Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

5 minutes

Tune In: Gymnastics

25 minutes

(plus practice time) - Find Out: Let’s test our skills

25 minutes

Take Action: How did we go?

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

practise fundamental gymnastics skills through an obstacle course scenario
collect data on their performance.

Success criteria

Students can:

apply fundamental movement skills to new scenarios
represent the data using appropriate methods.

Preparation:

This is a split lesson, with the ‘Tune In’ and ‘Find Out’ phases happening first. Students start by exploring gymnastics skills before creating a plan to improve their own strength, flexibility, and balance. Students will enact their plans over a period of time. This could be 4 weeks or a whole term, depending on what suits you! Students will apply their mathematical skills to measure their journey.

Tune In: Gymnastics

Step 1

What does it take to be a gymnast? Show your students this clip of Australian Gymnasts at the Commonwealth Games.

Video 1: Rhythmic Gymnastics

Rhythmic Gymnastics - #B2022 Sport Explainer Video - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOlkaGWhCHc)

Video 2: Artistic Gymnastics

Artistic Gymnastics Overview - #B2022 Sport Explainer Video -(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bngDblLkYOM)

Video 3: Meet a Gymnast

Georgia Godwin - (https://vimeo.com/1124726085/1b07ffbd77?ts=0&share=copy)

Step 2

Lead a class discussion with your students by asking what skills they think someone needs to be a good gymnast. After students share their answers, identify that the 3 key skills gymnasts need are:

strength
flexibility
balance

Show the students this clip of Georgia Godwin demonstrating strength, flexibility and balance.

Find Out: Let’s test our skills

Step 1

Take your students to your setup area. Run them through some light warm-ups, particularly stretching legs and arms. Explain the 3 activities to your class.

Station 1: Balance

This station has 3 balancing elements. The first is a 5m line flat on the floor. Students must walk along the line, 1 foot in front of the other. The second is a line of 5 hula hoops on the floor. Students need to do a 1-foot half turn, step into the next hoop, and repeat with the other foot all the way to the end. The third element is a balance beam; students must talk from 1 end to another.

Students take a cup of water and fill it to the brim. They then move through the 3 balancing elements, trying to spill as little water as possible. At the end of the balancing elements, they pour the water into a measuring container and see how many millilitres of water they have left.

Station 2: Strength

Students see how long they can hold a plank position in this station. Pair the students up with 1 student who is timing and the other holding the position. When they can no longer hold the position, stop the timer and record their time on their sheet.

Learning support: Students can hold a plank on their knees instead of a full-length plank.

Learning extension: Students can do a 1-arm plank. If they are up for an extreme challenge, they can do a 1-arm/1-leg plank (opposite leg to arm touching the ground).

Station 3: Flexibility

In this station, students conduct the sit-and-reach test. Students sit with their legs flat on the ground and measure how close they are to touching their toes, or how far beyond their toes they can reach. One person does the exercise, and their partner measures their reach. Then, they swap places.

Step 2

Run the students through all 3 stations in rotation and have them record their data on the activity sheet.

Step 3

Survey your students by asking them:

What was the easiest for you?
What was the most difficult for you?
Do you think we can improve?

Step 4

Back in the classroom, divide the students into 3 groups and assign each group either flexibility, strength, and balance.

Using the activity sheet, ask the students to design a weekly practice routine that will help them improve their nominated skills. Let students know they will practise this routine for X number of weeks (we recommend a minimum of 4, but this could go for the whole term).

Learning support: Students can review the warm-up card deck and select exercises that help build the different skills when they create their training plan.

Take Action: How did we go?

Step 1

Have students implement their training programs as a whole class. Encourage them to keep each other (and you!) accountable for the training plan. Once a week, run through the 3 stations again and record your data.

Step 2

Using the graphing templates, have students create data displays to represent their progress over time. Have students complete the reflection questions on the worksheet. You may like to discuss these answers as a class.

Reflection

Ask students: How does collecting information on our performance help us to improve?

Balance, Strength and Flexibility in Action

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Balance, Strength and Flexibility in Action

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