MASTER’S PORTFOLIO: PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Master’s Portfolio: Physical Education

Violet R. Brooks

11/4/2018

University of Alaska Southeast

Katy Spangler
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Framing Statement

Below is my final lesson plan for the University of Alaska Southeast’s (UAS) Physical

Education (P.E.) teacher education course which is part of the Master’s of Arts in Teaching

program. The lesson plan was one of the first I ever had to make. I include it here to show how I

have developed through my career here at UAS, as well as to demonstrate the level of creativity I

expect from myself as well as my students.

I have many regrets about this lesson plan. Now that I am nearing completion of my

degree, I see how the lesson is ‘floating’. It doesn’t seem to be part of a broader spectrum of

education. If I were to walk into this classroom and observe this, I would consider it a leftover

buffet of standards that had yet to be made near the end of the semester. That being said, it could

easily be modified to be part of a yearly flow.

Dance could and should be incorporated as much as possible into P.E. curriculum. In

elementary settings, students are currently obsessed with dance possibly in result to an uptick of

victory dances in football and video games like Fortnite. Dance is an excellent way to engage

kinesthetic learners. Dance can be used cross-discipline wise and integrated into areas like social

studies (Georgios, Ioannis, Olga, Dimitris, Maria 2018), history, or math (Leandro, Monteiro &

Melo 2018). Dance does not have to be time-consuming, though extremely structured dance,

such as ballet or line dancing, can help students who feel uncomfortable in more traditional

Physical Education classes. By removing the competitiveness of the activity, we empower

students to work together and build meaningful connections between individuals (Ciotto &

Gagnon, 2018).

I also enjoy that this lesson plan demands that students learn to control their bodies to be

still. They must become wax statues and not move a muscle. The Musical chairs aspect of the
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activity improves engagement by expecting the students to be listening for cues. I do like that

the instructor for this course has made the suggestion of having poses the students must stop in

during the activity. I think by having set poses, we could make the activity more diverse and

inter-disciplinary. For instance, Kindergarteners might have to make letters with their bodies

(literature), whereas 4th graders may have to strike a pose like an Alaskan Animal (Social

Studies) and middle schoolers may be asked to work in teams to make math problems. There is

great potential for the base of this lesson.

As stated before, however, there are some areas that require tweaking. I need to set up a

better standard for grading and rubric for success (El-Sherif, 2016). P.E. is a standard, and as

such must have goals that can be objectively measured. Dance should be structured and used as

a tool to better understand the body, not an excuse to run amok.

I suspect I may have to be mindful of my community and the pre-conceived notions that

students may have. Gender and the role of dance may cause some students to refuse to

participate (Amado, 2016). Young men in general may feel awkward or uncomfortable when

doing structured dance, and these feelings can quickly give way to an unmanageable classroom

(Garrett & Wrench 2018). Apart from this, my current school has a population of Russian Old

World Believers and they are forbidden from dance. As an accommodation for them, I would

ask that they choose to do a non-dance movement (crawl, bear-walk, walk, run, jog, etc) but still

strike a prompted pose at the musical pauses.

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References:

Amado, D., Del Villar, F., Sánchez-Miguel, P. A., Leo, F. M., & García-Calvo, T. (2016).

Analysis of the Impact of Creative Technique on the Motivation of Physical Education

Students in Dance Content: Gender Differences. Journal of Creative Behavior, 50(1), 64–

79.

Ciotto, C. M., & Gagnon, A. G. (2018). Promoting Social and Emotional Learning in Physical

Education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 89(4), 27–33.

El-Sherif, J. L. (2016). Learning, Teaching and Assessing Dance in Physical

Education. Strategies: A Journal for Physical and Sports Educators, 29(5), 31–36.

Garrett, R., & Wrench, A. (2018). Redesigning Pedagogy for Boys and Dance in Physical

Education. European Physical Education Review, 24(1), 97–113. Retrieved from

https://egan.ezproxy.uas.alaska.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dir

ect=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1167067&site=ehost-live

Georgios, L., Ioannis, G., Olga, T., Dimitris, C., & Maria, K. (2018). ?he Effect of a Traditional

Dance Program on Health-Related Quality of Life as Perceived by Primary School

Students. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 6(1), 96–103

Leandro, C. R., Monteiro, E., & Melo, F. (2018). Interdisciplinary Working Practices: Can

Creative Dance Improve Math? Research in Dance Education, 19(1), 74–90.

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LESSON TITLE: A Night in our Museum

GRADE LEVEL FOCUS: 2-5th grade

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

By the end of the lesson, the student will be able to:

1) Create different poses to different music styles.

2) work cooperatively to make team ‘sculptures’

3) Identify dance as a movement to music.

ALASKA PHYSICAL EDUCATION STANDARD:

Grade 5 standard A6: Design and perform a creative dance.

Grade 5 Standard B5: Use specific feedback to improve performance

Grade 5 Standard E1: Demonstrate awareness and participate safely when involved in the
activity.

HOOK: WAX MUSEUMS, brief speech about famous people who are in wax museums. If you
have the ability, show pictures of celebs with their partners, maybe a brief story about Madam
Toussad. Explain to students the day’s activity, that we will be a making our own wax museum
of students, but that wax sculptures aren’t allowed to be boring. Student’s will be expected to
move when the music is on but must freeze when the music stops.

TOOLS/MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT: Music and a large area where students can run, play and
move.
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TEACHING PLAN:

Time Start with upper body stretches arm crosses, finger circles, back scratchers. If kids
are having trouble focusing, encourage them to make funny faces as they do,
5 min warming up their ‘face muscles’.

(WARM- 2 minutes of an easy jog.

UP)

Time Start out easy, tell students to move and pose as they see fit. As long as they are
moving and stopping appropriately, praise students who are following
20 min directions.
(WORKOUT) After a 2/3 rounds of 15-30 seconds burst of music, tell them they can NO
LONGER RUN, WALK OR JOG.

Start the music and look at new movement.

Praise students who are being creative in their movements. If students seem
lost, point out students who are doing great.

After every round, eliminate one more movement. I.E. crawling, skipping,
jumping, trotting, cart-wheeling etc.

If time allows, break the students into small groups to make ‘rock band’
exhibits. Turn on a classic rock if you can, I, of course, recommend Survivor’s
“Eye of the Tiger” or “Highway to the Danger Zone”. Dio’s “Holy Diver”
would be amazing too.

Time Have a final walk to cool down, having students discuss among themselves their
favorite poses. As they line up, have them raise their hands to share their favorite
5 min parts.

MODIFICATIONS/ACCOMMODATIONS:

This particular lesson plan is pretty forgiving. If a student has a disability, encourage movement
and cooperation. If they have an aversion to noise, see if they have a set of headphones in their
homeroom or if there is a different type of music they might enjoy. IT could be fun to have a
whole class spinning around like ballerinas if a student prefers classical music too.