The Bean Game

9am for a foundation subject of PE is not most people's idea of a fun start to your morning. However, personally I really enjoyed the lesson and how it was presented in order to inspire us as trainees to teach it to a class of children.

The lesson began by going over what physical education actually is and what children need to know through the national curriculum. A topic which we looked more in depth at was physical literacy which describes the different benefits of PE that children will receive from having good lessons delivered in this subject.

For example:

physical potential

motivation

Progression

self-esteem

healthy lifestyle

confidence

competence

these all demonstrate the importance of PE not only to allow children to gain new skill sets like hand-eye coordination and special awareness but it will actually benefit them in the classroom in other subjects too by giving them ability to focus for longer periods of time on one topic.

After this this discussion we moved on to the structure of a PE lesson. From experience in coaching I have in depth knowledge about the amount of time that should be spent in each aspect of the lesson for example the warm up, lasting 10-15mins in a one hour lesson and the idea is to quickly get the children active and continually moving to keep them engaged in a behaviour management point of view. Quick stretches and varying speeds of jogging can be carried out so that the main activity can be started as promptly as possible.

Next will be the introduction to the fitness portion of the lesson which will be 15-20mins of more intense exercise with the objective to raise the heart rates of all the children in whatever activity they are carrying out. The example we were given was the bean game where the pupils run around the space if it is a "runner bean" then different beans represent the different actions that they will do. For example "chilly bean" "French bean" "broad bean" "string bean" etc etc.

Another game was cat and mouse where class is split into two teams, cats and mice... the mice are given 'tails' (bibs or rugby tags) and they are released to run and find space around the room. Then cats are released in pairs or threes and they cannot stop running until they catch a mouse's tail and then they both go and stand To the side. Important note here is to ensure there aren't children standing at the side for too long otherwise they are not receiving the same amount of physical activity as everyone around them and they are not receiving enough physical activity.

After the fitness ness portion the skill is introduced. This can be anything from ball skills, athletics, jumps, throwing and catching, skipping. The skill should be quickly explained and then children released to practice this skill with VARYING activities to ensure they are making good progress. Could be split into smaller groups and then a carousel structure where they move around each activity or one large group depending on the skill and task set.

It it is important for the teacher then self to have good motivation and physical literacy in order to inspire the kids to want to do exercise not just in school but in their own time as well so that the next generation do not end up being an obese one. The issue of overweightness is a very topical issue at this point in time and it is important for teachers to make a stimulating environment to encourage fitness and exercise in daily life.

#PE