The main focus of these activities is on healthy lifestyles, which include healthy eating and physical activity. Help students make the connection between turning off the TV and other screens and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. We have drawn from a variety of strands of curriculum to show how physical activity can be incorporated into the classroom.
Health and Physical Education - ACTIVE PARTICIPATION
By the end of Grade 6, students will:
- explain how body image and self-esteem influence eating practices
Specific Expectations |
Activities |
Healthy Eating:
Determine the influence of various factors (e.g. the media, family traditions, allergies) on personal food choices, body image and self-esteem.
Describe the benefits of healthy eating for active living.
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Role Playing Skits:
See description below.
Benefits of Physical Activity:
See description below. |
Role Playing Skits
Divide students into groups and ask them to develop and perform short skits that illustrate pressures on youth to have a perfect body. After students perform their skits, discuss ways in which these pressures affect their self-esteem and ways to protect self-esteem by having a realistic body image. Have students identify the influence of TV on these unrealistic expectations.
Benefits of Physical Activity
As a class, brainstorm the benefits of active living under three headings: Social, Mental/Emotional, and Physical. Discuss the meanings of these headings before beginning the brainstorming activity. Write students’ ideas on the chalkboard. Continue with a discussion about active living and physical activity.
Following the discussion, divide the students into three teams lined up in rows at the back of the classroom. Make three copies of the Benefits of Physical Activity master sheet and cut out the benefit words. Place each set in a separate box at the front of the classroom. Provide each team with a copy of the Benefits of Physical Activity sheet. On “GO” the first person in each team speed walks to the front of the classroom and pulls a benefit out of their team box, and brings it back to their team. The team writes the benefit in the correct category on the worksheet. The next person in line continues the relay by speed walking to the front of the classroom. The game ends when all teams have completed their sheet. Have each group report to the class their responses for one of the three categories. Discuss responses. Refer to Answer Key.
MATH - DATA MANAGEMENT & PROBABILITY
By the end of Grade 5, students will:
- interpret displays of data and present the information using mathematical terms.
Specific Expectations |
Activities |
Collecting & Organizing Data:
Display data on graphs (e.g. line graphs, bar graphs, pictographs, and circle graphs) by hand and by using computer applications.
Analyzing Data:
Explain the choice of intervals used to construct a bar graph or the choice of symbols on a pictograph. |
Graph Construction:
Students will collect and organize data from their personal Turn-off the Screens involvement. Students will construct bar graphs by hand to display their data selecting appropriate intervals and labels. E.g. collect amount of time active before, during and after Turn-off the Screens Week.
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HOMEWORK
Emphasize to students that this is a fun and healthy activity as an alternative to TV watching and other screens.
Specific Expectations |
Activities |
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Physical Activity:
Participate vigorously in all aspects of the program (e.g. cross-country running, co-operative games). Describe the factors that motivate participation in daily physical activity (e.g. the influence of friends, enthusiasm for the outdoors) and begin to consider them when making their own choices of physical activities.
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Exercise Log:
Students will design an exercise log. The log will include a daily exercise and a little piece on healthy living for each day of the week. Encourage students to participate in the activities they have listed. Students could use their tips on the school announcements or give their logs to someone as a gift.
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Benefits of Physical Activity
Master Sheet
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MAKING FRIENDS |
LEARNING NEW ACTIVITIES |
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GETTING ALONG WITH OTHERS |
FEELING CONFIDENT |
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COOPERATING |
LEARNING TO MAKE DECISIONS |
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HAVING FUN |
HAVING FUN |
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LAUGHING |
RELAXING |
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HELPING OTHERS |
IMPROVING SELF CONTROL |
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BETTER HEALTH |
MORE STAMINA |
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STRONGER MUSCLES |
SLEEPING BETTER |
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IMPROVED SKILLS |
IMPROVED FITNESS |
Reprinted with permission from Getting There is Half the Fun, The Regional Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth, 1995.
Discover Healthy Eating! A Teacher's Resource for Grades 1 – 6, 1999