Skill Development: Team- 2 Challenge- Relay

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

Prepare:

• Share with students that again today, like their last PE class, they are going to use some of the skills they have learned this year, together as a team, to cooperate while moving.
• Ask them to think about the last PE class and recall how they showed their cooperation. (Team Baton Relay and Partner Challenges).
• Call on students to share.

Explain/Demonstrate- Ready Position Review and Team Challenge Tasks

• 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.
• Remind students that their team will be working together to complete a team race/challenge that is called a relay race.
• Remind them that for their team to complete the challenge with their best effort, they will need to use some of their previously learned skills.
• Review ready position
  • Body facing forward
  • Eyes focused on the teammate in front of you
  • Favorite foot slightly in front
• Review 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 show the ready position.
• Explain that today they will show their team cooperation by trying two different challenges within their relay run.
• Share/show that best effort should be shown by:
  • Using previously learned best body form running skills to run to the center line and complete the first challenge, then continue running towards the endline for the second challenge.
  • At the end line, complete the challenge, then turn safely using body control, run back to the starting position, while staying in their team’s running lane, and do a cooperative high five to the next teammate.

*This team relay should include two age-appropriate challenges (one at the midline and one at the end line) that are focused on balance. For example, students run to the midline and get down on the ground, and complete a balanced tabletop hold for ten counts, then run to the end line and pick up a spoon/egg and complete 3 turns while holding the spoon/egg, then set it down and run back to their team.

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.
• 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 before attempting relay at full speed.

Practice: Team Full Speed 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 high five
  • Back of team line when turn is completed, etc.
• Ask all teammates to show their 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.

Can You Cooperate? (Team Cooperation Challenges)

This activity uses previously learned fundamental skills in a variety of cooperative challenges. Students work together in teams to communicate and complete a small task that uses skills they have learned and practiced earlier in the year.

Procedure:

1. Share with students that they will continue to use skills to try to challenge themselves.
2. Explain that they will use their skills to try to complete a challenge by cooperating with their team.
3. Review with students that cooperation takes best effort by each partner and the use of talking/listening skills (communication).
4. Explain that you will give them a cooperation challenge to try together, and they will have 2 minutes to cooperate and practice the challenge.
5. Share/show team challenges and allow two minutes for practice/completion of each challenge.
6. Possible Challenge Ideas to Explore:
   • Snake Jog (Can your team stand in a straight line, then follow your leader to jog together, staying behind one another at the same speed without bumping into one another?)
   • Over/Under Ball Pass (Can your team stand in a straight line, an arm’s length behind the person in front of you, and pass a ball backwards in an over the head-through the legs-over the head-through the legs- pattern, without dropping the ball?)
   • Through the Hoop (Can you and your teammates stand in a line facing sideways and grip hands, then pass a hula hoop from one end of the line to the other without un-gripping hands?)
   • Circle Sit to Stand (Can your team site down in a circle, grip hands, and stand up without letting any hands touch the ground?)