| Subject: Physical Education | Topic:   Gymnastics
| No. of Pupils: 29 | Gender:  Female
| Average Age: 12-13 | Year: First Year
| No. of Lessons: 6 | Duration of Lessons: 80 minutes
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| N/A |  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prior Knowledge: Students will display a mixed knowledge of gymnastics dependant on their previous experience in primary school. Students will possess a relatively good knowledge of various FMS from the previous FMS scheme and will display an adequate knowledge of Health Related activity having completed the previous scheme. 

Prior Skills: Students possess a mixed range of skill levels as they come from different P/E backgrounds as they come from a wide range of primary schools. This is a rather sport-involved class; therefore the majority of the class display adequate skill levels in terms of FMS (following the previous scheme). As a result, many of the students have mastered many of the fundamental movement skills associated with gymnastics (landing, jumping, rolling etc.). 

Prior Attitudes: As previously mentioned, this is a rather sports-orientated class with the majority of the class participating and excelling in their chosen sports outside of school hours. However, there is a minority in the class who do not participate in sport outside of school hours and these students tend to become quiet talkative during class if the task isn’t challenging or of interest to them. For this reason it is important that these students are kept active and engaged throughout all developments of the lessons. 

 

The goal of the Sports Education Model is to ‘educate students to become players in the fullest sense, and to help them develop as competent, literate and enthusiastic sports people’ (Sienentop, Hastie & van der Mars, 2004, p.7). 

As this is quite a large class for a first year group, the class sometimes become dis-engaged in the task at hand if it isn’t of interest to them. The sports education model has been proven to ‘motivate students to work through their difficulties rather than give up’ and also ‘promotes involvement for those who previously were not interested but also raised others’ awareness of quieter students physical abilities’ (MacPhail, A. Kirk, D. & Kinchin, G. 2004). By assigning students different roles they will feel that each individual has an impact on the class and perhaps be of more interest to them. I have chosen this model of instruction for an array of different reasons. Firstly, as first year students this group has settled into in school and they have engaged in various guided schemes prior to the commencement of this scheme. I feel that it is now time to delegate responsibility and independence to the students in order for them to take control and leadership of their own learning.  This sports education instructional model ‘demands full team participation for the season by all students. Students learn about all roles both playing and non-playing’ (Chambers, F & Luttrell, S. 2013 p.71). Roles that may be assigned to learners for this gymnastic scheme may include;

·         Performers

·         Team Manager

·         Equipment Manager

·         Sequence Recorder

·         Music Person

·         Choreographer

 

Another key element of this instructional model is festivity. Current sporting events in the real world such as world cups, Olympics and World Championships can all be used as a template for the ‘season’.  The season will then lead up to the main event at the end of the six weeks. Research carried out by Wallhead & O’Sullivan (2005) stated that teachers reported the success of the festival in maintaining students’ interest and motivation’. Up until this, the class hasn’t really been exposed to much competition and I feel that as this is their third scheme it may be an ideal opportunity to introduce the class to an element of competition as it is fundamental to sports experiences (Siedentop, D., Hastie, P.A. Mars, H. 2004). Roles are gradually given to the students to allow students to become familiar with their role. Students are also given adequate time to practice their roles so they become familiar with what is expected from them when they are fulfilling that role. Overall, the sports education instructional model teaches students ‘to be competent, literate and enthusiastic sports people’ (Siedentop, D., Hastie, P.A. Mars, H. 2004).

 

‘Gymnastics seeks to provide a context for aesthetic experience and the opportunity to develop personally, socially and physically through participation in gymnastics in a safe and enjoyable environment (JCPE, Syllabus Gymnastics 2009). 

Gymnastics is a strand which has many transferable benefits for the learner, as outlined by Werner & Hall, 2012, p. 5 as they state that ‘gymnastics has a role in sports and everyday life by helping people learn to manage their bodies efficiently and safely’. Gymnastics is a strand which caters for all abilities. Each student will get a sense of achievement when completing this scheme. I find it is of utmost importance that we as Physical Education teachers do our best in making the Physical Education class a fun and enjoyable experience for all involved as we try to create a positive experience for our students. If students enjoy what they are doing they will be more likely to participate in physical activity outside of school hours. This is hugely important in today’s society as we try to combat the problem of childhood obesity. 

 

In line with Health and Safety regulations, this gymnastics scheme will take place indoors. The (season) will be composed of five weeks with the cumulating activity (The Performance) taking place on week six. Each week a different skill will be developed that will be used in the final performance. Each lesson will commence in a similar fashion; notes are taken, tasks are given to non-participants (where appropriate) and the roll is taken. This routine will be followed by the introduction to the learning outcomes of the class which will be aided by the learning wall. Learning aids such as videos will be shown at this time. Each learning wall will recap on the skill covered in the previous week in order to embed and inforce students’ knowledge. The designated theme/ skill of the current weeks lesson will be displayed in the centre of the learning wall with cues, techniques, relevant sports and discussion sheets surrounding the main theme. This will encourage discussion and engagement from the class. The learning wall will also provide as a reference point for students throughout the lesson as they can refer back to key ideas that have been addressed in the lesson. As the sports education model will be used for this scheme, students will be arranged into teams of six at the beginning of the first lesson and will remain in these teams for the duration of the ‘season’ (six weeks). Each week a person in the group will be assigned a role e.g. team captain, coach, time keeper, recorder etc. Students will swap roles each week in order to ensure equal opportunity. As there is three students who compete in gymnastics at national level in this class, these students will be used for demonstrations where possible. Skills will be taught in a progressive manner with the basic fundamental skills being taught first, followed by the teaching of more advanced, complex skills. Each lesson will begin with a relevant warm-up and stretching task (group work (in their assigned teams- guided discovery) and a game, followed by a stretching period that predominantly focuses on yoga- implementing the strength and flexibility concepts which are present in gymnastics. The class will conclude with a discussion and recap on the predominant concepts and ideas of the lesson. The entire scheme will be completed with a performance event ‘St. Marys World Championships’ whereby each team will perform their routine in front of the class and also in front of guest judges- costume, team name, music etc. will be discussed with each team on week one. 

 

Feelings of wellbeing are fundamental to the overall health of an individual, enabling them to successfully overcome difficulties and achieve what they want out of life. The Framework for Junior Cycle (2015) provides a new area for learning at junior cycle called wellbeing. This area of learning will make the schools culture and ethos and commitment to wellbeing visible to students. ‘Young minds’ are a charity organization for mental health, carried out research that found that over 5000 young people found school stress to be one of the top five factors that contribute to their mental health problems (Young Minds, 2014). As students spend almost one third of their day in school it is of utmost importance that we place an emphasis on their wellbeing. Wellbeing builds student’s knowledge, skills and positive attitudes about health. Wellbeing in education recognises that school is not just about academic result but is about developing the student as a ‘whole’ and preparing them to be resilient. 

As part of this athletics scheme wellbeing will be targeted as students will be socially interacting with each other, they will be physical active for as much of the lesson as possible and they will gain confidence in the skills they will be completing. 

 

Throughout this gymnastics scheme students will be assessed both continuously and on once off basis. Assessment is an extremely important process which helps to determine whether students are understating the task at hand and more importantly, if they are ready to move on to the next task or not. Peer assessment will also be an important aspect of this six week scheme. By self-assessing their performance and analysing the performances of others, students will develop their critical thinking skills. Learning goals and outcomes will be shared with the class at the beginning of each lesson and then revisited at the end to ensure these learning intentions have been met. Specific features of quality will be listed for each skill (tuck your chin in, bend knees for a soft landing etc.). It is only by providing students with this information that we as teachers will properly be able to assess them doing the various tasks. 

 

 

 

Gymnastics, just like many other schemes, provides teachers with the ideal opportunity to introduce numeracy and literacy. Even simple tasks such as roll twice to your left and twice to your right will help to develop students’ numeracy skills. Teaching points and the explanations of different shapes will also be beneficial to develop students numeracy skills. In this scheme of work, students’ literacy skills will be targeted in the following ways 

Visual Literacy: Via the inclusion of the learning wall which will feature the predominant ideas associated with each lesson e.g. the importance of gymnastics, how the skills are applicable to other sports and daily life, key concepts- weight transfer, counter balance, shapes and positions, rolling etc. 

Oral Literacy: As students communicate with their peers in relation to the key concepts of each weekly topic- communication will feature a predominant element as part of the sports education model. Students will also communicate with each other as they provide each other with feedback of their performances. 

Written Literacy: Students will complete written assessment tasks such as exit cards at the end of each lesson. 

Reading: Students will read and analyse task cards and transform such illustrations/ descriptions into effective skills 

Students will rate their satisfaction levels using a scale from one to five with 1 being very unhappy and 5 being very happy

Students will count for the duration of stretches for both the warm-up and the cool-down

Students will time various activities 

Students will take note of time while holding different poses e.g. holding different positions and shapes for different time lengths

 

 

 

 

Digital Literacy Will be targeted in this scheme in the following ways:

Tablets will be given to groups in order to prove s a visual and instructional cue for students 

Digital literacy will also feature via the whole-class introduction to the lesson featuring videos on key concepts of the lesson

Instructional videos in addition to a projector will demonstrate routines and tasks which students can mimic such skills in their routines 

Tablets at each station will also allow students to record their techniques in order to visually analyse their progress e.g. record their routine for memory and analysis purposes

 

 

Managing Myself: Students will be delegated role and must take responsibility for that role in order to ensure effective team work in the task at hand. Each week students will be asked to assess their skill level and will be asked which skill level they would like to develop to and which one they would be personally happy with. 

Staying Well: Students are expected to participate fully in the lesson and to be as active for as much of the lesson as possible. Students will be delegated responsibility for their learning as they are delegated a different role each week. Students will understand the importance of gymnastics in daily life and how it is applicable to a wide variety of sports.

 

Communication: Students will be given the opportunity to discuss the breakdown of each skill as they discuss different techniques and learning cues associated with each skill e.g. rolling- teddy bear roll, log roll etc. Communication will also be evident when students are composing their routines. Communication is a vital element for the successful completion of this scheme- each students’ roles are interlinked and rely on effective communication. 

Students will focus on numeracy and literacy in this scheme as they discuss and understand the predominant concepts of gymnastics. Students will also develop digital literacy as they research resources, videos etc. based on various gymnastics skills

USB (for learning walls), Task Cards, Whistle and Stopwatch, Cones, Gymnastic Mats, Tablets etc.