Central CT State University Physical Education Lesson Plan

Created by: Brendan Elliott Date: 3/24/17

Unit topic: Cooperative Games

Key skill(s) or concept(s) for this lesson: The use of non-verbal communication to achieve a goal

Grade level: 4

Lesson #: 1

Specific provisions for safety: Give students an understanding of what non-verbal

communication is and how it is used

Equipment needed: Yarn Balls

References:
Learning Nat'l Com. Objectives Assessment Strategies When?
Domain Stand Core
.
SWBAT demonstrate proper technique of a toss Teacher observation of cues
Psychomotor

IA
by facing their target, stepping with opposite Facing target.
foot, using a pendulum arm motion and Step with opposite LF
1 following through to the sky most of the time foot.
during the introduction activity as noted by Pendulum arm CA
teacher observation.
SWBAT demonstrate an understanding of non- motion.
Teacher Q+A
Cognitive

IA
verbal communication by answering teacher What is non-verbal
questions correctly throughout the lesson and communication? LF
2 during closure as noted by teacher Q+A. What types of non-
verbal CA
SWBAT demonstrate positive social behavior by Student body language,
Affective

IA
cooperating with their peers non-verbally student communication with
throughout the lesson as noted by teacher peers (no put downs, LF
4 observation. negative language).
CA

Initiation: Good morning everyone! With your thumb show me how you are doing today. (Up-
good, Middle- okay, Down- not good). If your thumb is down then I hope we can make your day
a little better. Today we are going to be doing some cooperative games. Can everyone turn to a
partner and talk about what cooperation is or what it looks like? (Listening, communicating,
teamwork, etc.) Great! For today we are going to be using a type of communication called non-
verbal. Non-verbal communication is communicating with someone without talking. That means
you use hand signals, head signals or maybe facial expressions. We use this type of
communication every day and today we are going to use it to complete some tasks. Who is ready
to get started? Awesome!

Introductory Activity

1
 Central CT State University Physical Education Lesson Plan

(Time allotted- 5-10 minutes)

Description of learning tasks: 1) Organizational diagram(s):

Students will be in two small groups.
The groups will be given a ball (yarn or other
soft ball).
Teach students ways to communicate non-
verbally (finger point, head nod, eye contact).
The groups must pass the ball throughout their
= Small group
group so that each member has a chance to
touch the ball.
The students must pass the ball between their
2) Instructional cues:
groups without speaking. Non-verbal communication
They must use non-verbal cues to pass the ball Pass the ball
amongst their group and ensure that each group Each person must get the ball
Finger point
member has the chance to receive the ball.
Head nod

3) Questions to ask:
What types of non-verbal communication did
you use to pass the ball between your groups?
How did you know if someone had not received
the ball yet?
Was this a difficult task? Why?

Differentiated Instruction:
Simplified: Tell students to raise their hand if they have not received the ball and then
put it down once they have to simplify the task of knowing which students have/have not
touched the ball yet.

Challenge: Make the group even larger.

Accommodation: Adapting for Special Needs

If a student has a visual impairment give them a student partner to be with.

Lesson Focus
(Time allotted- 10-15 minutes)

Description of learning tasks: 1) Organizational diagram(s):

Get students into a circle.
Select one student to leave the circle and go X
away from the circle where they cannot hear

2
 Central CT State University Physical Education Lesson Plan

the group talking.

With the students in the circle come up with a
task that you want the student who left the
circle to complete (i.e. grab a basketball and
dribble it or do a jumping jack).
Once the group has come up with a task invite
the student who left the area to come back.
The student who comes back then moves
around doing different things.
The students in the group clap to let the student
know if they are getting closer to completing
the task (no clap = not close, soft clap = going
in the right direction, loud clap = getting very
close, constant clap = task completed).
Teach the students why clapping is a form of
non-verbal communication.
X Student
= Circle of students
2) Instructional cues:
Clap differently to give different information
No clap = not close
Soft clap = going in right direction
Loud clap = getting very close
Loud, consistent clap = completed task
3) Questions to ask:
How did we help our friend complete the task
they were supposed to?
How well did it work? (1-10)
What can we do for it to work better?

Differentiated Instruction:
Simplified: Give the student on the outside simpler challenges

Challenge: Give the student on the outside more difficult challenges

Accommodation: Adapting for Special Needs

If a student has a hearing impairment and cannot hear the clapping, then have students in
the circle use non-verbal cues of thumbs up, middle or down for the student to visually
see their progress/

Culminating Activity
(Time allotted- 10-15 minutes)

Description of learning tasks: 1) Organizational diagram(s):

Put students into small groups (4-6). X X X X X X
Tell students that this is another activity where
they need to use non-verbal cues. X X X X X X
The non-verbal cues can be a variety of
different things (discuss with students some
other non-verbal cues they can use to
communicate. X X X X X X
Re-emphasize that they need to complete this
task without talking to one another. X X X X X X
Tell students that you are going to give them a
shape to create and they are going to have to
X - Students

3
 Central CT State University Physical Education Lesson Plan

create that shape with their bodies by using 2) Instructional cues:

non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication
After a couple times, give students a goal to Communicate without talking
accomplish.
Go further by putting the students into two 3) Questions to ask:
larger groups. Then go even further and make What types of non-verbal communication did
one large group. you use?
Talk to students about the activity. What was difficult about this challenge?
Was it more difficult when you became a large
group? Why?

Differentiated Instruction:
Simplified: Give the students simple shapes to create and keep them in small groups

Challenge: Put them into large group quicker and give them tougher shapes to create

Accommodation: Adapting for Special Needs

If you have a student with a visual impairment and cannot see visual cues then give them
a partner to work with that can direct them

Closure: Fantastic job today everyone! Non-verbal communication can be a tough thing to use.
Turn and talk to a partner about what non-verbal communication is and what types of things you
can do to communicate non-verbally (Ask students what they talked about). Now, can anyone tell
me when in their life they use non-verbal communication? Awesome! Great job today everyone
with completing these tough tasks without using your voices. Next time we are going to move
into some more cooperative games and you will be able to talk next time!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reflective lesson analysis:

After teaching this lesson I thought that my biggest strength was my voice. I felt that I was loud
enough to have the students attention during the lesson and I was also very clear with my
instructions. I thought a strength of the lesson was the challenge that the lesson presented to the
students. The activities were not too easy where they could complete them in a short time. The
activities allowed the students to think, which I thought was great. A weakness of the lesson was
that students were talking during the activities. The point of the lesson was to teach them non-
verbal communication. I did stop the activities and remind the students several times about non-
verbal communication and what it means. However, the students would still talk at times to try
and complete the task. Another weakness of the lesson was the first activity seemed to be a little

4
 Central CT State University Physical Education Lesson Plan

too complicated for the students to grasp with just using clapping as non-verbal communication.
I should have redirected the activity and allowed the students to use more non-verbal
communication such as finger points or other body language to signal. If I teach this lesson
again I hope that I can get the students to talk less or not at all during the activities. Even
though I continued to stop the lesson and reiterate to them non-verbal communication it didnt
seem to be getting through to them fully. Overall I was happy with the outcome of the lesson, but
there are still areas that can be improved for next time.

Revised: June 2014