Passport
to Play…Getting Ready for the 2010 Olympics!
Written
by:
Kim
Nygaard (bio)
Join with the 2010 Olympic Spirit and
enjoy your own “Passport To Play”
Games.
In October, I wrote about Peninsula
Heritage Olympic Torch Run to celebrate
the Winter Olympics which will be taking
place next month as Canada hosts the
2010 Winter Olympic Games. I also said
I would be involving our elementary
school in the Olympic Opening Ceremonies
with games from ten countries around
the world.
I’m happy to say our Olympic
Torch Run is still going strong, and
our school has run/walked over 600 miles.
To help celebrate our annual Metric
Week, I decided to move our Passport
to Play games early so I could have
great feedback on the success of the
program. You will probably want to involve
your school with this program next month
(in February) when the Winter Olympics
begin. Passport
to Play is an excellent and motivating
program which follows the standards
for the National Association for Sports
and Physical Education (NASPE) and is
supported by the United States Olympic
Committee (USOC).
Visit
passport2play.com
for a complete program which is available
to download on your computer. This program
provides a teacher’s guide with
all the materials needed to help organize
your event. A colorful, world map can
be used around your school. The materials
also include a passport to be given
to the children, a letter to the parents
from Olympian
Julie Foudy to explain what Passport
to Play is about, and even some great
links from the Produce
for Better Health Foundation, which
provides some fun recipes for snacks
from around the world.
How I Implemented the Program
in My School:
First off, I got the entire school
involved, including the parents and
staff. I divided the school into ten
teams. The teams were mixed with kindergarten
through 5th graders. The teachers/staff
took one country and ran the game from
that country. The parents of each room
were in charge of supplying a “refuel”
snack from that country to be shared
at the end of the program. I allowed
1 ½ to 2 hours for this program,
and it worked out great. The children
started at one country and rotated to
a different country every ten minutes.
By the end of the rotation, all children
had participated in all ten country
games. If you are unsure of how to play
the games, Passport to Play has short
videos to demonstrate. When they showed
games involving only a couple people,
I would adjust by placing more children
in the circle so children kept busy
moving instead of standing around.
The
children were given passports, and after
each game the teacher would stamp the
passport. (I found that it helps to
have at least 2 teachers/staff at each
country: one can be used to collect
& stamp the passports while the
other assists the children in playing
the game.) We set up distances in meters
(since it was our metric week), which
gave the children a great learning tool
for learning distance.
The program was enjoyed by all, and
the parents were impressed to see the
whole school’s enthusiasm with
the global games.
In addition, I ordered life-size flags
from each country and had them placed
around the field and cement areas. I
made flyers for each country to accompany
the game and the snack from the country.
Also, I created a parent letter. Further,
I handed out simple directions to the
staff. Lastly, I went around and took
pictures and video clips of the day
and made a DVD.
Further Recommendations:
Now that it is a New Year, we as PE
Professionals need to work together
with the world to show support for our
Olympic athletes, and appreciate games
from around the world. There has been
talk (which I am sure you have heard
or are involved in) as to the education
of our children, both athletes and non
athletes, on participating with character,
winning with dignity, and losing with
grace. We need to bring some competition
back into the schools to help educate
young children. It is inevitable to
fail and lose sometimes, but “losing”
is not a bad word. To me it is how we
handle that word. Losing. By the time
a child graduates elementary school,
are they actually ready to face the
next stage, and perhaps with some disappointments?
At
Peninsula Heritage School, we have introduced
our new program called “Climbing
with Character” (Look for more
info in my next article!). We have brought
a sense of supporting the athletic children
by challenging them to take on leadership
responsibilities, and to compete for
their teams. We also help motivate children
who may struggle with PE and fitness
by encouraging them to push out of their
comfort zones, even if they feel they
may fail.
Ask yourself these questions...Why
did you want to become a Physical Education
teacher/coach? Do you find yourself
teaching/coaching with character? Do
you teach character traits to the children/athletes
you teach? Do you feel that you spend
more time in PE classes teaching the
athletes to excel at the sports skills,
or do you feel you spend most of your
time trying to encourage the children
who struggle to participate? What are
your personal/class goals for each class
you teach?
These are just some of the daily questions
I ask myself. If we don’t get
children out of their comfort zones
for fear of failing or losing, what
are we teaching these children, or how
are we really preparing these children
for middle school, high school, or life?
I try and use examples of my personal
competition years when I competed at
state, national, and even Olympic levels.
When I teach I play games at times which
involve the winning team AND the losing
team. Some games we even play for points/awards
which actually intensify the game itself.
I
love the Olympic years. This is always
a great opportunity to teach and educate
my students by the good and bad examples
set forth by the world class athletes.
It is truly amazing to hear what these
young students have opinions about.
To me, these are the true teaching moments
- when we can all agree to disagree,
and we can each explain our rationales.
With the Olympics about to start in
February, take time to talk about it
now, to encourage the children to participate
in learning more about the Olympic Games.
An exhilarating way to start is to involve
your school in an Olympic Torch Run,
Opening Ceremony, and Passport to Play
event. Not only will your entire community
participate and be motivated, you will
too as the educator. I had a fantastic
time, and I guarantee you will too.
If you should have any questions, comments,
or ideas please feel free to contact
me anytime. I will also be presenting
my Survivor…PE
Style program at the Southwest District/New
Mexico AAHPERD Convention February 11-14th.
If you have a chance, please attend.
Thank you for your continued support.
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