This year has already had some significant challenges. Schools and businesses around the world have closed their doors so we can keep the spread of the coronavirus as low as we can to give hospitals a fighting chance to care for those who are infected. My school closed for the next two weeks (at minimum), but I have a feeling that it will stretch for closer to four weeks. We are doing our best to provide online instruction to our older students wherever it is possible, and encouraging our younger students to continue working on their practical life skills at home. What could our students do at home from Montessori Physical Education?

First and foremost, as stated above, practical life skills would be an excellent component to reinforce. There are life skills like cooking and cleaning that people will have time to catch up on. For older students, learning how to balance checkbooks are do taxes would be valuable. There are also many modes of exercise that can do at home, such as calisthenics, running, and yoga. Depending on where you live, hiking or exploring trails can be a great way to exercise that also helps us appreciate nature. We shouldn’t overlook play; forts made out of couch cushions or running around the backyard are fun and therapeutic.

While I am out of school, what I will do is begin posting lessons for free that I typically sell online; slightly rewritten to accommodate the fact that the game will be played by only a few people at a time (parents and kids). What I want is everyone to have access to these games in this time of uncertainty; money and resources should not be a factor to have quality Montessori physical education instruction. If you are in a position to support me by purchasing programs and lessons, I would be very grateful, but the ultimate goal is doing the most good.

This is also a thank you to everyone who has already purchased my lessons and albums, those that have downloaded my free lessons, those who have attended my presentations, for everyone who has used my work with their students, and for everyone who has interacted with me through social media engagement. I appreciate the Montessori and physical education communities for showing interest in my philosophy of integrating physical education with the Montessori classroom.

 Without further ado:

First Great Lessons (that can be done at home)

Excerpts from Montessori Physical Education Volume One

 

 

Solar System Collection

Introduction:  This game is a combination of a scavenger hunt and a relay race involving planets within the solar system. The student(s) will be running back and forth trying to collect a card for each planet and the Sun and then put them in order. This game will help reinforce the names as well as the order of the planets in our solar system. Depending on the size of your class (one or two), you will want to have at least 45 cards (five cards per planet and five cards for the Sun), but more can be used to increase the difficulty.

 

Materials: 

• A large open space (such as a gym, field, backyard, or even living room)

• Solar system card set that includes the sun (at least 45 cards)

  • To create the set, find pictures of the planets and resize them so they are about the size of a playing card. The planets should not have the name on the picture.

 

Prior Knowledge: The student(s) should have had the first Great Lesson

 

Presentation 

• The student(s) should be on one side of the playing area, and the cards should be on the other side face down.

• Before beginning the game, take time to show the cards to the student(s). The cards should not have the names on them, but instead the students should try and remember the pictures by the colors and landmarks.

• The student(s) retrieve one card from the other side of the playing area at a time.  They are not allowed to turn the card over and look at it until they bring the card back to their side. When the student gets back, they will look at the card together and if it’s a card they need, they keep it. They repeat the process and run to the other side of the playing area to retrieve a new card.

• When the student brings back a card that they already have, they need to run the card back to the group of cards, place it face down, and grab a new card.

• The student is only able to get one card at a time. When a new card is brought back, they should arrange the planet cards in order so they can identify which cards they still need.

• A student is successful when they have all the cards and they are in order starting with the Sun.

 

Aims:

·      Direct:    To reinforce the names and the order of the planets

·      Indirect:   Memory

·      Physical Skills: Running, stopping, and changing direction

 

Control Of Error: 

·      The instructor and the cards

 

Points of Interest: The large number of cards in the playing area and the difficulty of finding all the cards

  

The original individual lesson can be found here.

 

 

Planet Distance

Introduction:  This game is an impressionistic lesson on the distances of the planets from the Sun. The student will do a lot of running that will represent how far it would take to travel to get from the Sun to each planet. This lesson will create a lasting impression of the great distances between the planets through the effort exerted during the lesson. Because there is so much running involved, this will also give you plenty of time to observe your student(s) running gait to see if they are doing anything abnormal.

 

Materials:  A large open space (such as a gym or field)

                   

Prior Knowledge: Introduction to planets and solar system

 

Presentation 

• Begin with a quick conversation of distance. Ask the students to think how many miles their house is from the school. How many miles is it to their grandparents house? How many miles is it to one of the major coastal cities (LA or New York)? Explain to the students that some of those places are very far away and would take hours by plane or days by car. However, these distances are tiny compared to the distances of the planets from the Sun.

• Next introduce the concept of a kilometer. Most children are familiar with miles, but some may not have heard of kilometers. A popular example is 5k running events, which some students have may have actually done. A 5k is just a little more than a three-mile run. With that in mind, see if any of the kids can make a good guess as to how far one kilometer is compared to miles. The answer is about 2/3 of a mile (more exact is .62).

• The last conversion for the students to understand is kilometers to feet. One kilometer is about 3,280 feet.

• Now, explain to the students that the starting position of where they will begin running will represent the Sun. They are going to run the distances from the Sun to the different planets! Hopefully, some will say that is impossible, so explain that they are only going to have to run fraction of those distances. For every 100 million kilometers, they only have to run 1 kilometer.

• Use whatever large space you may have like a backyard, driveway, or even a public park with a track. For this example we are going to use 75 feet. Whatever setting you have, some division and conversion will need to happen so you can explain to the students how far they have to run for each planet (in feet).

• Here are the distances that the students will need to run in feet:

  • Mercury is 190 feet (2.5 lengths)

  • Venus is 354 feet (4.75 lengths)

  • Earth is 492 feet (6.5 lengths)

  • Mars is 748 feet (10 lengths)

  • Jupiter is 2552 feet (34 lengths)

  • Saturn is 4691 feet (62 lengths)

  • Uranus is 9416 feet (125 lengths)

  • Neptune is 14,763 feet (197 lengths)

• After the first four planets, the distances increase significantly. This lesson may have to be spread out for multiple days.

• After the run, explain to the student(s) that because the distances from the planets and the sun are so long, sometimes astronomers use a unit of measurement called an AU. This stands for astronomical unit, and one unit is the distance from the Sun to the Earth. Here are the planets listed in their astronomical units:

  • Mercury - 0.39

  • Venus – 0.72

  • Earth - 1

  • Mars – 1.52

  • Jupiter – 5.2

  • Saturn – 9.54

  • Uranus – 19.2

  • Neptune – 30.1

• Finally, the instructor can present the idea of a light year, which is used for measuring things outside of our solar system.

 

Aims:

Direct:    To reinforce the names of the planets and build appreciation for the distances between them

Indirect:   To learn about distance conversions

 

Physical Skills practiced:

Running (especially in watching running form and technique)

 

Control Of Error:  The instructor and the student(s) keeping track of the distance they have run

 

Points of Interest:

Common abnormal running patterns:

• Excessive leaning forward with certain steps may be weak gluteus muscle activation. Have the students try and run “tall.”

• Excessive leaning back with certain steps may be overly tight hamstrings

• Students may be over striding, or taking too big of steps when running

• If students are swinging one or both legs around as they run, this is a problem due to the hip adductors

• If students look like they are stomping, have them try and make contact with the ball of their foot when running

• If a student is toe walking or running, they may need to work on flexibility of the Achilles tendon to prevent unnecessary falls.

• Students should keep their arms forward, not going side to side when running.

 

The original individual lesson can be found here.

 

 

Planet Scale

 

Introduction: This is an impressionistic game that helps children understand planet size. This game uses basketball (or other spherical sports balls) and geometry to compare the sizes of planets in our solar system. Basketballs will represent either moons or planets, and each made basket will be added to the sum the sum total that it takes to create the planet. This game can be very exciting when a student finally builds one of the massive planets.

 

Materials: 

• If using a basketball hoop and basketballs

  • If there is one installed in a driveway or on a garage, that will work

• If you are using a large container (i.e. garbage can or 55-gallon container)

  • The player can throw something smaller like a tennis ball

• If space is very limited like a living room and laundry basket

  • The player can shoot bundled up socks or balled up piece of paper

 

 

Prior Knowledge: Introduction to planets and solar system

 

Presentation 

• ·      Begin with an explanation of congruence, similarity, and equivalence. To demonstrate congruence, use two identical balls and explain that these are the same size and shape; they are identical. Similarity requires the ball you will use and a smaller ball of the same basic shape (sphere). For the explanation of equivalence, find two things that have the same mass but are not the same shape.

• The student will start at the hoop or whatever target they are aiming at. 

• When the instructor says, “go,” the student(s) begin shooting their basketballs.  Once the basketball goes in, the child retrieves it and passes it to the next person in line (if there is one).  They then shoot the basketball until they score.

• Explain that the ball is going to be equivalent to the Earth’s moon. Every time they make a basket, they are creating the same mass as the moon.

• Mercury is equivalent to about three Earth moons.  Venus and Earth are each equivalent to about forty-nine moons.  Mars would be equivalent to about eight moons. 

• Once we get to Jupiter, take a break to explain to the students how many more moons this planet is going to take. Jupiter is equivalent to about 64,729 moons.  Saturn is equivalent to about 37,387 moons.  Uranus is equivalent to about 3,087 moons, and Neptune is equivalent to 2,827 moons.

• Because it would essentially be impossible for the student to complete 64,729 baskets in the time allotted for PE class or that their interest could take, the scale of the basketball needs to be changed from Earth moons to Earth’s.  This would change Jupiter to 1,321 baskets, Saturn to 763 baskets, and Uranus to 63 baskets, and finally Neptune to 57 baskets.

• The children will most likely not finish the whole solar system during the first lesson, so the game will be continued to the next P.E. session. 

• Once the task is complete, the teacher should give the students an extra challenge of making the equivalent baskets for the Sun.  It would approximately 1.3 million baskets to create the Sun!  This will be met with groans or wows, so the children would obviously not try to complete that challenge but appreciate how impossibly large the Sun is compared to planets in our solar system.

 

 Aims:

Direct:    To reinforce the names of the planets as well as create an understanding of their size

Indirect:   To learn the term equivalence, similarity, and congruence

 

Physical Skills practiced:

·      Holding and shooting a basketball

·      Throwing motions if they are not using a basketball but another type of sports ball

·      Running

 

Control Of Error:  The instructor and the student counting

 

Points of Interest: The number of baskets it takes to find equivalence to larger planets

You can find the original lesson here.

 

I will post more lessons next week, but in the meantime, I hope this helps you and your students. Please leave any comments or feedback; I would really appreciate it.