GOOD FOR THE BODY & GOOD FOR THE BRAIN
Margaret Beuter
Iowa City School District
Longfellow Elementary is my home school in which we have K-6 grade students and a
K-3 and 4-6 Behavior Disorder classroom. Currently our population is 312 students
which have 12 homerooms. I have the students assigned to a colored dot on the floor
which corresponds to a colored star and number on the wall. I assign the same sex to row
1 and the opposite sex to row 2 and continue until my students are in an assigned spot.
This works well when we need partners, squad work or teams. All classes met for 25
minutes and the number of times depends on their age.
REMEMBER in order for young children to really learn the fundamental movement
skills they must repeatedly and consistently be placed in a developmentally appropriate
environment that affords high repetition and movement variety. The NASPE physical
education standards should be considered when developing your lesson or unit. I use our
Iowa City Community School District Elementary Physical Education Program Activity
Outline for the units and safety lessons. We have received a Carolyn White Pep Grant
and my students use heart rate monitors, pedometers and I have a hand-held for PE
Manager and Tri-fit for the fitness gram test.
SPECIALIST STAR AWARD
We have used for many years a Specialist Star award given at the end of each month.
It corresponds with our Longfellow PRIDE which stands for Peace, Respect, Integrity,
Diversity and Excellence. The Longfellow PRIDE is our behavior plan throughout our
building. Our media, music, art and physical education classes award the students five
points. Our homeroom teachers encourage the students to do their best. At the end of
each month the winners are announced and they are given the traveling trophy which they
keep in their classroom. It has worked to keep the students accountable for their behavior
outside their regular classroom. Students who have a discipline problem in our
classrooms fill out a PRIDE sheet. This is enclosed in the packet. Many substitutes and
visitors to our building have great praise for how well this works. Our staff is so
supportive because we are all here the best learning environment all day. The
LONGFELLOW STAFF is awesome and this includes our principal, teachers,
associates, student teachers, practicum’s and volunteers.
1. PEACE: Enter and leave the classroom quietly.
2. RESPECT : Listen and follow directions.
3. INTEGRITY: Respect property and clean up.
4. DIVERSITY: Appreciate the talents of others.
5. EXCELLENCE: Participate to the best of your ability.
JAZZERCISE
One of my outlets is to participate in Jazzercise. Kristi Bontrager from Iowa City will be
sharing a few of the aspects of Jazzercise with us. We will start with a warm-up to “I’ve
Got A Feeling” by Black Eyed Peas. Check out the website www.jazzoniowacity.com or
email Kristi at kristi.bontrager@iowacity.com. I think you will see why I find time in my
schedule to exercise with her instructors. There is a Jr. Jazzercise as well. I will be
introducing this to my students as an extra activity starting in January before school.
“CATCH A BRAIN WAVE” by Ronno & Liz Jones-Twomey K-2 activity
I introduce this activity at the beginning of the year for the students to understand the
importance of warming up our body and our brain for activity and learning. I have used
this for our Kindergarten Showcase in which we demonstrate what our students are
learning in Media, Music and Physical Education. It is a good introduction for the
parents to see how important the Specials are for the students learning. “Catch a Brain
Wave” is a guided movement/fitness song in which it supports the whole child making
sequential movement integrating left and right hemisphere brain activity with whole-body
integration.
WALLS WARM-UP K-6 with Skeletons
This is a simple warm-up activity that I use at all age levels. The students match up with
a partner and stand across from each other on the center line. Music begins and they
practice their locomotors in which I usually start with a fast walk. Thirty seconds of
music and they high five their partner when they met on their course. The students walk
the opposite direction and touch the wall, turn and meet their partner. When the music
stops then they meet their partner in the middle. Using the skeletons they tell their
skeleton how to skip, gallop, slide, etc. At the end the activity they shake their partners
right hand and say “thanks for being my partner” and then left hand “thanks for being my
friend.”
Jazzercize: Medium Level Cardio to “When Love Takes Over” by David Guetta
COWBOY TAG K-6 large group game:
This games challenges students to partner up and move around, hands-joined with others
in class. Students must show a willingness to be partners with anyone and everyone in
class because players randomly end up together. They also need to adjust their ability
levels and communicate for both to move as one. All begin in a scatter formation with
boundaries marking the area. All students scattered within the boundaries are the
“cows”. Two cowboys/girls move with hands joined and try to tag a cow. If successful,
they corral the cow and walk him/her to the instructor who is waiting on a boundary line.
The two cowboys go back inside to tag another. When they bring the next student out,
he/she joins with the one waiting by the instructor and the new pair of cowboys/girls help
to round up the cows. Every two players tagged go back in the game as partners or
cowboys/girls. Continue until all are caught. Process it. Describe what you saw when
students joined hands. What did they have to do to be successful with hands joined?
STICKY FLY PAPER TAG K-6 (learned from my student teacher –Andrew
Durham from Coe College)
Select two students to be the taggers and they are located in the middle of the playing
area. All other participants are on the end line. The taggers say go and the flies try to
move to the other side without getting tagged. Once tagged they must become sticky fly
paper and stand in that spot. They are allowed to pivot on one foot to try to trap other
participants who are trying to move across the area. Play until you have two new taggers.
My students have loved this simple but active game.
MILEAGE CLUB K-6
I have a mileage club which runs in the Fall and Spring during the noon recess twice a
week. It gives the students an opportunity to do another activity. My PTA helps fund
this as well as our Iowa City School Foundation. I use parent volunteers to assist me as
well as our 5/6 grade PALS.
JAZZERCISE: Medium- heavy cardio (Kickboxing) “Shake &Pop” by Green
Velvet
EXTREME SKILLTASTICS by Sandy Spin Slade
This is a game that I was introduced at PE4Life. It can be played in large groups. The
skillastics is a series of standard-based, fitness, sports-specific and nutritional programs
that allow 1 to 100 children of varying ages and fitness levels to participate and enjoy
being active at one time. The website is www.skillastics.com. I have played this with
my 5/6 graders.
STATIONS USED WHILE DOING FITNESS TESTING
I place my students in their squads and have them rotate thru stations as I fitness
test them. I find this to keep them active and in small groups.
1. Spooners: balance trainer & core workout www.thespooner.us
2. Yoga cards: 25 cards that show a photograph of a child or children in a simple
yoga pose and an illustration of the animal or object the pose is named after. I
select 5-6 of these for the students to try.
3. Chinese Jump Rope: Easy rhyme… Jump In- Jump Out - Jump Side to Side,
Jump In -Jump Out- Jump On -Jump Out.
4. Skeleton Puzzle: Students put puzzle together.
5. Map Puzzle: Students put United States map together.
6. Ragaloons: Fun new racket used with balloons.
7. Spinning tops: designate what exercise you want them to do while the top is
spinning.
8. Upper body fitness mat: Contains 10 stations for upper body fitness.
9. Geo fitness mat: I use purchased cards that the students follow or dance DVD.
10. Small parachutes: students work with together to pass an object to another
player.
11. Agility ladders: Students will do directed patterns with the agility ladders.
12. Z-balls or eggs: Partner practice bouncing and catching z-balls or eggs.
13. Tom Spalla’s maze: Team building discovering a pattern.
14. Spin jammers: Work individually in improving their skills.
15. Scoops with balls: Work individually in catching skills.
16. Hula hoops: Work individually in hula hooping.
17. Jump rope: Working with a short rope to improve their skills.
COUCH POTATO: K-4
This is an excellent game for the students to learn the concept of being healthy and
active. Don’t be a “couch potato!” It leads to a great discussion about being active and
eating healthy. Go to pecentral.com and look under Couch Potato.
PAINTER & THE ELVES K-2nd activity (used for Ktg. Showcase)
This is a story that is a movement story that is read by the instructor. I have attached it
to this handout.
FALL FITNESS DAY “ HEAL THE WORLD” - “LONGFELLOW PEACE”
I choreographed a parachute dance to” Heal the World” which we did for our Fall
Fitness Day. Our entire school was to participate in an activity for 30 minutes. We all
warmed up with “Get Funky”. We have book buddies and so they danced beside their
book buddies. Next we did the “ Cupid Shuffle”. Each class then had their own
parachute and we did many of their favorite activities. We finished with “Heal the
World” by Michael Jackson.
HEAL THE WORLD (LONGFELLOW PEACE)
LYRICS ACTIONS
Young girl talking Standing hold parachute quietly
There’s a place in Walking counterclockwise with left hand only
And if you really try Reverse directions with right hand only
There are ways Reverse directions with left hand only
HEAL THE WORLD Raise the parachute high
MAKE IT A BETTER PLACE Walk in 4 steps
FOR YOU AND FOR ME Point to person across from you and then self
AND THE ENTIRE HUMAN Swing right hand above head
RACE
THERE ARE PEOPLE DYING Quietly shake parachute
IF YOU CARE ENOUGH
FOR THE LIVING
MAKE A BETTER PLACE
FOR YOU AND FOR ME AND
THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE
If you want to know why Walk counterclockwise with left hand on parachute
If we try Reverse directions
Then it feels that always Reverse directions
HEAL THE WORLD repeat from above
And the dream we were Pass the parachute to the right stay in place.
They why do we keep Reverse go the other direction
We could fly so high Step to the right, step to the left. Step to the right
HEAL THE WORLD Repeat
HEAL THE WORLD (key raises) Repeat
HEAL THE WORLD (key raises) Repeat
End of the song students will sway side to side….I will then tell them at the very end to
turn and lay on their stomachs with only their head sticking out. A Longfellow Peaceful
Smile on their face.
JAZZERCISE: Stretch/Cool down “If I Were a Boy” by Beyonce
TWO THUMBS UP OR ONE THUMB UP
This a simple way for my K-2 students to evaluate themselves as they leave my class.
These are posted by my door and they touch the appropriate one for how their day was in
class. The teachers can see as well.
GOING THE EXTRA MILE
I’m proud to be a physical education teacher and I believe that we should
“WALK THE TALK”. Many little eyes are watching us and seeing what we do in
our daily lives. I live and teach in Iowa City and so during the summer and
weekends when I see a family or children playing that I teach I give them a card
that I had printed. It says “Caught you EXERCISING!” The children enjoy
getting these and so do the parents. The parents are as delighted as the
children! Thank you to Luann Swanson that gave me this ideal during her
summer class. And to all of the many physical education teachers that I have
had the opportunity to play and learn from!
I have many classroom pictures on our school web site. Go to www.iccsd.k12.ia.us.
Then click on Longfellow. I can be reached at beuter.margaret@iccsd.k12.ia.us