ABC for Fitness

The 3 Components of an Activity Burst

Managing Activity Bursts and the Physically Active Classroom

Step One

Step Two

Planning for Activity Bursts

Warm-up:

Core Activity:

• Aerobic: increase breathing & heart rate

Examples of possible movements

Little space is required

• Low-intensity or low-speed
• Gets blood flowing/stretches muscles
• Prepares for more intense activity

Time Out!

Strength activity examples

Example stretches

Hop scotch Squats

Bear walk Arm circles

Squat thrusts Star Jumps

Lunges

• Be considerate of other classrooms
• Arrange space for safe movement
• Create a structured environment
• Provide appropriate supervision
• Use common sense
• Stay alert to ensure safety
• Use classroom management techniques
• Provide access to fluids (water, etc.)

Hamstrings Triceps

Quadriceps Neck

Back Calves

Aerobic activities examples

Light aerobic activity examples

Walking Arm circles

Skip Jump in place

Jog Walk quickly

Slide Hop on 1 foot

Gallop Dance to music

Taking a Step in the Right Direction

Step Three

Flexibility within this Framework: Timing of Activity Burst Components

Managing Activity Bursts

Making Room for Activity Bursts in the Classroom

Click on the different days on this calendar to view activity burst videos.

Cool-down:

Time the length of each component based on:

• Class's overall levels of fitness & behavior
• Total time planned for the activity burst

• Set the tone for energetic fun activity
• Recognize that some noise is normal
• Establish routines & standards for behavior
• Transition back to learning

Tip: Save these videos as favorites on your computer and refer back to them at any time.

You can always use them in the classroom to guide activity bursts on those days you need a little extra inspiration!

We Can Help Make a Difference

Increasing Physical Activity Opportunities in Schools: Making The Case

• Gradual slow down
• Helps return heart rate/ breathing to normal
• Transition - helps students calm down and get ready to learn

By modeling and promoting healthy lifestyles

What Role Can Schools Play?

Stretching or low intensity activity

M

T

W

Th

F

Sat

Sun

Advantages of Physical Activity

Promote healthy lifestyles by addressing:

• Nutrition knowledge
• Food choices
• Physical activity

Show children and parents how to navigate:

• Modern food environment
• Current physical activity environment

THANK YOU!

• We hope you enjoyed this training session and have learned useful ways to incorporate more physical activity into your classroom.

• Most importantly, we hope that you and your students have fun in the process!

A Portrait of Childhood Obesity

Physically active children are more likely to remain active throughout adulthood

S

A

M

P

L

E

V

I

D

E

O

S

Different Types of Activity Bursts

Core Activity

Great Job!

The 12 Days of Fitness

What Can We Expect as a Result...

of Offering Physical Activity in the School Setting?

Let's Try an Activity Burst of Our Own*!

Activity "Bursts of Imagination"

(Use creativity to move in the classroom)

Activity "Bursts of Imagination"

(Use creativity in the classroom)

Perform the corresponding activities while singing (in your head) "The 12 days of Christmas":

"On the 12 days of fitness, my teacher gave to me..."

12 jumping jacks 6 star jumps

11 raise the roofs 5 hula hoops

10 knee lifts 4 hopscotch steps

9 arm circles 3 side slides

8 jogs in place 2 lunges

7 jumping ropes And us all standing still in

1 place

Advanced Activity Bursts

(Use combined sets of movements)

Examples:

Examples Continued:

Example: ABC for Fitness Chant

*Remember that all exercises should be modified to fit individual needs

Encourage students to stay physically active during the weekend with their families

1. Basic Activity Bursts

Warm-up / single core activity / cool-down

2. Advanced Activity Bursts

Warm-up / combination of core activities / cool-down

3. Activity "Bursts of Imagination"

Warm-up / core activity / cool-down

Uses an imaginative activity for at least 1 of these components

4. Activity Bursts for Learning and Fitness

Warm-up / learning-related core activity / cool-down

"As If" (Core activity)

• Jog in place as if a big scary bear is chasing you
• Walk forward as if you're walking through chocolate pudding
• Jump in place as if you are popcorn popping
• Reach up as if grabbing balloons out of the air
• March in place and play the drums as if you're in a marching band
• Paint as if the paint brush is attached to your head
• Swim as if you are in a giant pool of jello
• Move your feet on the floor as if you are ice skating
• Shake your body as if you are a wet dog

Directions:

1. Display the words of "the chant" on a poster at the front of the room, or write it on a board

2. Have the students start by reciting the ABC for Fitness chant

3. As students go through each letter, have them act out the activity that accompanies each letter

Bursts to the Beat

Using music, if school policy allows

• Use faster-paced music for the core activity
• If desired, use slower-paced music as part of a cool-down

Variations

• Use music to accompany dances, marches, musical plays, or imaginative physical activity (e.g., moving like bees to the "Flight of the Bumblebee")
• Incorporate music into your lesson plans
• Move to the sound of a classical music selection
• Use world music to introduce lessons about other culture

Warm-up

Cool-down

• Encouraging students to participate in physical activity in the classroom will lead to students becoming more focused and ready to learn

• This increase in physical activity will ensure higher standardized test scores and more confident, healthy, and well-rounded learners

Watch Your Breath

1. Upper Back/ Shoulder Stretch

ABC for Fitness Chant

"ABC for Fitness is easy to see how academics and fitness can benefit me! Now just you, not just me, but all of us, you see!"

A is for Arm Circles F is for Flap Our Arms

B is for Bounce G is for Gallop

C is for Clap H is for Hop

D is for Dance I is for Inhale

E is for Energize J is for Jumping Jacks

K ......(See Manual)

As your Activity Burst comes to an end, pay attention to the flow of your breath as you inhale and exhale. Take a moment to reconnect with the breath and settle back into your natural breathing pattern.

3. Arm Circles

2. Triceps Stretch

SOURCE: Energizers Classroom-Based Physical Activities, NC Department of Public Instruction

Tip: Stretch each side 2 to 3 times

Activity "Bursts of Imagination"

Advanced Activity Bursts

(Use combined sets of movements)

Activity Bursts for Learning & Fitness

Examples:

Example: Sports Galore

Physically Active Learning = Kinesthetic Learning = "Learning by Doing"

Copy This (Warm-up)

• One or more people can be leaders, including the teacher and/or students
• The leader will create a series of movements that the class will mimic

Slow Motion (Cool-down)

• Class moves around the room or stays in place, moving as slowly as possible
• Students over-accentuate their movement

Visualization (Cool-down)

• Students close their eyes and imagine themselves in a relaxed state
• You can give them cues to help them relax

Call out sports skills for students to mimic for at least 10-15 seconds

Examples can include:

Shooting a jump shot

Running through tires

Batting a baseball

Serving a tennis ball

Spiking a volleyball

Throwing a football

Juggling a soccer ball

Shooting an arrow

Swimming underwater

• Involves the whole body in actions that allow the student to experience the concepts being taught

• Example: Rotating in a clockwise direction
• Example: Pretending to follow the route of Lewis & Clark

• Infuses fun into academic learning

Frequently Asked Questions

SOURCE: Energizers Classroom-Based Physical Activities, NC Dept. of Public Instruction

Will This Program Take Away from Classroom Learning Time?

ABC for Fitness:

A Resource for Schools

What is an "Activity Burst"?

No

• It converts time spent getting students to settle down into structured physical activity

No

• School-based physical activity has not been found to compromise academic performance or standardized test scores

Mission

• A short bout of physical activity that is integrated into classroom over the school day
• The number and length of activity bursts can be tailored to meet the needs/schedules of teachers. For example:

• Can be modified to fit the needs of those at any level of physical fitness

6 activity bursts x 5 minutes = 30 minutes

5 activity bursts x 6 minutes = 30 minutes

3 activity bursts x 10 minutes = 30 minutes

What is ABC for Fitness?

The mission of ABC for Fitness is to....

• Provide a fun, simple, engaging, no-cost, effective program for classroom activity
• Promote health and fitness
• Help prevent childhood obesity and related health conditions
• Enhance concentration and behavior
• Help optimize academic performance in the classroom

• ABC = Activity Bursts in the Classroom

• A fun, simple program for elementary school age children that was designed with the help of educators, a PE consultant, and a PE teacher

• Integrates short bouts of physical activity into the school day

• Can add up to 30 additional minutes of daily physical activity

Why Offer Activity Bursts?

David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP

Director, Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center at Griffin Hospital

Creator, ABC for Fitness Program

Is It Meant to Replace Physical Education Classes?

Addressing Potential Challenges

• Facilitate hands-on learning

• Contribute to overall fitness

• Help students channel energy and get back on task

• Encourage constructive movement and behavior

• Use creativity to move in the classroom

• Help increase learning and retention

• Help students understand how their bodies move in relationship to the world around them

Implementation Tips

Feedback

No

• ABC for Fitness should supplement PE classes, not replace them

• Classroom and PE teachers can collaborate to offer physical activity in their respective settings, in ways that complement rather than compete

• Find out what your students think about the program

Getting Students Acclimated

The ABC for Fitness Teacher Manual is Available Free of Charge

• Embed into the daily routine
• Teach students key components
• What they are for
• Why they are important
• Consider classroom management
• Create ABC rules
• Establish ABC spaces
• Set up several "activity stations" around the classroom for smaller group activity
• Encourage students to wear appropriate attire
• Set an example by wearing appropriate attire yourself

Lesson Plans for Active Learning

Final Suggestions

• Keep it fresh
• Change the pace
• Add variety
• Use music
• Embed themes
• Share ideas with other teachers
• Keep a log to remind yourself
• Having students select and lead activity bursts is motivating
• If you are uncomfortable modeling certain exercises for students, use the provided video resources to lead the bursts (located at the end of this presentation)
• Collaborate with others: school nurses, PE teachers, etc.

Additional Resources

Program Enhancements

For more helpful resources or to receive weekly tips, register with the following:

Can be download from:

http://davidkatzmd.com/abcforfitness.aspx

Technology

JAM (Just-a-Minute) School Program

• http://www.jamschoolprogram.com/

GoNoodle

• https://www.gonoodle.com/

FitDeck Jr. Cards

• Pedometers/step counters
• Video fitness games
• Wii Fitness
• Dance Dance Revolution

Activity Break Videos

• We will now share some examples of activity burst videos
• Save them for inspiration or as a way to lead activity bursts for you in class
• You can even make your own videos like these teachers from the Ansonia Public Schools (Connecticut) did using a smart phone:

https://fitdeck.com/

Science or Health

Social Studies

Math

Music

Language Arts

Social Studies: American History

The Cardiovascular System

Calculating Distances

Rhythm & Instruments

Example: Living History

• Select a history lesson that you plan to teach. Decide how to relate it to an opportunity for students to act out the lesson in a memorable way, while allowing them to be physically active.
• Review the history lesson with the class.
• Give students the opportunity to physically act out what the people in the history lesson would have experienced.

Example: In a heartbeat

Example: Inches, Feet, and Yards

Example: Marching Band

Prepositions

Geography (The 50 States)

Verbs

Try This Example:

Example: Impersonate the state

Pony Express

• Ride on horseback to the first stop on the mail delivery route
• Change horses/riders at this stop
• Move on to the next stop
• Deliver a large sack of mail at the final destination

Example: Over, Under, Around, & Through

• Explain how the heart works
• Teach students how to count their pulse
• Take pulse before / after an activity burst

Example: Story Tell

• Collect information on your state or another state. Look for activities unique to that state that may be familiar to your students.
• Create a list of activities that the students can physically act out.

• Have students pretend they're in a marching band.
• Students march in place while pretending to play the instrument they've selected.
• When the song begins the students will "play" their instruments while marching for about 4 to 5 minutes.

Directions:

1. The teacher and/or students read or create a story that involves movement.

2. After the story is created, the teacher and/or students read the story.

Try These Examples

Directions:

1. To help demonstrate the concept of prepositions, choose a set of activities during which students will go over, under, around, and through imaginary or real objects.

2. Lead the line of students around the room, following this pattern for at least 30 seconds each.

• March across the Golden Gate Bridge
• Surf in the Pacific Ocean
• Climb up a Redwood Tree
• Pretend you're an actor and wave to all your fans
• Stomp the grapes / pick the oranges
• Ski on the Sierra Nevadas
• Climb Mount Whitney
• Crawl through the Death Valley Desert

• Start with feet side by side
• Move 1 set of toes ahead = "inches"
• Place 1 foot in front of the other = "feet"
• 1 giant step forward or backward = "yard"
• Call out different measurements:
• E.g. Move forward 2 feet, back 5 inches, sideways 1 yard
• Have all students move in the same direction
• Jump and stretch between measurements for at least 30 seconds

Try This Example

Try These Examples:

Social Studies: Geography

"John pulled out his chair, sat down and began to eat".

The students simulate pulling out the chair, sitting down, pretending to eat.

Energizers Classroom-Based Physical Activities, NC Dept. of Public Instruction

Over:

• A steep mountain
• A wiggly bridge

Under

• A big dog
• A colorful streamer

Around

• A dirty trash can
• A sleeping giant

Through

• A haunted house
• A sea of Jell-o

Example: Compass Points

Energizers Classroom-Based Physical Activities, NC Dept. of Public Instruction

Marvin Christley, PE Teacher, New Haven Public Schools

• Show the class how a compass works
• Explain the concepts of North, East, South, and West, and their variations (NE, NW, SE, SW)
• Arrange the students so each one is facing you, and has enough directions to move in all 4 directions from a starting point
• Call out various directions
• Students face that direction, jump, and return to the starting point

Brain Breaks, Michigan Department of Education

Energizers Classroom-Based Physical Activities, NC Dept. of Public Instruction

Teacher Training Session

Presented by:

The Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center

http://www.yalegriffinprc.org/