This is a picture of some of my athletes at Acceleration Minnesota. It is their first day of training with us and I asked them to read the warm-up that was posted on the wall. As you can see, they are reading the text on the page, but there are definitely some confused faces. While they are athletes and have been very physically active, the words on the page do not make sense. What you don't see is me helping them through the warm-up and showing them how to do each exercise correctly.
In physical education, stations are a great way to keep the kids active as well as incorporate literacy in my classroom. One of the most important things about stations is that you show the kids what each station is so they have an idea of what they are doing. At each station, there should still be a written explanation so they can refer to it and make sure everyone knows what is going on at that particular station. If someone in the group doesn't remember what to do, they can either read the directions, or someone else in the group can explain it to them in their own words. This explanation could be verbal or could be a demonstration, both, which are parts of literacy.
Stations encompass a big part of literacy including ready, speaking, and listening. Sometimes it is helpful when student "teach" each other because they are able to use their own schema to explain what is desired by the teacher. There are times where some students will pick up on an exercise right away while others may struggle. This gives the students who understand the opportunity to show it through teaching the students who don’t understand it.
While literacy can be found as text on a piece of paper, it is definitely more than just that. In physical education, we see literacy in many different forms. Following directions shows me as a teacher that they were listening or reading and understanding what was being asked. Students don't always realize they are using literacy in physical education because they aren't necessarily reading a book or a study guide. When students are working together in a group, they are communicating and building literacy skills. For me, as a teacher, stations with posted directions will be a great way to incorporate literacy into my lesson without taking time away from the actual physical activity.
First of all, I really like this picture. It's a good one.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I appreciate the effort that you put into providing multiple avenues for students to understand the task that they are expected to do. You have the visual (the written directions), the verbal (you explaining the directions), and the kinesthetic (you showing the students the exercise, and then having them do it themselves). Knowing how to move one's body in order to communicate or comprehend is certainly a form of literacy, and I like to see that you give students every opportunity to become literate in your content area.
I wonder if there's an opportunity to add "graphic" literacy to your instructions. Your first Photovoice posting showed a clipboard with a basketball play mapped out in lines and x's. The directions in the photo above are totally letter-based--would a graphic images, showing each step of the directions, have helped your players understand what you wanted them to do?
ReplyDeleteMy questions raised another idea for me; with younger students in P.E., it might be an interesting assessment to have the kids draw pictures of an instruction in action. For example, if you wrote at one station, "Dribble to half court, then pass to the person standing at the top of they key", you could follow up, maybe have a "closing moment" in class, by having kids draw a picture of what they did at each station. Just a thought . . . As Jenna pointed out, in P.E. (and probably in Art) kids listen and/or read, then practice what was explained. This sequence seems like an example of a discipline-specific literacy.
This post reminded me of a couple of things about literacy. This kind of activity where groups work together on an activity at statons is a great way to introduce different forms of literacy in all of the subject areas. It allows students to get up and move around if they are in a more traditional classroom setting, work together listening and speaking to one another, and read and interpret directions.
ReplyDeleteWhat I really liked about this post is how you talked about stations giving the students the opportunity to help one another do the task. I feel that this is not only a good way to assess the students' learning, it is also a great way for students to learn. I think in a way this goes along with a philosophy of education where students get to learn by doing. Sometimes it is scary to do an assignment when you aren't sure you know what the teacher is asking for, but sometimes students can learn more from having to figure things out on their own. Having to do an activity like this allows students to make connections for themselves between what they have learned and how they can apply it. This applies to being literate in school because a large part of learning is knowing how to apply what is learned in the classroom and being able to communicate our understanding to others.
I really enjoyed what you said about setting up stations for students in order to keep your students engaged. Also, the teacher going through them all before her students get started is important for understanding (as you mentioned). I think what's great about this is that it can be used for any content area and I've done similar things in most. One of my favorite times in high school French was when we were studying the Magrheb and my teacher had 5 stations set up that were focused on the 5 senses and all having to do with that specific region. Even though she went through all of the stations with us before we started, there were directions written (in French, of course) for each. It's fun for your students and it encourages different forms of literacy as well.
ReplyDeleteVerbal and Nonverbal communication both play integral roles in developing literacy in the classroom and in the gym. Learning by watching is a practice of literacy when literacy encompasses reading social situations, interactions between people, body movements, facial expressions, and the list goes on. Thus, building various types of communication skills between students is an integral part of literacy development. When communication is fostered, the classroom transforms into a safe cohesive group where students take ownership over their learning by collaborating with their peers.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you discuss how students teaching each other in their own "language" based upon similar schemas can be more effective than the teacher's direct instruction. Student group work, which gives students opportunities to "teach" enables the development of critical thinking skills. Using stations in the classroom is a great way to incorporate this group work while giving student the added benefit of moving around. The general support of stations held by our peers provides further evidence that project based group work in the classroom is a highly effective practice in developing literacy.