within seconds, dozens of students will be offering to show you, and
everyone else, how it’s done. Another
approach is to introduce some emotional content, and this is easily done by
starting a discussion on conflict and fairness in games. For example, “Yesterday I noticed a lot of
heated debate and angry voices on the field at recess – and not so much actual
playing. What was that about?” That would be your lead-in to a discussion of
game rules, and then game time.
