Welcome back to the 20 days of summer school physical education series! If you are just joining this series, stop right now and check out Summer School Physical Education: Day 1. What Works and What Doesn’t.
The post above details what I will be talking about day to day, and how it can help you improve your social distancing physical education classes in the fall. It also lays out my class size, class time frames and space I am able to use.
If you are currently teaching summer school physical education, please leave comments on what works for you! I love collaborating, so let me know what you’re up to.
Alright, here we go. Day 4 of social distancing in PE…
Activity #1: Fitness Notebooks
Students are still doing really well with this sections of class. The morning class always goes outside, and are able to get a great workout in without having to wear a mask.
I have been reading a lot of the concerns about breathing and physical activity with masks on, so the more time spent outside, the better. In the fall, this is something you can work on with your kids since the weather will be cooler depending on where you live.
Activity #2: Three Cone Kickball
This is another variation of kickball games, but you get to determine how many points you can score for your team on your turn.
I explain all of the rules in Social Distancing Activities in Physical Education, so please check that out if you haven’t already.
You can play two ways. Either tag the runner with the ball before they make it back to home base, or throw the ball to the “designated catcher” off to the side. If the catcher catches it and is on his base the runner will be out and does not score any points.
What Worked:
They loved this game! I asked them to give me feedback on if they enjoyed it or not, and the first class was all for it. My afternoon class is not even close on the energy level scale as my morning kids, so they tend to not play the activities for as long. I try to switch it up for them quicker so they can enjoy there time here, but from the couple kids in that class who gave me feedback enjoyed it.
Having more time to relax when you aren’t kicking seemed to go over well for them. It’s not too strenuous where you’re constantly running like Matball, so breathing issues were non existent for the kicking team. Even after their turn kicking and running, I notice a few of them just step away from the activity, and work on their breathing for a little while and then jumped right back into line.
Same thing goes for the fielding team. Not everyone was involved with every play, so it was easier on their breathing.
Improvements or Modifications:
Make sure you have the room, and class numbers to play this game. I would not play in a small gym with a large class.
Also, we played both classes indoors, but I’m sure in the fall when it cools down this would be a great game to play outside where the students didn’t have to wear their masks.
Activity #3: Soccer Cone Kickball
As I walked into school this morning, I was thinking how can I eliminate hand contact with all equipment. I love teaching different kickball games so I figured I’d try this out with my kids.
The nice thing about kickball is that it’s not as strenuous on the kids in the outfield and line, so mask wearing during limited PA isn’t so bad. Plus they love all the variations.
How to play:
You will still have a fielding team and kicking team, but instead of a pitcher rolling the ball to the kicker, they will kick it to them.
The fielding team cannot use their hands, but must kick, trap and pass the ball to their teammates in order to score on the net stationed off to the side of the gym. If they make the soccer ball in the goal before the runner gets around 1 of 2 cones and makes it back to home plate, the runner is out.
Cone 1 is worth 1 point, and cone 2 is worth 3. We put the cones further back in the gym than in the game 3 Cone Kickball, because it will be harder for the fielding team to stop the ball, control it and then score.
What Worked:
This game was a HUGE HIT! I was so surprised they would like it as much as they did. We started off with an indoor soccer ball, but switched to a volleyball (I know…horrible), after three kickers. The volleyball was easier for the kicking team to use, because they couldn’t get the indoor soft soccer ball far enough.
Again after a few kicks I realized that the cones were also too far. I move each cone up a few feet and that helped tremendously.
Another plus was just like in kickball, there is more leisure time for the kicking team to regroup. The fielding team did have to work a little harder since they could not use their hands. Although it wasn’t too strenuous on them where I noticed anyone having trouble breathing.
There was ZERO hand contact with the ball during the game. Even getting the ball back in position to the kicker, they used their feet. I would 100% recommend this game to every teacher. I wish I could post videos, but because of privacy issues, I don’t feel comfortable with that. I will possibly re create these games with friends, so you can see how it’s done in motion.
Improvements or Modifications:
The picture below is the type of ball we used at first, but after a few kickers we switched to a volleyball.
This will be a trial and error type of game for you depending on your kids strengths and weaknesses. I started the game off boys vs. girls, and realized when the boys were up to kick weren’t getting any outs with the volleyball. So after they went through their lineup once I had them go back to the softer indoor soccer ball pictured above.
Once they got the hang of it, and each team got to kick twice, I mixed their teams up. I told them to pick a partner. After they had a friend I told the oldest one to go to the fielding team and the youngest to go to the kicking team. Usually (not always) your athletic kids are friends and tend to pair up together, so it’s a great way to split up the talent without them knowing what you’re doing!
Moving the soccer net to a different location might also be fun too. This would also prevent collisions from the ball and the runner since they are in close proximity even though this didn’t happen when we played.
Activity 4: Weight Room
Only my afternoon class got to come back, because they did much better with equipment wipe down and space than my morning class.
Expectations were set high again, and so far so good. A lot of my girls decided to run/walk the indoor track meaning less students in the weight room, so more distance.
Overall
I am absolutely loving teaching in person right now. I don’t feel scared I am going to get sick, and I know the kids certainly are okay with being with their friends.
Over the last four days, my morning class has gotten so much better with their mask wearing. I did not have to tell a single kid to put it on. Even my afternoon repeat offenders only had to be reminded a few times vs. a million.
I want to clarify that when they are in activity and playing hard, they know they are allowed to stop and collect their breath outside of the playing area. And they can stay there as long as they need with their mask pulled down until they are okay.
Also if at any point they are playing hard and I notice their mask completely down, I just remind them that if PA and breathing is too much right now, step out of the game otherwise pull the mask up. They usually just put it right back into place.
Stay tuned for tomorrows experience! All 3 PE classes are going to mix up. I’ll explain how this works in my Day 5 post.
Previous: Day 3
Next: Day 5