Chapter 5: Getting the Lesson Started

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.