Limited Resource Fitness - A Health Related Fitness Unit

Most recently taught: December 2023

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Teachers Pay Teachers link for the unit task sheets (Formative and Summative)

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Key Concept: Development

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Related Concepts: Choice, Perspectives

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Statement of Inquiry: Developing motivation relies on choice and perspectives.

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Global Context: Identities and Relationships (exploring motivation and lifestyle choices)

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Learner Profile: Inquirer (Students will explore different types of fitness, seeing what suits their interests and motivations and have time to research how they can reach a goal by researching a plan on their own)

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Unit Outline

Students will explore a variety of exercises and types of fitness that can be done with minimal equipment. SMART goals will be set, and time set aside in each class for students to pursue a fitness topic they are interested in. Lessons will vary between being teacher-led, station focused, technology-heavy, or guided by the student’s interests. This unit for MYP4 leads into my MYP5 "Help! Cross Training Coach Wanted" unit, and I explore concepts such as leadership and understanding how motivation and choice play a role in improving personal fitness.

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Learning Experiences

*Please note this is a general overview and does not include warm-up games, discussions, key terminology focuses, or cool-downs

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Lesson 1:

• Intro to Limited Resource Fitness, cardio-related games involving minimal equipment

• Perform different fitness tests: Pacer, sit-ups in 1 min, push-ups in 1 min, sit and reach

• Emphasis on bringing awareness to personal fitness levels, not competition.

Lesson 2:

• SMART goal setting, reference last lessons tests as examples for measurable components.

• Find someone with similar goal and explore ways to work on it together

Lesson 3:

• Pilates 10-minute Youtube Video (Ab-focus)

• Interval Cardio Training and then Games involving running

Lesson 4:

• Small groups each with a different yoga salutation

• Students learn and then lead the class through the salutation

• Rest of the class to work towards the SMART goal

Lesson 5:

• Bodyweight and minimal equipment circuit

• Dumbbells, Bodyweight, Kettlebells, Ab wheel, medicine ball stations

Lesson 6:

• Criterion AB Group Workout Plan

• Students work with those with a similar goal and create a 10-15 minute group workout plan

Lesson 7:

• Each group performs their routine, and class reflection afterwards

• Rest of class: Capture the Flag (cardio focus and connection to how games are a great workout too)

Lesson 8:

• Individual Jump Rope Fitness Focus (ex. AMRAP skips in 45 sec)

• Group Large Jump Rope Challenges (ex. 3 people jumping at same time)

Lesson 9 - 11

• Students start planning their summative individual workout plan based on their goal. They should use more exercises than on their formative and include a workout display card for each exercise

• The aim is to perform routine initially by the end of lesson 10, make necessary changes and again perform and submit by end of lesson 11.

Lesson 12

• Perform their SMART goal measurable test

• Reflect (Crit. D Summative) on their SMART goal, summative workout plan and unit experiences.

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Formative Assessments

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Creating a SMART goal, individually near the beginning of the unit for students to consistently work towards with teacher guidance (Crit B)

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Group Workout plan, with members who share a similar goal, understanding how time, sets/reps/ and exercise selection play a vital role in an effective plan. (Crit AB)

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Students create mini routines for the purpose of improving muscle. (bodyweight exercises to increase arm strength) and reflecting through discussions on how student-led time went.

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Summative Assessment

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Criterion B: Planning for performance

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Students were to individually create a fitness routine that targeted a specific area of the body (arms, legs, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, etc). This routine should be around 10 minutes long, using a variety of exercises with specific reps/amrap/sets included. The routine should be clearly organized and structured in a way that is easy to follow. Students should explain why they chose to include the exercises in their plan, with sources. They will reflect on the effectiveness of their plan after performing it a couple of times.

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Criterion D: Reflecting and improving performance

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Students will have the ability to choose to answer reflection questions through typing or talking on video. They will reflect on the following topics:

- how they demonstrated leadership, their motivation across different topics, and what fitness components were challenging.

- their overall performance in this unit

- their performance during the self-guided SMART goal sections of the lesson.

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ATL’s focused on in this unit

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Communication - Use and interpret a range of discipline-specific terms and symbols

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In order for students to plan for performance (Criteria B):  students will use and interpret a range of discipline-specific terms and symbols by learning different training terminology, the muscles of the body, and use the relevant terms in their fitness plan to help achieve their SMART goal.

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The strategy that will be explicitly taught is:

-Interpret: on workout displays, acronyms and terms will be used for students to understand and identify to guide a workout.

-Use a range of discipline-specific terms and symbols: students should gain an understanding of the relevant terms and use these in their fitness plan, choosing specific actions that will help them succeed.

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Thinking - Draw reasonable conclusions and generalizations

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In order for students to reflect and improve performance (Criteria D):  students will draw reasonable conclusions and generalizations by note-taking after specific experiences, having class and peer discussions, and reflecting on their SMART goal.

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The strategy that will be explicitly taught is:

-Draw reasonable conclusions: thinking about specific experiences in this unit, especially about the fitness plan. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses this plan would have for the fitness goal they chose.

-Draw reasonable generalizations: reflecting on their overall enjoyments and challenges in this unit. They will look at how this changed as the unit progressed.

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Self-management - Set goals that are challenging and realistic

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Day to Day Connections: At the beginning of the unit students will set a SMART goal in a fitness topic of their choice. Students will be able to alter the goal in the first couple of weeks as they try out different exercises and ensure they are challenging and/or realistic.

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Summative Connection: In the planning process students should ensure the exercise guidelines included in their routine are the appropriate difficulty based on their experiences in this unit. They will also reflect on their SMART goal in the Criteria D summative component.

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Research - Present information in a variety of formats and platforms

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Day to Day Connections: Students will explore exercise routines being presented in a variety of formats such as videos, booklets, and posters. This will be followed by discussions on the challenges of following each format. When working towards their SMART goal students will track their progress in a format of their choice.

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Summative Connection: When planning their summative fitness routine students can choose the format and platform they will present their routine with. This can be a google doc, Canva poster, slideshow, or video.

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Teacher Reflection (2020)

This was a fun unit to teach as I have now been going to a gym consistently for the first time in my life, focusing on exercises (weightlifting) that I find challenging and intrinsically motivating. I wanted to share this enthusiasm with the Grade 8’s and 9’s, hopefully seeing them discover an interest in general or a specific fitness activity.

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The first three weeks of giving students 10 minutes a class of self-guided time to work towards a fitness goal were challenging at times. Students wanted to spend their energy justifying why shooting a basketball would improve their cardiovascular endurance instead of interval training, or doing jump rope. Through individual discussions and seeing classmates start to succeed they started to choose more efficient training methods as the second half of the unit progressed towards the summative.

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The lack of intervention at the end allowed for students to gain that motivation on their own.

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