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TEACHING
HEART RATE TO 1ST AND 2ND GRADERS
(by Ed Kupiec, Elementary
Section Editor)
I begin the process of helping our
students understand the concept of heart
rate by instructing them on where and
how to find their "heart beat"
(pulse). At this age they learn to feel
it in 3 locations: chest, neck, and
wrist. During 1st grade I focus on the
chest, and then in 2nd grade focus on
the chest and neck. I do teach about
the wrist, but I've discovered this
to be a difficult location for most
students to reliably find their pulse.
I begin with a formative assessment
to verify that their hands are in the
correct location. We then complete a
series of activities with students finding
their heart beat after each activity,
and from that determining their heart
rate. At this age I only concentrate
on students being able to distinguish
between their heart rate being fast
or slow, rather than counting for a
specific period of time. Again, this
is due to a lack of reliability.
I do two written assessments at the
1st and 2nd grade level to help me adjust
my instruction. I give the first assessment
during the class that follows the one
where I teach about finding their pulse.
The first page of the assessment is
designed to help me quickly gauge student's
understanding of where to find their
heart beat. The second page contains
a list of activities that students perform
during the assessment. After each activity,
students find their pulse and circle
whether that activity made their heart
beat "Fast like a rabbit"
or "Slow like a turtle." I
find pictures help with my 1st graders
who are developing readers. At the end
of the assessment, I review the answers,
and then have class and individual discussions
regarding the assessment to help ensure
student understanding. We also discuss
similarities between the "fast"
activities and the "slow"
activities.
The next progression in the learning
process is to have students distinguish
specific changes in their bodies that
occur as a result of exercise. In a
later class I conduct the second assessment
that gauges retention of the instruction
on heart rate, "fast" or "slow"
activities, and to help students begin
to understand three specific body changes
that occur during exercise:
- Heavy breathing
- Sweating
- Tired muscles
The first page contains clip art of
various activities. Based on the instruction
they have received and their knowledge,
students circle the activities that
they think will make their heart beat
fast. Their answers here help me to
once again gauge comprehension and retention.
The second page requires students to
perform the same activities from the
first assessment, but this time they
are grouped into a "Fast"
category or a "Slow" category.
After they complete each activity during
this assessment, students circle a "Yes"
or "No" in response to 3 questions:
- Are you breathing heavy?
- Are you sweaty?
- Are your muscles getting tired?
Ideally, students will have the same
answers for all activities in each category
("Yes" for the "fast"
activities, and "No" for the
"slow" activities). As in
the first assessment, I review the answers
and then have class and individual discussions
regarding the assessment to help ensure
student understanding, and to talk about
the similarities between the "fast"
activities and the "slow"
activities.
I have found this to be an effective
method to help my students gain a better
understanding of heart rate and body
changes through exercise, and also to
individualize instruction and use assessment
results for guidance in future instruction.
This method also provides evidence to
document student achievement of local
benchmarks and state learning standards,
and their preparation for the upper
elementary curriculum.
Download
a copy of my first assessment. (Microsoft
Word .doc file 750 KB)
Download
a copy of my second assessment. (Microsoft
Word .doc file 875 KB)
PEDOMETER
STEPS
(Thanks to Tom Winiecki,
fellow section editor, and National
Board Certified Teacher at Mott Road
Elementary School for writing this article)
Our 3rd and 4th graders (we are a K-4
building) use the pedometers daily.
We may refer to them occasionally in
class, but for the most part they stay
shut until the end of class. At the
end of each class period, we all open
up our pedometers and record our day's
steps. This number goes onto a pre-made
sheet for each student. We color code
them by class. They use this sheet to
add up their day's totals to their running
total number of steps. Once they get
to multiples of 10,000 they earn a plastic
colored medal that fit onto their shoe
laces. When you take a look at the sheet we
use for recording steps, you will see
that it is "glorified graph paper."
The columns are all labeled. The rows
are all clearly labeled so the student
knows exactly where to put each day's
numbers. The "shaded" areas
are always for the day's final total.
This pedometer design offers some other
"hidden motivation." The kids
all realize that the more steps they
take, the quicker they will earn a new
medal. So we use that to our advantage.
When we call a class to a central location
(the center circle) for instructions
or demonstrations, we give them a :10
countdown to get there. During the :10
countdown, they move to the circle and
run in place as fast as they can (to
get more "free" steps) until
the time is up. They want the steps,
so they get there fast. I want them
organized quickly, so I get
them ready in only :10! This
whole use of pedometers allows us to
emphasize the importance of general
physical activity. Quite simply, the
more active you are, the more steps
you get, and the more medals you earn.
It is an effective method for our age
kids.
It also allows us to begin to do more
as well. We can easily record steps
for each "unit" we cover.
We can start to show our students how
different activities compare to each
other. They can begin to see how vigorous
different activities are. Once we understand
that idea, we can go even deeper. We
can begin to examine how activities
can be modified to make them more or
less active. For example, bowling may
not be the most aerobic activity we
teach when done in the traditional way.
We, as teachers, take the opportunity
to show how bowling skills can be put
into other contexts that would be more
active.
Our game of "Kegler
Attack" (one of our first pelinks4u
articles) is an example. In this activity,
everyone has one gator ball and one
pin. Their jobs are to both roll their
ball at other people's pins and to guard
their pin (like a goalie). If they knock
someone else's pin down, that person
(who got their pin knocked over) has
to move it to a new location away from
the person that knocked their pin down.
In other words, if their pin gets knocked
over they have to move it away from
their attacker. This is far from a slow
moving activity! We do this to show
our students that the bowling skill
(approach, release, and follow through)
can be used traditionally in a bowling
alley (with family or friends), as well
as in a more "aerobic" manner.
Download
the recording sheet that Tom developed.
(Microsoft Excel .xls file 25KB)
PERSONALIZED
HEART RATE REPORTS
(Thanks to Kory
McMahon, teacher at Mott Road Elementary
School for writing this article) At Mott Road Elementary School we like
to utilize technology in physical education
whenever possible. Our fitness unit
is a great example of this practice.
We use our school's mobile computer
lab in the gym with our 3rd and 4th
grade students to create charts of each
student's heart rate at a variety of
fitness stations. Here’s how it
works.
First we set up ten fitness stations
around the gym. We arrange fifteen laptop
computers from the mobile computer lab
in one corner of the gym on two tables.
We use the program SynchronEyes
to open up an Excel spreadsheet we previously
created on each laptop computer. The
spreadsheet is labeled with all the
fitness stations set up around the gym,
and includes a column where the students
can input their heart rate.
When the students arrive, we split
them up into groups of four or five,
and hand each group a worksheet on which
they can record their heart rates at
each station. Students use Mio
heart rate watches or InstaPulse
heart rate grab bars to track their
heart rate. Fifteen of the students
are given vests to wear. After briefly
explaining the stations, we discuss
how students wearing the vests are to
go to a laptop computer (the same one
every time), determine their heart rate,
and record it next to the appropriate
station number. Meanwhile, the rest
of their group records their heart rates
on the group worksheet. The students
spend approximately three minutes at
each station, and thirty seconds transitioning.
After the last station, students using
the laptop computers click on a chart
we created that plots their data. They
type in their name, click print, and
instantly are provided with a colorful
sheet of their information. The chart
has a "target heart rate zone"
superimposed in red over their data.
This enables students to better visualize
if they are in the "zone"
or not. We conclude each class discussing
the body's response to exercise, the
benefits of exercise, and the importance
of workout intensity. After three sessions,
all students will have used the computers,
and hopefully taken home their charts
and explained what they mean to their
parents. The use of technology has been
a great compliment to our program to
reinforce important lifelong fitness
concepts.
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