ALEX Learning Activity

This is an instant activity for classes to engage in full body warm up. The activity is geared for students to work cooperatively while warming up for the main lesson for the day. This is an easy set up to use and move out of the way for other class activities. The activity card can be displayed on a screen or printed to give each group. The only set up needed is the activity card and a deck of cards. 

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit. 

Skill: I will demonstrate fitness activities with proper form and attention personal space and safety.

Personal & Social Responsibility: I will work in a small group to complete my personal workout while cooperating with and supporting classmates.

The students will work safely and cooperatively with peers to complete exercises. 

The students will perform total body (upper body, lower body, and core) workout properly warming up for the daily activity. 

Instructions for activity.

1. Students will be placed in groups of four to six. Each group will need an activity card (printed card or displayed on the screen) and a deck of cards stacked and facing down.

2. Students will take turns flipping a card face up from the top of the deck. The card facing up will determine what exercise the group will perform. Students will compare the suit and number on the card facing up to the activity card. The suit of the card determines the exercise and the number on the card will determine the repetitions completed of the exercise. Each face card (A, K, Q, J) will represent 10 repetitions a specific exercise. For example, if the student flips over the 7 of hearts, the group would perform 7 scissor jumps. If the student flips over any K (King) the group would complete 10 crab walk steps.

3. Once each student in the group has completed the exercise, the next student will flip over the next card from the deck and the activity continues.  

Students can flip one card at a time or flip a specific number (determined by the teacher) over each time. The activity can be done for an allotted time or until each group completes the deck of cards.

Observation of students performing each exercise with proper form and attention to safety.

Observation of students working cooperatively.

Ask students to give positive feedback to peers and rate their cooperative skills during this activity.

Make a copy of the Google Doc shared for this activity. Once you have a copy in Google Docs, modifications to the exercises can be made specifically for a class. Once the list is as the teacher prefers, make enough copies for as many groups for each class. I personally laminate my copies so the sheets can be used more than once. If the document can be projected to the class, copies will not be needed. 

It is important that students working together to perform the exercises listed have been taught each exercise and have good knowledge of the correct form. Students need to be able to recognize the different suites in a deck of cards and what are face cards.

Once the teacher has enough copies of the document or a way to display to the class along with a deck of cards for each group the lesson is ready to implement.

If adding any of the variations, knowledge of that content will be needed prior to activity for the class.

If adding any of the following variations, please know it would increase the COS standards being covered in that class and knowledge of that content will be needed prior to activity for the class.

• Upper-grade levels could identify within their group the major muscle being used with each exercise as it is being performed. 
• Add available technology for students to monitor heart rate during activity and connect to COS standards for pacing heart rate, aerobic, and anaerobic exercise.
• Add a discussion about skill and health-related components for students to compare each fitness activity to either skill or health-related component of physical fitness as related to the COS standards