Discover Gymnastics Activity Book Overview of Discover Gymnastics The Discover Gymnastics Program is an educational initiative brought to you by Gymnastics Ontario. The program offers a number of learning and interactive opportunities based on a group of student’s attendance at a gymnastics event. Working independently or as part of a small group, students will engage in learning experiences designed to meet a number of Language expectations found in the junior and intermediate Ontario curriculum document. Students will work with the enclosed article, There’s a lot of life for you in Gymnastics, in order to complete a variety of before, during, and after reading strategies. Students will gain knowledge on the five disciplines of gymnastics, the history of the sport, as well as character traits of high level athletes and their supportive sport community. Students will access information from within the resource package, as well as those from relevant websites in order to support learning experiences. Teachers will find activity descriptions of the twelve lessons and the accompanying line masters and extension activities required for each activity within the unit. Teachers should assess students on a daily basis using conferencing, exit slips, student observation, and the Ontario Language Curriculum Achievement Chart. Message from Gymnastics Ontario Gymnastics is a foundation for all physical activity and sport. Participants learn the ABC’s of Athleticism – Agility, Balance, Coordination and Speed. It assists in developing social and emotional abilities which carry over into all aspects of life. Gymnastics is the perfect activity for developing physical literacy. It is our hope that this activity book coupled with your attendance at the event will spark an interest in learning more about what gymnastics has to offer. Discover Gymnastics Activity Book 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A special thank you to Heather Gardner, Program Effectiveness Consultant for the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board for creating this resource and for continuing to be a champion helping to promote the benefits of participation in this fundamental activity. Thanks also to Chris Mitruk of CMitruk Design for his creativity in the design of the cover for this resource. The Schools Program Activity Book is published by Gymnastics Ontario Copyright © 2009 by Gymnastics Ontario. Discover Gymnastics Activity Book 2 Activity Book Contents Activity Page Activity Description 4-5 There's a lot of life for you in Gymnastics 6-8 Anticipation Guide 9 Skimming and Scanning 10 Word Speculation 11 Word Study Word Search 12 Debate It! 13 Provincial and Territorial Flags 14 Dear Mayor Persuasive Letter 15 Pass it on! 16 Pass it on! Gallery Walk 17 Search the Net 18 Jigsaw Internet Search 19 Greek Word Scramble 20 Greek Word Scramble Solution 21 Gym Mat Brainstorming 22 Three Letter Tile Scramble 23 Three Letter Tile Scramble Solution 24 Q-Chart 25 Dice Template 26 Character Sketch 27 Exit Slips 28 Discover Gymnastics Activity Book 3 Activity Description Anticipation Guide: Before students read the article, There’s a lot of life for you in Gymnastics, have students individually complete the Anticipation Guide based on their own thoughts and opinions. Students will circle “Agree” or “Disagree” beside each statement under the heading “Before Reading.” Have students share their thoughts with the whole class. Record some of the key points made during the discussion, on the board. Following the class discussion of these statements, students will read the article There’s a lot of life for you in Gymnastics. Have students jot down their thoughts next to the corresponding statement on the anticipation guide. Following the reading, have students revisit their anticipation guide and complete the after reading section. Repeat the above class discussion looking for changes in the students’ thoughts/opinions. Skimming and Scanning: Using the article, There’s a lot of life for you in Gymnastics and the handout Skimming and Scanning engage students in recording their First Impressions and creating Fast Facts from the information they have read. Have students share their First Impressions and Fast Facts with a partner to determine what they believe will be important points or questions. Students record these ideas under the Final Thoughts column. As a class, students’ share what information they recorded as their Final Thoughts. Word Study: Using the article, There’s a lot of life for you in Gymnastics, have students skim and scan the text highlighting new or unfamiliar words. Working in pairs, have students create a list of 10 new or unfamiliar words. Using the handout Word Speculation, have students speculate the meaning of their words then research the word to discover its definition. Use words and definitions on card stock to create a gymnastics word wall. Extension: Have students complete the Word Study Word Search using their new gymnastics words. Students can create their own word search to share using there 10 identified new or unfamiliar words. Debate It!: In groups of 5, students will research the topic of whether children should be encouraged to compete as athletes at the national and international levels. They will identify what the advantages or disadvantages of training and competing at a young age are and record their thoughts on the Debate It! template. Students will present in a tag team debate format. Each team will represent one side of the question. Each team has a set amount of time (5 minutes) to present its point of view. When it's time for the team to state its point of view, one speaker from the team takes the floor. That speaker can speak for no more than 1 minute, and must "tag" another member of the team to pick up the argument before his or her minute is up. Following both teams initial sharing, each team will be give 3 minutes for a rebuttal, using the same “tag” format. Taking a Look At Our City: Challenge students prior knowledge by having them complete the Provincial and Territorial Flags identification handout. Working in small groups (13 group’s total) assign each group one province or territory to research. Students are to identify what resources are available to support Olympic leveled athletes within that province or territory. Introduce this topic to the class by generating a list of Olympic sports and what facilities those sport might require. Using the Dear Mayor Persuasive Letter template, write a persuasive letter to the mayor of your hometown making recommendations or improvements to the city in order to support high level athletes. Pass It On!: In groups of eight, assign each group one section of the article, There’s a lot of life for you in Gymnastics (Introduction, Women’s Artistic, Rhythmic, Aerobic, Trampoline, Power Tumbling, Men’s Artistic, and Conclusion). As a group, student’s read their section and together use words and pictures to create a poster on what the main topics from the section are. Students will display their posters to be viewed by the other students in the class. While students are viewing each Discover Gymnastics Activity Book 4 others work in rotation, have them complete the Pass it on! Gallery Walk handout where they will attempt to identify the main ideas of their classmate’s posters. Following the gallery walk have groups present their poster, stating the main ideas, allowing their classmates an opportunity to modify their Gallery Walk handout. Search the Net: Students will work in pairs to complete the Search the Net handout. Have partners share findings with another pair. Discuss with the class which items were easy and which were challenging to find. Ask students to suggest which features of the website were helpful and/or not very helpful and which should be added. Ask students to evaluate the usefulness of the website from the perspective of athletes, coaches, or a classroom teacher. Jigsaw Internet Search: Individually, students will perform an internet search investigating the history of gymnastics. Students will take note of key and interesting facts related to gymnastics of Greek times and gymnastics today. Students will record similarities and differences in a Venn Diagram on the Jigsaw Internet Search handout. Students will share their research in small groups and in a discussion with the whole class. Extension: Have students complete the Greek Word Scramble handout decoding traditional Greek letters to reveal a fun gymnastics message. Gym Mat Brainstorming: As a class lead a discussion on how certain levels of fitness can lead to a healthy active lifestyle. In groups of four, have students each share their thoughts around the quality of life that an active life will lead to. Using the Gym Mat Brainstorming template, have students take point form notes of the information shared by their classmates. Once each classmate has shared an idea, each student will take turns asking each other one question as it relates to the information they shared. Students may use the Q-Chart handout for support. Students will continue to take point form notes of their classmate’s answers. Once the entire group has shared and answered questions, the group will create one response to the question of how fitness leads to a healthy active lifestyle. Groups will share their responses with the class. Extension: Students complete the Three Letter Tile Scramble handout to decode a message of fun and fitness. On a Roll with Gymnastics: Using the Q-Chart, have students generate seven higher level thinking questions based on previous research and the article, There’s a lot of life for you in Gymnastics. Students will write their seven questions onto the Dice Template and using scissors and glue/tape, each student will create their own dice. Working with a partner, have students alternate rolling each others dice and answering each others questions.