Lesson 1: Balance

1st Grade
This balance lesson was the first in a sequence of lessons focused around
balance for a first grade physical education classroom. Upon entering the room
students were given a sticker with one of three animals, which was later used to
determine groups for the day. At the start of class students engage in a warm-up
activity (The Floor is Lava) which involves students jumping from poly-dot to
poly-dot in order to cross a segmented portion of the room. Students must avoid
touching the floor because it is hot lava. After the warm-up, students are asked to
find the picture of the animal that matches their sticker, dividing students equally
into three different groups at a designated area. Next the anticipatory set is
presented, making use of a Prezi and examples of animals and popular humans to
explain the importance of balance in our lives. Once the anticipatory set is complete
students engage in a set of sequential activities as a group; balance beams, walking
the perimeter of taped shapes on the floor, and having students hold various
balanced poses while counting from 1 to 10. Prior to each individual activity the
activity was explained and demonstrated before then checking for understanding.
After each individual activity the whole class returns to the originally designated
group area to review the importance of the activity and to briefly reflect upon the
activity. At the conclusion of all three practice activities, the whole class engages in a
culminating activity game of Simon Says where the instructor asks for various
balanced poses/positions and the students attempted mimic the movement. After
the culminating activity the class briefly reviewed the importance of balance in our
lives and how we use balance every day.
Overall the lesson went very well in regards to checking for understanding,
providing grade-level appropriate activities and proper demonstrations, and making
use of good classroom management techniques (particularly repeated use of the
animal groups). Peers and student responses during the class indicate that the
activities worked very well to educate and provide practice for balance at the first
grade level. However, several aspects of the lesson could be improved upon in
future presentations of this content. One particularly strong area of weakness,
which was agreed upon by both peers and the instructors, was the lack of incentives
and clear objectives for the class. Our peers pointed out in their reviews that the
students must have the motivation to engage in the activity, a point that we hope to
accommodate in future lessons. The instructors, peers, and our professor also
realized that safety was an issue in both the warm-up and balance beam activities
due to the slipperiness of the poly-dots and the lack of spotters at the end of the
balance beams.
Based off of the feedback seen from peers, our instructor, and our own
observations, there are several key strengths and weaknesses that should be
considered for future lessons. It is obvious that one of our greatest strengths is the
solid age-appropriateness/development of the lesson activities and classroom
management as a whole. Although we can of course improve this area further, the

Joshua P. Barnhart

October 15, 2014

Lesson Reflection

use of classroom animal groups and sequenced activities worked very well in our
lesson. However, two of our greatest weaknesses in this lesson were the lack of
objectives/incentives for students, and making more efficient use of having three
instructors teaching one lesson. It was typical for only one instructor to lead each
segment of the lesson, and it would be better if the instructors worked
simultaneously to better reach a wider range of students.
For our next teaching episode we hope to take into consideration the
comments and suggestions provided by our peers, professor, and observations in
order to improve upon our teaching abilities. A primary goal for future lesson is to
ensure that we clearly identify and visible post our lesson and unit goals at the
beginning of the lesson and refer to them frequently throughout the lesson. In
addition to visibly referencing our goals and objectives, we also need to provide a
tangible incentive for our students to become motivated in the activities. The means
of incentive could be anything from a competition based, a reward system, or just a
personal challenge from the teacher to the students. Lastly, we should better make
use of having three teachers in the classroom during the lesson through the
continued involvement of all three teachers throughout each and every activity.
Instead of having one instructor lead each activity, we should accommodate the
lesson to incorporate leadership from all three instructors as seamlessly as possible.

Joshua P. Barnhart

October 15, 2014

Lesson Reflection