Every Child a Winner . . .self-directed, resourceful, creative; -... , .aware of his body and what it can do; .... '. .awake to the joy and value ofphysical activities; ..appreciative of himself and his own contributions. / OJ 14 Introduction Health and Optimum Physical Education was a four-year project funded by the Georgia Department of Education and Title III, Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The original purpose of the project was to design and field test a model program in elementary physical education and health services.The U.S. Office of Education has provided further funding in order that schools nationwide might have an opportunity to adopt the outstanding educational practices designed by Health and Optimum Physical Education. All endeavors in Health and Optimum Physical Education are based on the project philosophy that every child is a winner when he does his best. Incorporated into this philosophy are certain beliefs about how movement education contributes to the total development of a child. Health and Optimum Physical Education believes that when a child learns to appreciate his body and what it can do, he becomes aware of himself as a unique individual with his own contribution to make to his world. Thus, movement experiences are planned to lead each child to an awareness of his body, how it moves, and where it moves. Health and Optimum Physical Education believes that when a child is given the opportunity to learn through discovery, he begins to use his mind, his imagination and his body in resourceful, creative expression. Guided discovery and problem-solving experiences encourage a child to assess a problem and devise a solution all his own -leading to accountability for his own decisions, creative responses to challenges and more selfdirection in all undertakings. Health and Optimum Physical Education believes that when a child learns to manage his body, he develops a positive approach toward physical activity which gives meaning to his leisure hours for all the years of his life. Movement experiences are planned to encourage each child to move from his personal starting base to the most refined level of which he is capable. In this way, every child has the opportunity to develop, at his own pace, a broad base of efficient movement, so vital to a positive self-image, sound social development and a life-style of healthful, physical activity. Health and Optimum Physical Education believes that when a child finds success within the scope of his own movement abilities, he learns to feel good about himself and the world which he inhabits. Emphasis is given to providing success experiences each day to each child. It is not the purpose or ever the intent of this project that any child be embarrassed because he or she is not physically skilled. Every effort is made to help the physically unskilled and the average while at the same time providing a challenge for the gifted child in movement. Competition, then, has a place in Health and Optimum Physical Education, but only when a child is ready, emotionally and physically, for success in competitive activities. As this readiness develops, some modified games, teacher-designed games and child-designed games are introduced. Major emphasis, however, is on competition with self, with every child winning when he does his best. Health and Optimum Physical Education believes that every child deserves an accountable school experience in movement as well as in any other area of the curriculum. The project plan centers around goals and specific daily objectives. All lessons allow for individual differences and are used only as a means of helping each child reach his personal potential. The project lessons are specifically designed for the children at Irwin Elementary and Irwin Middle School. It is left to the individual teacher to choose goals and objectives based on the needs of the particular children he or she is teaching. The Health and Optimum Physical Education Plan is shared in the hope that it will hasten the day when every elementary child will have the rewards of a well-planned movement education program. 15 How to use this book... Every Child a Winner is designed to assist you in planning your own movement education program for young children. The planning process and program presented here is the one used successfully by Health and Optimum Physical Education in a program for children in grades I - 6. It is strongly recommended that you use the guide only as a means for planning your own program and not as an end in itself. Take what you feel is best for the students in your own school, and plan your program based on those specific needs. Every individual comes to this responsibility with varying levels of training, capability and sensitivity to children. Therefore, you should use this information to plan a program with which you are personally comfortable. Most important, in planning and implementing your program, you, the teacher, must see that every child meets with success every day. No process, no plan, no program is worth the effort if, in the final analysis, it does not make every child feel good about himself ... if it does not make "every child a winner." 16 Part!! Movement Education: Significance ~. and Specifics Every child a winner with movement Movement is a very personal facet of the individual. It is, therefore, a unique teaching tool. It can provide you, the teacher, with an in-depth understanding of each child, for his movement is an extension and an expression of his feelings, his personality, his reactions to people and situations. All movement has a specific purpose. Some movement tasks achieve an objective endas in throwing a ball for distance, jumping for height, swimming for relaxation. Such movement tasks have a practical outcome and are concerned primarily with the transfer and maneuvering of weight, the precision of timing, the mechanics of force. Other movement is expressive, its chief aim being the transmittance of ideas, communication of feeling, interpretation of thought. This kind of movement is more concerned with how the body moves; that is, the quality of movement - flow, force, space, time. Although all movement reveals attitude and personality, a child needs to know the difference between moving to express and moving to do and to come to a workable knowledge of the kinds of movement required for mastery in either case. In the early years, he should be given a wide variety of experiences so that he can discover all movement possibilities and be able to use them for any activity he chooses. groups and individuals. This knowledge can prepare the child for many complex and organized movement demands. It can also serve as the springboard to involvement in lifetime sports and recreational pursuits which are vital to effective living in today's world. Learning to express himself through movement can also increase the child's involvement In music, art, dance and literature. To help you understand and plan your own movement education program, Health and Optimum Physical Education has compiled a Movement Chart, based on the original themes of human movement developed by Rudolf Laban. * All lessons in this project have centered around the concepts on this chart. The project staff believes these are the foundation for efficient and effective movement and identifies them as Space awareness Body awareness Quality of movement Relationships Each concept is examined in depth. The Movement Chart follows, defining the components of each concept. You as a teacher must develop your own teaching progression using the concepts from the chart. Your movement education program, then, should be carefully planned to help the child come to understand what his body is, how and where his body moves and the relationship of his body and its parts to objects, SPACE AWARENESS Space Awareness is workable knowledge about the area in which movement takes place. A *26 19 child needs to be aware of how much space he needs for his chosen movement task and how his movement affects others about him or is related to objects in his environment. As he learns to move in space in directions, pathways and levels, he learns to make accurate judgments about his movements which help him function efficiently in many areasgames, gymnastics, dance, athletics and daily life activities. From the teacher's viewpoint, space awareness is an excellent organizational tool as children quickly learn to move from personal to general space, and vice versa, eliminating disruption and disorganization and emphasizing self-direction. BODY AWARENESS A child's awareness of his body begins with his simple recognition of the various body parts and progresses to an understanding of how these parts function separately and together to achieve control of movement tasks. He learns that each body part has a role in balancing, leading and the transfer of weight. He discovers that his body is capable of many movements - stretching, curling, twisting, turning. He learns that his body can make many shapes- round, curled or twisted. He understands how the basic movements his body makes - walking, running, sliding, kicking, throwing, pushing- help him accomplish given movement tasks. This expanding knowledge of his body and what it can do aids him in becoming efficient and precise in all movement. QUALITY OF MOVEMENT In order to become skilled in movement, a child must learn to use effectively the four basic qualities which are included in every movement in varying degree. These four qualities are time, force, space and flow. Time Some movements require a quick, urgent, sharp quality. Others are more sustained (slow or prolonged). The speed of a movement, or the time it requires, is determined by the particular movement task. Jumping, for example, might require quick, sharp timing; whereas moving the body into a balanced position usually requires slow, prolonged timing. A child's understanding of this quality will help him achieve control and precision. Force A child must come to understand the amount of strength required for particular movements if he is to control them. When light movement is required as in a badminton hair pin shot, force may be weak. When strong movement is needed as in striking a ball for distance with an implement, or when moving the body over an object, greater force or strength is required. Knowledge of the effect of force on his movements is essential if a child is to become an efficient mover. Space Some movements require a large amount of space; others are more economical in their use of space. Those movements which are direct or straight require less space. Such movements are the most efficient and the quickest. A flexible, round-about kind of movement uses up more space. Knowledge about the amount of space needed for particular movements is especially important in dance or expressive movement and in the area of gymnastics. It has obvious value also in group or game situations. Flow This quality refers to the sequence of actions and the transition from one position to another. There are movement sequences which are carried out with a great deal of freedom of movement and are easy-going and fluid (free flow). In other movement sequences, there is more restriction and control, with the stopping point coming easily at any point (bound flow). As the child becomes aware of these two extremes and learns to use them appropriately, his movements become rhythmical, fluid and unified. RELATIONSHIPS In order for a child to function at his most efficient level, he must understand how his body or its parts relate in movement to each other, other individuals, objects or groups. The child becomes more proficient and precise as he learns to work within the changes which occur when moving alone or with others (mirroring, shadowing, in unison or contrast); when moving with (alongside, behind, beneath) groups and individuals; and when moving (under, over, beneath, alongside) objects. 21 . , ,.1 I / ." ........ Planning the program The concepts on the preceding pages should be the broad goals on which your program is based. If it is to be a vital and integral part of the total education of a child, it should be planned to take into consideration the positive individual needs of the children you are teaching. It must revolve around carefully selected goals, objectives aimed at making specific changes and based on the identified needs of your own children. In short, movement education, if it is to perform its vital function in the total education of children, must be accountable. Accountability, in plain terms and in reality, means being responsible in your planning, being willing to measure the results and remaining flexible enough to alter your planning, if necessary, to meet the needs of each child. While accountability techniques might seem too structured to be compatible with movement education, you will find that if you make careful use of evaluation on a daily and long range basis, accountability procedures are invaluable tools for providing continuous success experiences for each child. The Health and Optimum Physical Education model for program planning consists of four steps. NEEDS ASSESSMENT The first step in your program planning is to evaluate your own children. Several assessment tools were used in Health and Optimum Physical Education. Teacher-designed evaluations Fitness tests Health appraisals and the school testing program Teacher-designed Evaluations This evaluation can be individualized and tailored to your own children. The Movement Chart was devised to meet the needs of the children in Health and Optimum Physical Education, many of whom were found to be low in fitness, motor skills and self-concept. You might use this chart as an assessment tool for your own children by Selecting areas which you feel are significant for your students. Devising lessons which will allow you to assess the children's level of proficiency in the selected areas. Writing a series of lessons based on these assessments which will meet the needs of your children. Needs assessment Establishment of goals Long range planning Accountable lesson plans Each step is discussed in detail. U sing this format for assessment, you will have continuous opportunity to diagnose your students and recycle your lessons based on your findings. 25 Fitness Tests The Washington State Elementary Fitness Test* for grades one-three and the AAHPER Youth Fitness Test** for grades four-eight are used by Health and Optimum Physical Education to provide added incentive and to help assess student needs. These tests serve only to augment the evaluation set up in the daily lesson plans. It is strongly recommended that they be used only as an addition to other assessment tools and that no student grade be affected by their outcome. Health Appraisals and Other School Evaluations Health and Optimum Physi'cal Education, the concepts of Space Awareness, Body Awareness, Quality of Movement and Relationships served as the broad goals of the project program. LONG RANGE PLANNING While all areas of the Movement Chart are interrelated and major emphasis should be placed where children need help most, long range planning will help you to avoid overemphasizing anyone area for too long a time period. This is very important, for children need experience in all movement areas. Long range planning need not be confining if you continually evaluate and remain flexible. A health appraisal made by the school nurse, a physical examination four times during the school career (K-12) by a physician, plus other evaluations made by the school should also be considered in your program planning. For example, if academic testing shows your children to be underachievers, you might devise ways to reinforce certain academic concepts in your movement education program. (See Part III, Games). ESTABLISHMENT OF GOALS Based on your needs assessment, broad goals must be developed to meet those needs. In *24 **4 To make a long range planning schedule, select the Movement Chart concepts you desire and set aside the total number of school days you want to spend on each concept. Remember, this is subject to change, depending on the pace the children set for themselves as they learn. An example of a long range schedule for grade four in Irwin Middle School follows. The project staff urges you to use this schedule only as a sample. It is useless unless it fits the developmental needs of your children. As you gain in experience, you will see the necessity of developing your own long range schedule. 26 YEARLY SCHEDULE GRADE FOUR. IRWIN MIDDLE SCHOOL DATE CONCEPT DATE CONCEPT Aug. 30-31 Sept. 4-7 Orientation Games Orientation: Equipment Safety can make Manipulative: Striking Sept. 10-14 Space Awareness Program AreaGymnastics (1) Where the body moves in general and personal space (2) Ways the body uses space Directions: Oct. 15-26 Program AreaDance forward - backward - right -left - up - down- sidewards Space Awareness (1) How the body moves in general and personal space Directions: forward - backward sideward -left - rightup-down Sept. 17-28 Quality of Body Movement Program AreaGames (1) How the body moves with force: strong - weak (2) How the body moves in general and personal space Levels: high - medium -low Body Awareness (3) Basic movements the body can make Manipulative: throwing - catching Oct. 1-12 Program Area - Body Awareness (1) Basic movements the body Body Awareness (2) Basic movements the body can make Locomotor: jumping - runningwalking -