Learner Description: First and Second Grade Students at Ross School 

Overview - Three classroom and two special area teachers worked together to bring an awareness to the students of health and fitness as related to the curriculum. Our students were provided with the background knowledge to support their learning in an appropriate environment. Once students had an understanding of the need for good health and fitness the whole group discussed ways to share this knowledge with the rest of the school. Students decided to host a health day.

Rationale - Purpose for the unit as a whole. The WHY questions.

Why would you teach this unit? To promote better awareness of good health hygiene and fitness habits in individual classrooms and throughout the school.

Why would this this qualify as an Engaged Learning unit? The children are responsible for gathering the information and sharing the information with their peers.

Why is technology an important component of this unit? Students will be using the web to gather information. Students will be using technological components to share their information (ie digital videos, posters, self fitness spread sheets, digital photos, pamphlets, etc.)

Why is this project authentic/meaningful, and challenging for students?

Students will participate and produce information which will be for their own personal use and to share with their peers. Students will have personal relevance because they will be self evaluating their own levels of health and fitness and setting personal goals.

Goals - Content, Cognitive and Social - The WHAT questions

What new attributes (knowledge, skills, attitudes) do you expect students to gain?

Students will gain knowledge of how to lead a healthy lifestyle, They will gain the ability to choose healthy snacks and foods and make good life choices (such as sleeping and hygiene routines). They will learn the importance of exercise and be able to share this information with their families and peers.

What school, district, state and national standards/benchmarks are addressed?

Physical Development

20.A.1a  Identify characteristics of health-related fitness.

20.A.1b  Engage in sustained physical activity that causes increased heart rate, muscle strength and range of movement.

20.B.1  Describe immediate effects of physical activity on the body.

20.C.1  Identify a realistic health-related goal.

21.A.1a  Follow directions and class procedures while participating in physical activities.

21.A.1b  Use identified procedures and safe practices with little or no reinforcement during group physical activities.

21.B.1  Work cooperatively with another to accomplish an assigned task.

Health

22.A.1a  Identify general signs and symptoms of illness.

22.A.1b  Identify methods of health promotion and illness prevention.

22.A.1c  Identify dangerous situations and safety methods to reduce risks.

22.B.1  Encourage and support others in making positive health choices.

22.C.1  Identify sources and causes of environmental health risks

23.A.1  Identify basic parts of body systems and their functions.

23.B.1 Identify healthy actions that influence the functions of the body.

23.C.1  Identify individual differences in growth and development among people.

24.A.1a  Differentiate between positive and negative behaviors (e.g., waiting your turn vs. pushing in line, honesty vs. lying, informing for safety versus tattling).

24.A.1b  Identify positive verbal and nonverbal communication skills (e.g., body language, manners, listening).

24.B.1  Recognize how choices can affect health (e.g., not brushing/tooth decay, smoking/risk of cancer and heart disease).

24.C.1  Demonstrate basic refusal skills (e.g., Just Say No, Stranger Danger).

Science

11.A.1a  Describe an observed event .

11.A.1b  Develop questions on scientific topics.

11.A.1c  Collect data for investigations using measuring instruments and technologies.

11.A.1d  Record and store data using available technologies.

11.A.1e  Arrange data into logical patterns and describe the patterns.

11.A.1f  Compare observations of individual and group results.

12.A.1a  Identify and describe the component parts of living things (e.g., birds have feathers; people have bones, blood, hair, skin) and their major functions.

12.C.1a  Identify and compare sources of energy (e.g., batteries, the sun, food).

13.B.1b  Explain how using measuring tools improves the accuracy of estimates.

Reading

1.B.1c  Continuously check and clarify for understanding (e.g., reread, read ahead, use visual and context clues, ask questions, retell, use meaningful substitutions).

1.C.1a  Use information to form questions and verify predictions.

1.C.1f  Use information presented in simple tables, maps and charts to form an interpretation.

Writing

3.A.1  Construct complete sentences which demonstrate subject/verb agreement; appropriate capitalization and punctuation; correct spelling of appropriate, high-frequency words; and appropriate use of the eight parts of speech.

3B.1a  Use prewriting strategies to generate and organize ideas (e.g., focus on one topic; organize writing to include a beginning, middle and end; use descriptive words when writing about people, places, things, events).

3.B.1b  Demonstrate focus, organization, elaboration and integration in written compositions.

3.C.1a  Write for a variety of purposes including description, information, explanation, persuasion and narration.

3.C.1b  Create media compositions or productions that convey meaning visually for a variety of purposes.

4.A.1a  Listen attentively by facing the speaker, making eye contact and paraphrasing what is said.

4.A.1b  Ask questions and respond to questions from the teacher and from group members to improve comprehension.

4.A.1c  Follow oral instructions accurately.

4.a.1d  Use visually oriented and auditorily based media.

4.B.1a  Present brief oral reports, using language and vocabulary appropriate to the message and audience (e.g., show and tell).

4.B.1b  Participate in discussions around a common topic.

5.A.1a  Identify questions and gather information.

5.A.1b  Locate information using a variety of resources.

5.B.1a  Select and organize information from various sources for a specific purpose.

5.B.1b  Cite sources used.

5.C.1a  Write letters, reports and stories based on acquired information.

5.C.1b  Use print, non-print, human and technological resources to acquire and use information

Learning Activities

Because our students are emergent learners, it was first necessary to give them background information. The follwing activities were done in one or more classrooms:

Building bodies to discover the different body systems and their role in maintaining health.

Built a food pyramid and learned about food groups.

Created a visual representation of 3 meals and 2 snacks using the food pyramid.

Made ABC posters of healthy living.

Talked about different types of exercise, aerobic, stretching and muscle building and the students have learned to differentiate between the different types of activity and how it impacts their heart rate.

Analyze their own daily eating habits and create a plan to eat better.

From these pre-activities, students determined what was most important to share.

Student Assessment

What are my scoring characteristics? (What do I want to measure? What is an important outcome of this unit?) A rubric was created by the students to evaluate spelling, research, appearance of the product and their presentation. The children also created brochures to demonstrate their knowledge of the subject covered.

What will indicate that students are novices, practitioners, or experts? (Rubric) Through their self evaluation the children assessed their work and they decided if they answered the questions that they wanted answered. They ranked themselves in each of the categories to determine how they did and then discussed the outcomes with their classmates and teachers.

How will I measure and communicate student progress on the goals? Through the rubrics that the students designed.

How can students be involved in establishing goals and criteria for the assessment? By developing the rubric together

Resources

Books, videos, internet, experts, computers, parent helpers, cameras, scanners, audio support.

Management

The group presented a health fair in the Ross Gym. To ensure the proper spacing the children measured the space they needed and diagramed the gym to meet their needs.  Classes were invited to sign up and attend by the students presenting. The parents of the presenting students were also invited to attend.

Unit Evaluation

We feel that the health fair was a huge success. The kids really took control of their topic areas and were able to communicate their finding to others. One thing that the kids brought up in their reflections, is that they would have liked more time to practice. Maybe next time they brainstormed we would have the parents come a day earlier to be our "practice" group and receive feedback.

Also, some kids felt that the guests didn't stick around their station long enough. The kids thought that next time, they would make sure to have activities that would actively involve their audience. Just like teachers know, the kids figured out their audience stayed involved when they could participate.