Athletics

2016-2017 Central Idea:

Independent training, intrinsic motivation, and self-belief can enhance body control for movements in Athletics.

Learner Outcomes:

Identity:
- Motivate themselves intrinsically and behave with belief in themselves
- Work and learn with increasing independence

2017-2018 Central Idea:

Learner Outcomes:

Active Living:
- Demonstrate greater body control when performing movements
- Plan, perform and reflect on movement sequences in order to improve
Identity:
- Motivate themselves intrinsically and behave with belief in themselves
- Work and learn with increasing independence

Lesson 9:

We continued our training. I announced that they have 2 formal practices left before the competition. Of course, the morning before school practices are still available for those that choose.

The students continued to train, record their results and upload some videos of themselves doing their workouts at home on Seesaw.

Lesson 10:

The final practice. We reviewed the big ideas from the unit and how they can be applied into our unit. We also looked at the key steps for each event. The students then had the lesson uninterrupted to do final preparations.

Lesson 11:

The big day. The PE team and also the homeroom teachers have been pumping the kids up throughout the unit. The grade 3s and 4s had most of the school day for the competition, from 11:00 – 3:40. Organizing it has also been quite a headache but this is the second year that I have done this unit and it has been much easier to organize this year than previously.

First thing I had to do was collate all the student event choices. You can see it here.
Once the events were all confirmed, I randomly allocated each student to a division: Division A, B or C. Each division starts at a different event.
Afterwards, I organized the draw. Since our track only has 6 lanes, that is the maximum number of students I put in each heat. The format is a knockout draw with the top 1 or 2 athletes going into the next round. You can see it here.
With the draw completed, I could get started on the scoresheets. You can find it here, along with the rest of the Athletics handbook I gave the volunteers on the day. For each heat, semi-final and final, the scoring is as follows: 1st place = 4 points, 2nd place = 3 points, 3rd place = 2 points, 4th and the remainder of the heat receive 1 point.
To help with the scoring I used SportsTracker, a great piece of web-based software created by Jarrod Robinson, the PE Geek. I uploaded all of the student information onto it, created the event order and then populated the event choices.
After each rotation, the volunteers hand me their scoresheets and I enter them into SportsTracker. This automatically updates the individual scores and the team scores, which are projected onto a big screen the students can check out easily.
To help with the track timing, we used SprintTimer. It is quite battery heavy, so make sure you bring an external power source or multiple iPads, we went through a couple on the day.

I made a short video outlining the unit, you can see it here. Please note that this is mainly footage from my grade 5s and 6s, so the central idea is different. Overall, it was a very successful day with awesome support from everyone in the school community. Stacks of teachers, younger students and parents came to witness the spectacle.

I also used this Athletics Carnival format for an interschool competition my school hosted where 6 schools took part with 96 students.

Lesson 12:

To wrap up the unit, we reviewed the day they had during the carnival, shared some success stories and anything else that was on their mind. I felt that the students really grew from this unit, since the big ideas were explicit and applicable. I then gave them their summative assessment, which consisted of 3 sections, but they could present it in any format they wish.

Being as creative as possible, explain everything you have learned in this unit.
Tell me about your experience in the Athletics Carnival. Again, please be creative, a storyline, a comic book, anything to make it engaging and informative.
How were our big ideas related to our unit? How can you apply these into your own life?

There we have it, my favorite unit of the year. It has big ideas, a big finish and is largely student-led. Any questions or comments, please drop me a line here.

Check out some reflections from the unit below:

G4 - Athletics page 3: Project