G4 - Adventure Challenge 2019

Grade 4

Adventure Challenge 2019

21PE_PYP_PSPE_G4_Adventure_Challenge_Tit

Central Idea:

Values are both personal and social; value systems can influence codes of behavior.

Learner Outcomes:

Identity:
- Embrace optimism to shape a positive attitude towards themselves and their future.

Active Living:
- Actively participate in a wide variety of activities according to their capabilities, while applying behaviors that enhance their readiness and ability to take part.

Interactions:
- Develop a shared plan of action for group work that incorporates each individual's experiences and strengths
- Discuss ideas and ask questions to clarify meaning
- Reflect on the perspectives and ideas of others
- Reflect on shared and collaborative performance

Introduction:

This unit was a collaborative unit with the Grade 4 homerooms, we had the same central idea, Learner Profile, ATLs, concepts, etc. You can see the Program of Inquiry here.
Whilst the homeroom looked at spirituality among other value-related concepts, PE looked at 4 different values and identified how these values affect our behavior:
- Teamwork,
- Family,
- Perseverance,
- The fourth value was a mid-unit reflection where the students identified the value; they chose the value according to some quotes. More details can be found in Lesson 5.

Lesson 1:

This was the first lesson/unit of the year and therefore needed to establish the Essential Agreements. The school decided to create a school-wide essential agreement - the 4B's:
- Be safe
- Be respectful
- Be responsible
- Be compassionate
After establishing this, we had our first challenge. The Plank Challenge. Simply put, I broke the class into 2 teams, got them to lie down in a circle and they had to hold 2x 60s planks. Once the two sets were done, they switched.
Afterward, I introduced the kids to the year-long unit - Physical Literacy. This was their first assessment to determine their core strength as per the guidelines put by Physical Education and Health Canada's initiative - Passport for Life. This is a tool that can help increase awareness of Physical Literacy.
To help the students understand what this means, I created the three posters below.

Afterward, we moved onto a game of Stuck in the Mud. This is a school favorite and it is a great way to get the students active but also emotionally hooked to the lesson:
- 2-3 catchers
- Catchers touch a runner and the runner freezes with the arms out to the side and legs apart
- To unfreeze someone, a non-stuck runner crawls underneath the stuck person's legs.
Then, we took a look at the Central Idea briefly and identified any words that jumped out at them. A lot of them mentioned "values" and they were unsure what it meant and how it is supposed to affect our behavior. Even that connection was a bit tenuous.
I didn't want to spend too much time on the Central Idea initially since I know they will also unpack it in the homeroom as it is an integrated unit.
I showed them this video to introduce them to the first value of the unit:
- Please note that all these values are not only for this unit or even for only PE - it is for their life.

It is the year of the Rugby World Cup, so why not show them a video about arguably the world's best team?
We then got into Stuck in the Mud Teams:
- The same premise, however, the class is broken into 3 teams.
- You can layer it by letting any team help anyone or make it more difficult and strategic by having teams only able to rescue their own team members.
We then discussed what value they thought this video was about and why it connects with the challenge.
We did another round and then reviewed the lesson.

Lesson 2:

We started the lesson with a review of the Essential Agreements and Physical Literacy.
I then demonstrated our next Physical Literacy Assessment: Fitness Skills: Balance Dynamic Stability. You can access the protocols here.
After 10 minutes or so we reviewed the Central Idea briefly.
I then demonstrated Poison Ball level 1
I wanted the kids to discover what value was associated with this activity.
Poison Ball:
- Students break into teams of 4-5, depending upon numbers.
- Without touching the ball, the students need to transport the ball around a set course.
- They can only use a ring that the ball is resting on and 4-5 pieces of rope that students stretch out to transport the ball.
- If the ball does fall, the students go back to their nearest checkpoint.
- For level 1, the checkpoint was just to go around a cone that was about 20 meters away.
There were quite a few drop balls but the kids pulled together and started forming some strategies.
After 10 minutes of this, we gathered around and discussed how values can play a role in this challenge. Just like the first value we focused on, Teamwork with the All Blacks, I associated Serena Williams with this challenge and its associated value.
I played this clip for them:

We determined the value was Family. Without support from Serena’s family, she wouldn’t be the champion she is today.
With this in mind, we went back to Poison Ball but with Level 2:
- Same rules, however, the kids needed to use the ring and ropes to transport the ball and place it on a T-Ball tee.
- Once the ball is placed on the tee, the ring and ropes need to be carefully placed on the ground without the ball being knocked off.
- Once the ball is on the tee, and the ring and ropes are on the ground, the kids have reached their checkpoint.

Their job from there is to carefully lift up the ring from the ground, pick up the ball without touching it and transport it back to the start.
After this challenge, we discussed how the value of “Family” is connected with the challenge. We looked at words such as support, belief, sacrifice, care, etc.
This was a challenging lesson for some of the kids due to the difficulty of the challenge, however, a lot of them associated the first value to this unit as well – Teamwork.

Lesson 3:

We started the lesson with a review of the Essential Agreements, Physical Literacy, and the Central Idea.
This was the rotation for today’s lesson:

I combined a Physical Literacy assessment with the Adventure Challenge unit and linked a value to it.
I demonstrated the circuit and described how it links with Physical Literacy. You can access the assessment here
We broke into three teams and each team knew their roles:
- Group 1 would undertake the assessment,
- Group 2 would encourage them since it is tough,
- Group 3 would break down the Central Idea and discover the meaning behind it.
After the first rotation and the first group came crawling back to our discussion area, I asked them how this challenge connects with our unit, specifically what value is it promoting?
After a few attempts, I showed them this video:

We worked out it was focused on “Perseverance”.
Afterwards, we did the next two rotations and continued to emphasize perseverance.

Lesson 4:

Today’s lesson was for the kids to review the 3 values we have learned about through a challenge.
We reviewed the Central Idea and the past 3 lessons.
I broke the class into 4 groups.
I then demonstrated the physical literacy assessment: Locomotion, 7-meter sprint. You can see the assessment protocols here.
While I focused on one group for this assessment, the other 3 groups were working on this challenge, which was going to be in their final challenge.
Team Jump Rope:
- The aim of this challenge is to get 20 jumps in a row.
- Each group has a long jump rope
- 2 people swing the rope, and 1 person tries to do 20 times in a row.
- They rotate regularly.
After the first rotation, I gathered the kids and asked how each of the values can help in this challenge.
We continued this format until the end of the lesson.

Lesson 5:

This lesson was quite important as I had planned for something else, however it came to my attention that one of the students in this grade was embarrassed about something he really enjoys doing – he is a ballet dancer. Therefore, this lesson was significant because no one should be restricted by stereotypes and prejudice.
In order to drive this issue home, I loaded this activity to their Seesaw accounts:

Click on the image below to access the full image.

When the kids were finished with their responses they could grab a ball or a jump rope and be active while waiting for others to finish.
When everyone was finished, we gathered again and went through the questions. Although the final value for the unit was “Your Choice”, we agreed that “Passion” was significant.
Afterward, I showed them the video clip where I got the quotes from. A movie I'm very excited to watch.

This was a significant lesson where I hope the kids learned a valuable lesson on being open-minded to people’s passions.

Lesson 6:

With all 4 values covered it was time to combine all 4 values and prepare the kids for their final challenge.
I introduced the kids to the Crystal Maze. If you haven’t seen or heard of it, click on the video below:

Basically, today’s challenge is a practice round with the real Crystal Maze happening in the next lesson. The team they were in today would be the one they would be in for the next lesson. They needed to find the right person within their team to complete the challenge.
My interpretation of the Crystal Maze had 4 categories: Physical, Skill, Riddle, Mental.
- Physical Challenge: 10 beanbag sprint
  - 2 hula-hoops 10 meters apart, 10 beanbags in one beanbag. Kids take one beanbag at a time, sprint and place the beanbag into the other hula-hoop. Repeat until all are moved.
- Skill Challenge: Place Kick and Punt Kick (Object Manipulation Physical Literacy Assessment).
  - Click here for the protocol.
- Riddle Challenge:
  - Kids answer the riddle. “I have hands and a face but no arms and legs. What am I?”
- Mental Challenge:
  - Kids do a series of math problems from Kumon.
We rotate after 8-10 minutes.
Halfway through the lesson, we reviewed how these challenges connect with our unit on values. I also reminded them that this was a practice before the real Crystal Maze challenge and that they needed to know who is the best person to complete each challenge since the teams they were in would be the team they are part of for the real challenge.

Lesson 7:

The kids came running and saw the gym set up ready for their Crystal Maze Challenge.
This was their chance to put their plans into action.
They got into their teams and I broke down the challenge for them. There were 6 challenges with one person from each team doing one challenge. If a team had 5 people, someone had to do two challenges. These were the challenges:
- Physical:
  - Wall-Sit:
    - 1 representative from each team.
    - Students sit against the wall with knees at 90 degrees and back flat against the wall.
    - Each time they get out of this position, i.e.: back off the wall, knees not at 90 degrees, then they get a warning. 3 strikes, they are out of the challenge.
    - Time limit is 5 minutes
  - Farmer Walks:
    - 1 representative from each team.
    - 2 hula-hoops, 10 meters apart with a weight stack in the middle of one of the hula hoops – a 2.5kg, 5kg, 10kg, and a 15kg.
    - Students need to take one weight at a time and stack it from heaviest to lightest in a pyramid fashion.
    - 3-minute challenge.
- Skill:
  - Target Throwing:
    - 1 representative from each team
    - 4 pieces of A4 papers stuck to the wall in a 2x2 grid
    - Students stand 5 meters away from the targets with a ball.
    - Students throw the ball and attempt to get all 4 targets.
    - 3-minute challenge.
  - Soccer Kick:
    - 1 representative from each team
    - 2 targets are hung halfway down an indoor soccer goal on either corner.
    - 1 target is placed on the ground in the middle of the goal.
    - 3-minute challenge.
- Riddle:
  - 1 representative from each team
  - Each is sat down at a bench which has a piece of paper that is face down and a pencil.
  - At the signal, they need to respond to this riddle: What goes up but doesn’t come down?
  - 3-minute challenge.
- Mental:
  - As above, however, they need to answer this question: A box of eggs holds 6 eggs. If I had 20 full boxes, how many eggs would I have?
Winner of one of the challenges gets 4 points, 2nd = 3 points, 3rd = 2 points, 4th = 1 point.
That team that wins the individual challenge gets the advantage of choosing the category of the next challenge.
At the end of the lesson, we reviewed the lesson and found the purpose of it. I then announced the points.

Lesson 8:

Today’s lesson was dedicated to the teams getting prepared for their final challenge which would happen in the next lesson.
I broke the class into 4 teams and showed them their final challenge. The image is below.

In order to progress through the final challenge, teams needed to successfully complete each challenge sequentially.
Challenge 1: Poison Ball:
- Without touching the ball, the students need to transport the ball 20 meters where a T-Ball tee is located.
- They can only use a ring that the ball is resting on and 4-5 pieces of rope that students stretch out to transport the ball.
- If the ball does fall, the students go back to the start.
- The kids needed to use the ring and ropes to transport the ball and place it on the T-Ball tee.

Challenge 2: Ambulance:
- Using a yoga mat, teams choose one person to lay down on the mat pretending to be injured.
- The rest of the team needs to carry them 20 meters without dropping them. If dropped before 20 meters, they need to start from the beginning of challenge 2.

Challenge 3: Mental:
- Kids would need to answer the questions below.
- Once completed, they raise their hands and their team supervisor checks the results and determines if they are able to move on to the next challenge.

Challenge 4: Throw Challenge:
- Hit a target with a ball that is 10 meters away.

Challenge 5: Jump Rope:
- Using a long rope, one person on the team needs to jump 20 times in a row with the rope being held by 2 other team members.

Challenge 6: Riddle:
- Answer this riddle: What word is spelled wrong in every dictionary?

Challenge 7: Farmer Walks:
- 1 team member carries 2x 10kg plates at the same time 5 times around a 10m track.

Challenge 8: Soccer Kick:
- 1 team member kicks a ball towards a target that is 10 meters away.

Challenge 9: Team Run:
- The entire team runs 1 lap around the 200m track. The team finishes when the last person on the team finishes the run.

This lesson was not a real challenge but rather a practice session.
I had all these challenges laid out for them to practice and to create a plan to ensure they knew what their role was in the team.

Lesson 9: The Final Challenge

This lesson was what they were all working towards. They knew the layout and didn’t need to spend too much time describing the lesson. I emphasized the use of the values to help them achieve success in today’s lesson.
See the video below to see how it panned out for one of my classes:

Lesson 10:

We started the lesson discussing their experience with the final challenge and then we did several games of Stuck in the Mud to get the blood moving but to also have a bit of fun.
For the remainder of the lesson, the kids started working on their Final Reflection of the unit.

Here are some examples of reflections:
Questions, comments, please let me know at the contact page here or through the chat window.

21PE_PYP_PSPE_G4_AdventureChallenge_Pois

21PE_PYP_PSPE_G4_AdventureChallenge_Aero

21PE_PYP_PSPE_G4_AdventureChallenge_Dans

21PE_PYP_PSPE_G4_AdventureChallenge_Fina

21PE_PYP_PSPE_G4_AdventureChallenge_Ambu

21PE_PYP_PSPE_G4_AdventureChallenge_Ment

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