Service trip to Hannam- Health class 3/21/2012
This is using an app called fotobabble on my iPhone.
You can take a picture and record audio over the top of it, which is what I did today after returning from our service trip to Hannam.
Next I will get students to record their reflections on the service trip using this app. It is very simple to use, give it a try.
Health Update 3/20/2012
Unit focus: Harmful Substances- Tobacco
Unit Question: How can simple choices effect my life for years to come?
During this unit, students have been learning about what's in a cigarette, the effects on the human body, what makes effective anti smoking advertising, what second hand smoke is, and how smoking is a global problem.
They have learned facts like...
- a smoker dies every 6 seconds from smoking related illnesses
- Smoking is a factor in 6 of the top 8 leading causes of death
- 5.4 million smokers died last year
The students have been using Edmodo as a resource and discussion point about why they think people smoke so much in Korea.
Students are currently working on writing a letter to a smoker, persuading them to quit. This letter could be to fictional or real person.
In their letter they have had to list reasons and use persuasion to convince the smoker why they should give up.
The students voted the following video as the most effective anti smoking advertisement for them.
I shared with them the story of Pam and her family and her journey to making this commercial for Australian TV. They felt it was the personal story associated with this woman and her family which increased the effectiveness of the message. Smoking really does affect more than just the smoker.
May 31 is World No Tobacco Day.
Give up for a day, give up and save your life!
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PE Update 3/2/2012
B block have started learning Table Tennis as their second racquet skills sport.
Here are some students practicing their backhand push using a variety of little games and targets . The targets helps to give feedback on their shot.
If they hit the target, then the student knows it was a good shot.
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PE Update 2/29/2012
Here are some picture from students in I Block learning and playing Badminton.
Students have started a new unit: Racquet Skills.
In this unit, students are exploring the games of Badminton and Table Tennis and when the weather warms up, Tennis.
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| Racquet Skills Unit Question |
Students are looking to see how their skills of hand-eye coordination are transferrable between the 3 sports, but how the environment (physical equipment and rules for example) can change the game significantly.
Currently students are engaged in Badminton.
They have been learning shots such as Overhead clear, Underhand Serve, Drop Shot and Pin Drop.
Students have also been working on different drills called worker/feeder drills. In due time they will be creating their own drill to work on their own areas of weakness, something like the example below.
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PE update 2/6/2012
As students start to learn new movements they have been challenged to work together to compose small routines based on "Task Cards" of "required" dance elements.
Here is a video of students working on Task Card #3.
It's a work in progress as they learn valuable skills about how to be creative, flexible and collaborative with different people.
I block dance compositions- work in progress task card 3 from Alison Pearse on Vimeo.
PE Update 2/1/2012
After completing a Health unit of Risk Taking and Decision Making, the students are back into the physical domain with a Dance unit.
This unit focuses on dance composition, where students learn some basic steps and moves and then learn how to put these movements together to form simple dance compositions.
The unit Question for this unit is: How can I show my personality through dance and movement?
Students are being encouraged to be risk takers in this unit and to create by doing, not by talking about it. This unit is a great opportunity to try new things and to get to know different people in the class.
The students are working in mixed groups which are constantly changing, giving them the opportunity to practice their communication skills and to learn from a wide variety of students, many of whom have some excellent dance techniques and experiences.
So far we have learned the following movements
1. Grapevine
2. Step touch
3. Easy walk
4. March
5. Side flick
6. Knee lift
7. Heel dig
8. Push back.
Ask your 7th Grader to demonstrate some of these movements for you :)
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12/1/2011
Speedball Unit...
Unit Question: How does the social and physical environment have an effect on this game?
This game is made up of 3 different games- Soccer, Basketball and Australian Rules Football. Students are learning to apply what they have learned in previous games to a new game. They are learning new applications for rules and the tactics that go along with this game.
One of the major focuses for this unit is Communication skills. This contributes to the "social environment" that we play in. We are certainly more successful and greater risk takers if we are supported and encouraged in our endeavours.
Students have also been asked to use their Thinking skills to apply the new rules they learned in a tactical way in game play.
The students are really enjoying the physical aspect of the game and the new challenges it is bringing.
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Update 11/20/2011
Rhythmic Gymnastics is finished.
Students have completed their summative routines for Gymnastics. They showed a lot of originality and creativity in using hoops, batons, clubs, rings, ribbons and balls in their routines.
Below are some pictures taken of B block during their performances. The Pre K class were our audience during these performances and were absolutley enthralled with the Grade 7 students.
Update 11/13/2011
Using the Design cycle in PE.
Students have been planning, investigating and creating their summative compositions for Rhythmic gymnastics in the last couple of lessons.
Students have been allocated mixed ability and gender groups and have been given a list of 'required elements' to incorporate into their compositions. These compositions are their culminating, summative tasks for this unit.
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| The design cycle used in Technology classes. |
Students are learning that MYP knowledge and skills learned in one subject can be transferred to other subjects, just like in the case of using the Design cycle.
Students need to show evidence in their planning of using the Design cycle for Rhythmic gymnastics for their summative.
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Update 11/5/2011
Here are some of the latest pictures of students exploring what their bodies can do.
The last video shows a new 'Dominant Movement Pattern' called "Spring and Landing". Students use the 'motorbike landing' on impact and are trying a variety of aerial manoevures such as a pike, knees to chest and half turn.
Enjoy!
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| Assisted lift- star jump |
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| 3 person balance |
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| Very good straight lines by the top person! |
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| Donkey Kick to balance |
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| Table top on top of table top- good core strength girls! |
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Update 10/31/2011
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Unit Question: "How can I use my body to create movements?"
Grade 7 have begun a unit on rhythmic gymnastics.
In this unit we will build on our previous knowledge and experiences and then add some fun apparatus into our routines.
Students will choose from hoops, ball, ropes, ribbons or clubs to use as part of their routine.
Here are some pictures of students working on the Dominant Movement Pattern of Statics.
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Update 10/25/2011
I hope everyone had a good 3 day weekend!
Last week we completed our first unit of health called "Changing Attitudes and Healthy Relationships".
As I read the students unit reflections I was and am impressed with the thought and honesty in their work. As Grade 7 students mature throughout this year they will struggle and be challenged constantly by their relationships and their attitudes towards each other.
Many students expressed the desire to strengthen their relationships with their parents, teachers and peers. Many students need help to learn the appropriate social skills to do this.
Last week we practiced our communication and listening skills in a 'speed friendship' activity. Students rotated to a different friend every minute. For 30 seconds they had to talk about themselves and then for 30 seconds they had to listen, without interrupting or asking questions. Later in the class they were asked to reveal what they had learned about each of their friends.
The aim of this activity was to have students work on their ability to listen and process information from another person. Many students realized that they struggled to sit and listen actively for the 30 second time slot without interrupting. This was the essential element that we discussed in being a good listener. The ability to allow someone to talk without interrupting them to talk about yourself.
Here are some pictures of our class enjoying each others company and learning how to make better relationships with their peers.
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Update 9/27/2011
This is an interesting article from Australia on research related to PE and improved academic performance. I think what is interesting is that a well run, educationally sound program trumps a sports or cocurricular program in terms of overal educational improvement in children.
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Track and Field Update- 9/26/2011
Today in class we worked on High jump.
Often this can be a daunting activity for students if it is not taught well. Students see it as confronting, difficult and perhaps dangerous. Needless to say anxiety levels rose when I announced we were spending today's lesson on it.
The technique I focussed on today is called the "Scissor Technique". This may be an older technique, but a tried and true method of simply getting students to focus on jumping high.
Sometimes "Keeping it Simple" is the best policy.
After some progressions, all students were jumping successfully over the cord onto the large mats.
As a class we set our goal and every student today exceeded the class goals. Every student today was successful at high jump- which is exactly why I choose to teach the scissor technique.
Bravo 7th Grade for your perseverance today!
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New unit= Track and Field Athletics 9/5/2011
Our Grade 7 students have begun a unit learning about different track and field events. This follows on from the basic work we did last year.
So far students have learned, practiced and performed shotput. They have measured and recorded their personal best distances.
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| This is the US competitior in Daegu at the World Athletics Championships getting ready for her throw. |
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| Here is the Cuban, women's competitor winding up for a throw. |
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I hope you can see similarities between the working technique of our students and the professional athletes.
Our unit question for this unit is:
What is my personal best and how does it drive me to improve?
We want students to improve themselves physically and also socially in this unit. The term "personal best" can be used in all aspects of their life and personality.
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Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year...
Students will participate in Physical Education and Health classes all year :)
Students need to have a water bottle for classes and the correct uniform for each lesson.
We have started the year with a unit called "Minor Games".
Students are learning about team work, group roles and community through their games.
Our Unit Question for this MYP PE unit is :
"How do people work together to form a community?"
Recently we played a game called "Spots". Students worked in teams to make a maze in the spots and then had to work their way through the maze without the use of verbal communication. By taking away the students oral communication, it allowed other less verbally inclined students to take on some of the leadership and decision making roles.
Students have also been learning about the game of ultimate frisbee. This game has focussed more on skills, as well as tactical teamwork. Teams working together to achieve a common goal... something communities also do.
These final pictures are of a warm-up teamwork game called "Knots". In this activity all students had to cross their arms and grab two other hands in the circle. Then they had to work together to unravel into a circle without letting go of each others hands. This game requires communication, collaboration and patience.
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| It doesn't look like they will be able to get all the knots out... but they did! I was very proud of their perseverance in this challenge. |
Communication and collaboration are 2 of our Approaches To Learning that we are focusing on in this unit.
The students are really enjoying the challenges and games in this unit.
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Update 18/5/2011
Here are some of the latest pictures playing cricket.
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| Lisa batting |
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| Haley Batting |
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| Elal taking her guard. |
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| Nick taking his guard. |
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| Casper bowling |
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| Nick batting |
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| Daniel batting |
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| Jason playing a 'pull shot' |
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| Rakia batting |
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| Irene batting and taking a run. |
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| Irene batting and Sabrina playing wicketkeeper. |
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| Daniel bowling and Elizabeth waiting for a run. |
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Update 5/11/2011
Cricket
Students have the opportunity at TCIS to learn about a range of games from all over the world.
Cricket is a world game which originated in England. Many countries play in 3 different versions of the game.
Students have been learning the skills associated with this game- the front foot drive, back foot cut shot, pull shot, bowling, fielding, wicket keeping.
Ask your child to tell you about the field the game is played on, the wickets, batters and fielders.
The skills in this game do transfer from other games we have played. There is a lot of throwing and catching in this game, which transfers directly from the Softball unit.
The unit question is: What skills, knowledge and attitudes can I transfer to this game?
Here are some pictures of D/L block practicing their back foot cut shot.
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| Elizabeth has stepped back and across to hit the ball that Jason fed to her. As Elizabeth is hitting the ball to the side, Jason is safe feeding from the front. |
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| Daniel has moved his feet well to hit the ball from Sophia. We use a cross on the ground with chalk to help the students orientate their body and learn how to use good footwork to play the shot. |
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| You can see Chris moving his weight onto his back foot to play this shot from Irene. |
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| Jason is in the ready position to field the ball that Irene has successfully hit into space. Can you see where the ball went? In cricket you can hit the ball anywhere on the field. There is no foul line like baseball or softball. |
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Update 4/12/2011
This week in class students have had the opportunity to explore the complexities of the rules and tactics in Softball through games.
Students have begun to use their pitching skills to pitch to the batting team in a game. We have been using the umpires "count" on our pitches for "balls and strikes".
Students have been using their skills to be knowledgeable about "forced runners", or runners we should "tag". We have been trying to learn when to play "offense" when fielding balls and then when it is appropriate to play "defense".
The students are finding the game demanding, but are enjoying the new experiences and of course the feeling when you hit a ball hard with a bat!
Here are some pictures of students thinking and writing about their Approaches To Learning- Collaboration and Reflection.
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| Hana and Lisa |
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| Susie |
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| Elal |
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| Casper |
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Update 3/29/2011
Softball Unit
Many students did not know what the game of Softball was before Spring break.
Do you know what it looks like?
Now students have a good visual picture of the game and many students can relate to the similarities it has to Baseball.
Softball is an Olympic level sport played professionally by women around the world. Many countries also have mixed leagues.
It is a great sport for all ages.
The skills we have been working on are throwing, catching with a glove or mit, batting and pitching. We have been playing modified games and are starting to learn some of the more complex rules and tactics in Softball.
Ask your 6th grader to show you how to pitch a strike!
We have also started looking at how these students respond to each other when under pressure or in a competitive environment such as the game of Softball. They are learning about their personalities and how they change when it is a win or lose situation. My hope is that they will grow in the way they treat one another and themselves in stressful situations- these are important skills for life.
Students have also been reflecting on their personal strengths and weaknesses and trying to formulate a plan to improve their weaknesses. We will continue to work on this over the next couple of weeks.
Our unit questions is: How can we work together as a team to achieve a common goal?
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Update:2/8/2011
New Unit-Basketball
Unit Question: What 'impact' can an individual have on a game or activity?
During this unit we will begin to try to understand what "impact" can mean in this question and in the game of Basketball. We will try to look at the skills 'impact' but also the social' impact' that players can have on a team.
Students have been learning dribbling, the set shot and the lay up.
Today we worked on our set shots again and I took some pictures of their techniques.
Look at the pictures of the students shooting below (with only one hand) and then look at the picture of the basketballer also below. Together we will analyze these pictures to find the similarities and differences in technique.
This is part of the feedback process that we will use with students to improve their shooting.
Learning new physical skills is a difficult process as the brain has to lay new pathways of neurons.
Demonstrations, practice, watching others, reflecting, analyzing, trying again, critiquing... are all important parts in the learning process and help the brain to lay down the correct pathways for skills such as these.
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Update 1/18/2011
Dance continues...
This week in class we have been working on our dance compositions.
We have taken a dance we learned (The Heel Toe Polka) and deconstructed it back to it's 'bare bones'.
We have analyzed the beats in it and the structure of the dance and we have used this to create our own dances.
The students will be performing these on Monday 1/17 in class.
As a warm up today we worked on increasing our group and personal awareness when moving around others.
We played with a task called "Musical Statues".
Students had to first create interesting movements related to the music that was playing and then freeze into a statue when the music stopped.
Initially the statues were alone and then silently they 'statue-ed' in conjunction with a partner, group of 3, group of 4 and finally the whole group together.
We talked about how a good group composition contains a variety of shapes, level and placings of people. It is quite a challenge to get a varied group composition based only on movement and not based on verbal discussion.
The students did a really good job with all of these variables and tasks.
This picture below was their third group statue.
Have a close look at how interesting this group composition is.
Have a look to see how many of the group are aware of each others position, even if they are not making direct eye contact.
Can you see a story in this stillness?
Update 1/12/2011
Today in Dance we used a warm up technique I call "Mirror, Mirror".
One student is the reflection in a 'mirror' of the other student.
Here Casper is the image and Nick is being the reflection.
This teaches students to SYNCHRONIZE their movements with each other by moving slowly, smoothly and simply. This also teaches the students 'partner awareness', as how they move will impact on the quality of the mirror synchronization. This is another way students are learning to control their body's and movements.
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Update 1/11/2011
Happy New year!
We are starting the New Semester with a unit of Dance.
Students will be learning a variety of social and ethnic dances.
Students will be learning about beat, tempo, steps and composition of steps.
Our unit questions is:
How can dance improve my social health?
We have already discussed a few ways we can improve our social health. I'm sure we will continue to see more ways over the next few lessons.
Please see the home page for a couple of short video's on the learning process from today's dance lesson.
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Update 12/10/2010
This week we have enjoyed playing a variety of games some involving team cooperation and others involving throwing balls and bean bags.
Here Chris and Daniel are trying to compete against each other but cooperate at the same time to get to opposite sides of the beam.
On Wednesday we all took time out of our game to run outside into the snow and dance around for a while.
We have enjoyed this week very much!
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Update 12/2/2010
This week will mark the last week of assessed work for Grade 6 PE in Semester one. We are finishing our Health unit with F block doing their test on Wednesday and L Block doing their test on Friday.
Students have worked very hard on the following Semester 1 units:
Soccer
Fitness
Health #1- Components of Health
Track and Field
Gymnastics
Health #2- Growth and Development and Puberty
Next week we are excited to relax a little and play some games with each other to finish our formal classes for Semester 1.
What has been your son or daughter's favorite unit this Semester?
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Update 11/24/2010
This week we have started a new Health unit on Growth and Development and Puberty.
Students will be learning about their bodies, how they change and why they change using a Biblical perspective.
Students have been asking interesting questions about how we grow and why they change so much at this time of their lives.
Students have been marveling at the complex and wondrous vessel that our body is.
Does your child know the difference between GROWTH and DEVELOPMENT?
Can your child name the 10 stages of Growth and Development in the correct order?
I have suggested that students make a chart to hang in their room or behind the toilet door to help them to learn these 10 stages.
Our unit questions is: "How am I the same but different and unique from others?"
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Update 11/17/2010
In Track and Field we are looking at not only our personal best times and distances, but also the attitudes that will help us to achieve our personal best in life.
