Teaching motor skills and heart rate awareness through physical activities

Educational Standards

Physical Education Standard: Students demonstrate the motor skills and movement patterns needed to perform a variety of physical activities.

Lesson: To fulfill this standard, we will perform a series of fun drills. First, to teach diagonal or zigzag movements we will use traffic cones. Students will run, weaving their way around the cones. Next, we will perform the same zigzag running exercise only this time we will introduce the element of coordination to show students how to avoid bumping into each other. One student will start at one end of the course, and another at the other end. They will both run the course but will not be able to bump into each other. Finally, we will have the students divide into two teams to teach the difference between slow and fast speeds. Each team will stand in a row facing the other. One team will be instructed to move around in their place slowly, however they want. The other team will be instructed to move as fast as they can, while staying in place. Then the teams will switch so everyone has a chance to move slow and fast. Because they are watching each other, the students will have a better perspective of the differences between slow and fast as well as different ways of moving.

2. Health Education Standard: Students demonstrate knowledge of physical fitness concepts, principles, and strategies to improve health and performance.

This lesson will teach children about the heart and how heart rate increases during exercise. The students will first be taught how to take their resting pulse. They will place their fingers on their wrist or neck and count the beats while the teacher uses the timer. After writing down their pulse, the children will perform an aerobic activity such as jumping jacks for several minutes.