Fit for Our Future
will begin with a brainstorming activity. A question will be proposed, "What is healthy?" Students will work in small groups to create a list of ideas or a definition of what healthy means. We will come together as a class and students will report their answers to the class. I will record their ideas on a piece of chart paper and begin a discussion about how and why certain responses were made. The list of responses will be displayed in the classroom and referred back to at the end of the unit.
Next, I will explain to the students that they are going to participate in a school-wide health fair to educate their peers on one of these health components, physical fitness or exercise. An explanation of the collaborative effort of other classes will be presented. Students will learn that they are one of four classes participating in the school-wide health fair. They will be focusing on health related issues in their four main content areas along with another fifth grade class. Students from a French class and art class will also participate in the fair. Within the next week students will select a group and a topic that they will be presenting. (Appendix A) Students will begin collecting information on their topic through class discussion, in-school research, and research completed at home. The final project will be an interactive station including a poster board at the scheduled fair.
Students will receive health journals they will record their daily food consumption, daily physical activity, changes made to be healthier, effects of health changes, possible solutions, and feelings about health. Students will include class notes and recommended diagrams. This journal will also be used in their language arts and social studies class to record information throughout the unit. An opportunity will be provided for students to share their responses, but it is not required.
The students will be learning about the importance of a healthy body in preparation for their final project, and they will be incorporating what they have learned into their everyday classes. During a presentation at the 2001 Society for Neuroscience conference, it was discussed that, ". . .following a 12 week regimen of jogging for 30 minutes two to three times a week, young adults significantly improved their performance on a number of cognitive tests".4 While as a classroom educator I cannot dedicate a half-hour of continuous physical activity every day, I can contribute by having students participate in David Katz's ABC for Fitness or Activity Bursts in the Classroom. Katz's created this program with the understanding that school systems across the country have reduced physical activity time to make way for more academic learning. By reducing or eliminating recess and gym, students are getting less time for physical activity. The ABC for Fitness is a manual for teachers, which includes step-by-step instructions for numerous 5 minute activity bursts that could be used before each class. The 5 minute activity burst is not to replace a students workout, but contribute to a students overall health. If a 5 minute burst is done before or during each class an average student will get an additional 30 minute of daily exercise, half of the daily recommended amount.
