With some changes in teaching assignments this year I am getting
back to my PE roots. This year I am
teaching more PE and have welcomed the change in scenery. PE has changed for the better since I last
was a full time teacher in Kinesiological management. Two of my classes are Adventure PE. Being a bit of an outdoorsman I have been
loving this new class. One of the units
we have done has been basic orienteering.
It has been a while since I have used a compass so I needed a little
refresher not to mention how to teach a class on this.
I went on YouTube to get some refreshers on how to use a
compass or come up with some activities to do. I stumbled across a great tutorial that was
quick and easy to learning the basics of the compass.
I decided instead of me trying to teach the same info why not have the kids come into the computer lab and get all the “bookwork” out of the way all at once. Plus, anyone who has ever tried to have kids sit in a gym or in the bleachers to “teach” will know it is hard to maintain their attention. The computer lab is a familiar environment for them to do some sit work.
I decided instead of me trying to teach the same info why not have the kids come into the computer lab and get all the “bookwork” out of the way all at once. Plus, anyone who has ever tried to have kids sit in a gym or in the bleachers to “teach” will know it is hard to maintain their attention. The computer lab is a familiar environment for them to do some sit work.
I use www.Edmodo.com with my PE students to be able to contact
and provide information to them that they may need for class. (It works great because I can share docs and
videos so I am not picking up papers in the locker room after each hour.) I put the video link right on edmodo for them
to pull from. I also created a note
sheet where they can label the compass and write down the steps to using it.
Note sheet click HERE
Day 1:
I handed out the note sheets and had the kids pull up the
video and watch it and fill the note sheets out. It took all of 20 mins from start to
finish. (I had them pull up some info on www.Geocaching.com as the orienteering unit leads into the geocaching unit).
Day2:
I created a simple orienteering course for the kids to
follow. I had my morning class do it in
the field house (it was wet & dewy) and my afternoon class went outside so
as long as you have an open space it should work. I created 3 different courses just to offer a
variety. Once the kids finished one
course they just grabbed a new card. I color
coded each course to make it easier. The
courses are not any harder than the others … just different.
Course Coordinates HERE
Each student got a compass, a course card and a hula
hoop. I had them spread out and stand in
their hula hoop. I then just had them
start their course. If they do their
coordinates correct, they should end up right back in their hula hoop or within
a few steps of it. It makes it very easy
to see if the kids orienteered correctly.
I was amazed at how well these city kids did on their first try. The YouTube video made it simple and easy so the activity was a huge success. The kids enjoyed it and thought it was neat they could use a compass which most never had.
Day 3:
The kids will create their own 8 step course to
plot. I then have them give their course
to a partner and have them orienteer the course to see if it works.
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