K-2 Day 1 Survival Skills and Locomotor Movement

SC Elementary session 1

K-2 Day 1 “Survival Skills” and Locomotor Movement

When the kindergarten students come into my classroom I have them stand on the basketball sideline and I ask them if they have ever played “follow the leader”. Many of them have played that game before and I tell them that every time they hear the horn that they need to watch what I am doing because I will be changing the movement at that time. During this time we will move on the lines throughout the gym to the music Bare Necessities doing different locomotor movement, different types of walks, skipping, galloping, jogging, etc.

Toward the end of the song we will be coming to our green large circle in the gym and on a signal “stop” they will stand on an orange piece of tape on the green large circle. I will then lead them in some non-locomotor movement.

At this time I will talk about the one rule in class that I have and that is to “Make people feel good about themselves” ( I use this rule k-8) and we will discuss what that means and I will give them a few examples especially the one that says when I am talking all student’s body parts are quiet. Then I will introduce my name to them and have them repeat it about 2 or 3 times.

At this point if this were grades 1and 2 we would go to a discussion of locomotor and non-locomotor movement. These words will be listed on an easel. I will have them try to sound out those words and I will tell them the definition and then ask them what were some of the types of locomotor movement we did during the song Bare Necessities. Then we will discuss non-locomotor movement and list the ones we did to the music.

At this time we will have a discussion of “inside”, “outside”, and “on”, regarding lines. I will also tell them that when I say “baby chicks” they will come back near me without touching me or anyone else.

The next concept we work with is “near”, “far”, and “perfect spot”. I will have students close their eyes and I will explain that your perfect spot is a place that you are far away from everyone and everything. Students with their eyes closed will picture that place in their mind. Then I will give them 5 counts to find their perfect spot some place in the gym. I will say “find your perfect spot anyplace in the gym” and I will begin counting.

You need to make sure and point out in someone is not in their perfect spot. Then I will say come “near me”. The progression from here “can someone show me a large black connected rectangle in the gym and I will have a student walk on that rectangle so that all students will understand my next direction which will be to find a perfect spot inside the large black rectangle ready go. Then I will have them use a different locomotor coming “near me” or I might use the cue word “baby chicks”. This activity progresses to the white volleyball rectangle, and then the large green circle (continuing to make the space smaller). We will then talk about “taking that perfect spot with you and” as we do different locomotor movement inside those rectangles until we get to the green circle where we have to be very careful as we walk to take that perfect spot with us. Then we will have a short discussion about the idea of what happens to our perfect spot as our space gets smaller.

At this time for grades 1and 2 I will tap the triangle and tell students when they here the triangle find a perfect spot on the black line in between 2 blue cones. Then we will play “run away tag”.

Run Away Tag (k-2)

This is one of our most basic tagging games for students at the lower levels. There are two lines of students about 8 feet apart facing the same direction. On the signal “go” from the teacher both lines start running. The back line of students tries to tag the front line of students before they get to the safe line about 60ft. away. You can trick them as I do and say “chicken feathers” or some odd word to mix them up on the go signal. Once students are all on the other side of the gym the other group becomes the taggers for the next run through. Even if they get tagged they stay with their same team.

For kindergarten at this time, they will be seated with their feet on the basketball circle in the middle of the gym. I will have the parachute in a soft bag and at this time we play a guessing game to see if they can discover what is in the bag. I will go around the circle with it telling them that it might be a ………. LION!!!!! Or a crocodile, etc. then I will ask them do you think a lion could fit in here? Of course they will say no. At this time I will peak in the bag and make believe something is pulling me in the bag. You can imagine how much screaming and yelling is going on at this time. Then I will take the bag and touch them on the head and ask them is it hard or soft? Then I will start pulling out the parachute one color at a time and ask them what color it is. Then I will ask them what it is and I will tell them it is a popcorn popper. Of course they won’t believe you and that’s when you have them grab the popcorn popper and start making waves and then throw foam balls on the chute and shake up the popcorn. We will shake up the popcorn until most of the popcorn is off the chute and students will pick up the balls and put them away. That will be the end of class for the kindergarten students

For grades 1 and 2 you will remember that we finished up with run away tag and now I will sound the triangle and they will go to the black line finding their “perfect spot”.

I will tell the students that this is a Follow the Leader Game and that they will do what I do until I point my index finger to the other side of the gym at that time they will skip to the other black basketball sideline across the gym and stand at the line where we will do rhythmic clapping and non-locomotor movement such as bending knees up and down, then skipping, clapping, - a different locomotor maybe hip swaying, then I will point again etc. The music is Skippy Tippy Toes This will be the end of the day for grades 1 and 2.

Grade 3-5 Day I

Gator Tag – Long soft rope almost as wide as your gym. One student usually your fastest girl or boy will start holding the rope in one hand. They are the first tagger. They will tag other students with their free hand. If another student gets tagged they also grab the rope and become a tagger. Play the game until 3 or 4 people are left untagged. Students should not dive head first under the rope. Make sure you use a soft cloth type rope for this game.

After this game when they are tired I introduce myself and the rule in my class for the rest of the year “Make people feel good about Themselves”.

Then I assign them to squads. We will “huddle” and then have them go back to their squads.

Pair Share grades 3-5

I will have students by this time in their squads and I will have squad 1&2 face each other, that is their partner for this next activity. Squads 3-4 and 5-6 will do the same. I will have them visit with each other and ask what their partner’s favorite activity is or what they are good at. For me it is horseback riding or History as a subject. The partners will then stand in front of class and introduce their partner as “This is my friend Susie and she is good at ______”.

Students will then get a beach ball and go to a blue taped mark by the wall (the marks are about 3 feet apart so that students are not too close to each other) and start hitting a beach ball underhand against the wall with two hands letting the ball bounce once on the floor each time for 1-2 minutes. We will do this for 1-2 minutes with one hand and then the other hand. Students will then rally with a partner with two hands anywhere in the gym letting the beach ball bounce one time in between hits. We will then hit with our partner across a line in the gym. We will begin everything over with a play ground ball against the wall etc. Then we will explain the game of 4-square. We will have only 5 people to a square. Each person tries to protect their square, only one bounce in your square. Lines can be called in or out depending on your rules. If there is a question about the ball being in or out it is a “do over”. Every hit is an underhand hit. Students are trying to move counter-clockwise toward the king or queen court. The serve starts in the king or queen court. This court is marked with a serving line. If a mistake is made that student is out and everyone moves one place closer to the king or queen court.

Day 2

Students sit in their squads. I ask them what are the strategies for students who are the taggers on the rope. How can you tag people more quickly. What are the strategies for students who do not want to get tagged. Play the game of gator tag. Exercises and squads.

Spin a Yarn

This is a great beginning of the year activity for the first day of class. Can someone tell me what is a yarn? Help them by giving them a clue. Have spots on the floor in groups of 3 or assign students to get a group of 3 people and sit down. Each group will have a set of two wood pieces wrapped in segments of different colored yarn. Each person in turn will tell a story (yarn) about themselves. They will do this while spinning the segment of yarn onto the piece of wood. When they come to the knot (next colored segment) they will hand the wood pieces to the next person etc. Do this for about 3-4 minutes, if they finish early they start another round. To help some students you might have some things on an easel such as hobbies, family members, pets, favorite sports, etc. Usually I will go first to let them know how to start. After 3-4 minutes have them choose two other people in class. Do this 2 or 3 times depending on the class. This activity is great after a running tagging type activity.

Students will pitch an 8 ½ “ foam playground ball to a partner with 2 hands from a distance of about 15 feet aiming for a spot in between their partners shoes, or over a poly spot for 2-3 minutes. The ball should roll and not bounce. Students will then pitch and other student will kick ball. Each pitcher should have two foam balls and pitch two in a row. The pitcher will have back to the wall while pitching the ball so the kicked ball does not go too far away. Students will then switch positions. Students will then take a rubber playground ball and throw it against the wall and “cradle catch it” against their chest. Students will then go to a line in the center of the gym facing their partner and take two steps away from a partner and start tossing underhand and cradle catching. Once a student catches 3 in a row they step one step back from the line. This continues for 3-4 minutes. After this we will set up a game of kickball and have everyone bat before we switch sides. The tag up rule is one rule that we spend time explaining, along with other rules. Regular softball rules except that the ball can be thrown at you for an out. If you get hit in the head you are not out.