Junior - Grades: 4, 5 & 6 Facility: Classroom, Gymnasium, or Multi-purpose room
Materials:
- Acrostic and alliteration poetry
- Chart paper (optional)
- Writing utensils
Activity Description:
Get your students to put on their poetic thinking hats and get moving! This activity integrates physical activity with the language curriculum, helping you meet expectations not only in H&PE but in the areas of writing, oral and visual communication.
Overview:
Start with a warm-up exercise to get students' heart rate up slowly and end the activity with a cool down exercise to gradually decrease students' heart rate.
Activity 1: Active Acrostics
- Prior to implementing this DPA activity, have students write acrostic poems using their own names.
- Each sentence after the letter should give instructions to carry out a physical activity
For example:
T - tag a friend
I - in a circle, skip around
M - move your feet as fast as you can
- Divide the students into groups of 4-6 and have each student bring the active acrostic poem they have written. Students may put their poem on chart paper for others to see.
- Number each student in the group.
- On your signal, all of the students in Group 1 lead their group through their active acrostic poem.
- Continue until all students in the group have completed presenting their poems.
- Instruct the students to jog on the spot between sharing their poems.
Activity 2: Active Alliteration
- Prior to starting the DPA activity, have students choose a poem or story that contains alliteration (e.g. Bashful Bob and Doleful Dorinda, by Margaret Atwood).
- Have students jog on the spot while you read the poem/story aloud.
- Each time they hear alliteration the students must get active (e.g. jump or run with high knees on the spot) for 15 seconds before you begin reading the poem/story again and the students resume jogging on the spot. Students continue moving each time you hear alliteration in the story for the remainder of the activity time.
Source: DPA Training and Support Services, Active Acrostics & Alliteration, 2008.
