Steepling With Six Year-Olds
I present to you, 23 future steeplechasers. Who says first graders aren't coordinated? And this was their first try! Well, that isn't strictly true.. They had been practising during math. And writing. And reading. And that one time in the lunch line... But they now know that they can NEVER do that again. (Flailing trail legs and lunch trays don't mix...)
It's all thanks to a wonderful collaboration between USATF and well-known teacher lifeline GoNoodle.com. The Run With US initiative allows students to try a wide range of track and field events from the comfort of the classroom! Within minutes of logging in, students are sitting in an L7 stretch, and then they are coached through a series of hurdle drills by Jacques Sallberg. Before long, students are lined up on the starting line as the crowd goes wild, ready too compete in a virtual steeplechase race.
The beauty of the initiative is that this all takes place with students standing by their desks, jogging in place and leaping over hurdles that appear only on the Smartboard or projector. No equipment needed, no transition time, and a vastly reduced potential for injury! As the teacher, there is a sneaky little control that allows you to covertly control what place your class's avatar is in- a great way to bring about some frantic sprinting on the spot and hurried hurdling to regain position should students' steepling be looking a little lackluster.
Students progress through the state and regional trials, the national and the world championship, giving you many opportunities to inject an energizing burst of track into your lessons. And the natural reward for my students, who had of course come off a recent first place finish at the world GoNoodle steeplechase championships, was to let them try it out for real.
I snuck into the equipment room early in the morning and grabbed handfuls of cones, twirling batons, rubber fish and other supplies, and stashed them in the gym. Then I began to assemble my course. I laid a jump rope out for my start line, and set out twirling batons propped across two cones for hurdles (in an ideal world, admittedly, I might make my life easier and use miniature hurdles, but I had to work with what there was..)
For the piece de resistance, I grabbed what I thought was the perfect mat- not only was it blue and squishy, it perfectly replicated the slant of the water pit! I plopped a couple of rubber fish on top for some extra pizazz, and stepped back to admire my handiwork, then set off towards it at a jog. I jumped, landed in the "water", and the entire "pit" promptly slid out from under me. Bruising my tailbone and my pride, and sending rubber fish careening across the gym, I swiftly found a replacement water pit mat with a rather more grippy underside.
Note of caution: always TEST your course before letting students run loose...
I hope that you can all try this awesome program out in your classrooms! All you need is a GoNoodle account, which is FREE :) Head straight to the Run with US section, and enjoy! And for the brave, set up your own steeplechase track during P.E. You won't regret it, and hey, tailbones heal fast!
My resource for the week, while we are still in a track-tastic frame of mind, is the Track Race Behavior Management Chart- all you need are clothes pegs, markers, and glue! Check it out on TpT!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Track-Race-Behavior-Management-Chart-1701331
Final caveat: excessive steepling may bring about rather homogenous career aspirations- this is a small sample of our "What I want to be when I grow up" writing assignment... See below.
In all, I counted 14 wannabe runners, beating out princess, superhero, football player, doctor and teacher for the top spot by a considerable margin. Sorry I'm not sorry?
