Skill Development: Team Baton Relay

This activity focuses on readiness, focus, cooperation, and best effort. It activity encourages students to work together as a team to cooperatively complete a task. It allows them to use previously learned locomotors and object control while they cooperate to complete the task. It gives them the opportunity to challenge themselves to use their best effort to complete the task well.

Prepare:

• Ask students to think about the PE activities they have enjoyed the most throughout the school year.
• Call on students to share aloud and as they do, point out some of the fundamental skills that were used in each activity.
• Remind students that learning these fundamental skills well can help them to join into many fun games/activities to increase their skill level, confidence and have fun on their own and with others!
• Share that they are going to use some of the skills they have learned this year, together as a team, to cooperate while moving in our activities today.

Explain/Demonstrate: Ready Position

• Ask the students to move safely to their team color cone and line up in team order behind it.
• Ask students to face forward, stay in personal space within their team line and show a standing listen/learn position.
• Share with students that their team will be working together to complete a team race/challenge that is called a relay race.
• Explain that for their team to complete the challenge with their best effort, they will need to use some of their previously learned skills.
• Share/Show ready position
  • Body facing forward
  • Eyes focused on the teammate in front of you
  • Favorite foot slightly in front
• Share that this readiness position shows focus with the body and brain and makes it easier for the team to do their best because the teammates are not distracting each other.
• Ask students to try the ready position.

Explain/Demonstrate: Baton Hand Off

• Remind students that in a relay, the teammates take turns completing a task.
• Explain that in this relay, the racers will show that it is the next teammate’s turn, by handing them a short baton/dowel/paper towel roll.
• Share/show the team how they will use cooperation by handing off/exchanging the relay baton.
  • Waiting teammate extends right arm with the palm facing upward
  • Returning runner does a right-side return and places the baton flat into the teammate’s extended hand
• Demonstrate how best effort can be shown when completing the task, by:
  • Using previously learned best body form running skills to run while holding the baton to the designated spot
  • Turn safely using body control
  • Run back to the starting position while staying in the team’s running lane
  • Do a cooperative baton hand-off to the next teammate.

Practice: Slow Motion Relay

• Share with students that to help each teammate understand how to complete the relay, their first practice will be done at a slower speed.
• Explain that in this practice, they will speed walk when it is their turn and demonstrate that they understand what they need to do when it is their turn in the relay.
• Remind them that it is okay to make mistakes and encourage them to use teamwork with each other by helping each teammate to remember what they need to do when it is their turn.
• Ask all teammates to show readiness with the ready position.
• Give a track baton to the number one person in each team.
• Cue practice aloud with the starting signal, Team’s ready, set, go!
• Use cue word coaching to help students to remember various elements of the relay run.
• Once each student has completed their turn, ask teams to show readiness, and review aloud elements that need improvement.

Practice: Full Speed Track Baton Relay

• Share with students that now they will try the relay using their fastest speed and best effort.
• Ask them to recall what they need to do to show best effort
  • Readiness
  • Best body form running
  • Agility
  • Stay in team lane
  • Right side return
  • Cooperative baton hand off
  • Back of team line when turn is completed, etc.
• Ask all teammates to show theire starting ready position.
• Once all look ready, cue practice aloud with the starting signal, Team’s ready, set go!
• Repeat practice relay 3 times to encourage confidence/competence in each team’s ability.

Review:

• Ask teams to share what they thought their team did well at in the relay.
• Ask teams to share something that their team should try to improve upon.

Transition:

Ask students to sit down in their team line and show a sitting listen and learn body form.