| Goodbye summer.
Hello brand new school year!
As a student, one of the most exciting and yet anxious times for
me has always been the beginning of a new school year. I guess it
was the notion of getting a fresh start, plus a combination of getting
acquainted again with old friends and not knowing what the year
has in store for us. I am certain that this anxiety was shared among
both students and teachers. Being a student, I can only imagine
the preparation and time it takes for teachers to plan lessons for
the year.
Since this month’s theme is “preparing for the new
school year” I decided to go hunting through past PELINKS4U
issues, as well as scouring the internet for lesson ideas. Hope
that this information is helpful. Have a great year!
Dawn Sakaguchi
Interdisciplinary Section Editor
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| Going
Back to School
Although, as a teacher or instructor you may be feeling really excited
about the first day of school, your students may be feeling differently,
perhaps more anxious than excitement. Whether it is entering middle
school, or how to turn around a bad first day, this article offers
advice to students on how to handle the first day of school, as
well as remind you what some of them may be going through.
Getting-to-Know-You
Activities From
Education World
This website has a lot of lesson plans for different subjects.
Below, I have included a couple of their ice-breakers that can be
used for the first day of school.
CLASSROOM SCAVENGER
HUNT
Provide each student with two index cards. Ask each student to write
a brief description of his or her physical characteristics on one
index card and his or her name on the other. Physical characteristics
usually do not include clothing, but if you teach the primary grades,
you might allow students to include clothing in their descriptions.
Put all the physical characteristic index cards in a shoe box,
mix them up, and distribute one card to each student, making sure
that no student gets his or her own card. Give students ten minutes
to search for the person who fits the description on the card they
hold. There is no talking during this activity, but students can
walk around the room. At the end of the activity, tell students
to write on the card the name of the student who best matches the
description. Then have students share their results. How many students
guessed correctly?
Patricia McHugh, John W. Raper
Elementary School, Cleveland, Ohio
COOPERATIVE MUSICAL CHAIRS
This activity is a takeoff on the familiar musical chairs game.
Set up a circle of chairs with one less chair than the number of
students in the class. Play music as the students circle around
the chairs. When the music stops, the students must sit in a seat.
Unlike the traditional game, the person without a seat is not out.
Instead, someone must make room for that person. Then remove another
seat and start the music again. The kids end up on one another's
laps and sharing chairs!
You can play this game outside, and you can end it whenever you
wish. Afterward, stress the teamwork and cooperation the game took,
and how students needed to accept one another to be successful.
Reinforce that idea by repeating this game throughout the year.
Danielle Weston, Willard School, Sanford,
Maine
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| If you have ideas, comments,
letters to share, or questions about particular topics, please
email one of the following Health & Fitness Section Editors:
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|
 |
| In
what ways have you promoted a positive and caring classroom
environment? Please tell
us about it. |
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by Jean
Blaydes
This section within the Interdisciplinary page is updated
each month with a new idea from Jean Blayde's book "Thinking
on Your Feet." |
| This month's
activity is Fruit
and Vegetable Tag. This is an fun tag game that makes
kids think fast in distinguishing between fruits and vegetables. |
| Find out
more information about Jean Blaydes and Action
Based Learning. |
|
| Jump
Rope for Heart
“The
American Heart Association, with its partner the American
Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance,
launched Jump Rope For Heart as a national fund-raising and education
program in 1978. With over 23,000 elementary schools and 4.5 million
students participating last year, Jump Rope For Heart continues
to educate students about living a heart-healthy lifestyle.”
This activity can help children to learn the importance of keeping
a healthy heart, plus participate in an event with students from
around the country. I wanted to mentioned this event because it
requires some planning. They suggest starting 8 weeks before the
event.
Below are some more resources for helping to teach students about
the heart.
All
about the Heart
This article talks about the different parts of the heart and
how they work. Included are pictures and suggestions on how to
keep your heart healthy.
February
PELINKS4U
February was Healthy Heart month, and the PELINKS4U theme was
on heart health. Check out the Interdisciplinary section, which
has links and activities that can be used to help with lessons
about the heart.
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| High
Performance: Sports
From the Discovery
School website, this activity will help teach kids to work
together, and be part of a team. To achieve these goals, each
group will be given 4 objects and told to create a game. The team
will then have to write a report on how their game will affect
a person mentally, physically, and socially. This activity promotes
writing skills, and awareness of specific physical and emotional
characteristics and experiences within an activity.
Geography
Pinball from PE
Central
This activity will help students review the states and capitals,
and their characteristics.
Note
Bowling from PE
Central
This activity puts a twist on traditional bowling by assigning
each pin with a music note value. The note value is marked on
each pin, and the pin is worth the number of beats that that note
gets.
Spelling
Roll from The
Educator’s Reference Desk
“This lesson is designed to incorporate language arts and
gymnastics in a physical education unit. The activity consists
of students spelling words and using them in sentences while doing
a forward roll. This is appropriate for students up to the 5th
grade.”
Exercise
for Good Health
The student will use books and various resources to gather information
about exercise and physical fitness, and collect facts about how
to stay fit. The library media specialist and the classroom teacher,
or physical education teacher, may work on this activity together
in the library media center. It may be completed in two sessions
and may be used during rainy or inclement weather.
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|
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| Interdisciplinary
Teaching Through Physical Education
“Interdisciplinary Teaching Through Physical Education includes
20 complete, ready-to-use learning experiences, and more than 150
additional ideas for developing learning experiences, that integrate
physical education with mathematics, science, language arts, social
studies, and the arts.
Filled with theory and practical applications, the book makes learning
more meaningful, fun, and rewarding for students by bridging the
gap between physical education and other subjects. Teachers need
to take advantage of opportunities to establish relationships between
subject areas, and this book provides everything you need to engage
students in active learning across the elementary school curriculum.”
- source:
Human Kinetics
Read PELINKS4U
Review
Interdisciplinary
Teaching Through Outdoor Education
“Interdisciplinary Teaching Through Outdoor Education provides
teachers and recreation and outdoor leaders with outdoor activities
as well as the expertise to expand students’ understanding
of the outdoors and develop their character. Units are included
for challenge initiatives that don’t require a ropes course,
front-country camping, back-country camping, outdoor cooking techniques,
land navigation, casting and angling, and archery. Also discussed
are rock climbing and canoeing and kayaking.” - Human
Kinetics
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Gymnastic activities - connections:
 |
Science - naming body parts, understanding
the body's needs, exploring forces and motion |
|
Mathematics - repeating patterns
and sequencing |
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English - describing and talking
about what they do |
Unit
10: Invasion games (1) - connections:
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Science - investigating pulse
and breathing rates |
|
Numeracy - learning to count when
scoring, learning about space and shape |
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Literacy - using specialist vocabulary
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Games
activities - connections:
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mathematics and numeracy - keeping
scores, using averages and interpreting other data |
|
literacy and communication - discussing
and planning together |
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science - understanding the body
in action |
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PSHE - using and adapting rules,
developing fair play |
Unit
24: Invasion games (4) - connections:
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Science - investigating warm up
activities and understanding how their bodies react |
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Language and communication - planning
and discussing outcomes |
Unit 13: Net/wall games (1) - connections:
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Science - investigating
changes in the body during exercise |
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PSHE - making up
and agreeing rules |
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Numeracy - simple
addition and keeping score |
Unit 17: Athletic activities (1) - connections:
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English - using appropriate
language for athletic activity; developing vocabulary by considering
words associated with a particular topic is a consistent objective
in the National Literacy Strategy: Framework for teaching
|
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Mathematics - developing
awareness of distance, estimating and time, reinforcing number
work, counting and sequencing, introducing measuring skills |
|
PSHE - developing
self-esteem and self-confidence by setting and achieving simple
athletic challenges, establishing relationships with others
through activities, beginning to understand that everyone is
different |
|
science - developing
a simple definition for exercise, understanding that exercise
changes body condition and is good for the body |
Unit 31: Dance activities - connections:
|
art and design, and design and technology
- researching and designing costumes |
|
history - looking at how people
used to live and how and why dance crazes spread |
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music - investigating the form
and structure of popular music |
|
PSHE - working cooperatively as
a team |
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