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Best Practices
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Teacher: Marina Bonello who teaches at San Andrea Early School in Malta, Europe. Marina can be contacted at bonello96@mail.link.net.mt
Name of Best Practice: Valley Walk-A-Thon
Rationale/Purpose of Event: To promote keeping active in a fun way while encouraging nature appreciation.
Suggested Grade Level: K-2
Materials Needed:
Flash cards with the common name of the flora - both in English and Maltese (we are bilingual); treasury tags to loop flashcards around the stems of the flora; hoops (used to protect the flora
growing on the main
path itself)
Description of Valley Walk-A-Thon
During Health Week one of the activities organized
involved a walk in the valley behind the school. Two
routes were developed - one for Preschool / K and the
other for Grades 1 and 2. To avoid excessive trampling on
the flora, each route was used simultaneously. First the Preschoolers and First Graders went early in the morning session and then the
Kinder and Second Graders had their turn during the late
morning session. I used hula hoops to mark the flora on the ground on the path. That way the students knew to walk around the flora.
The objective of the event was to have
the children complete the entire course using the "keeping active and keeping fit" program objectives. In addition, they were encouraged to respect the
environment and observe the various wild flora that sprout
during spring time. The latter objective was achieved by
attaching flashcards to the various flora (previously
identified by a Botany friend of mine; we researched the
common names in both languages and I then developed the
flashcards) all along the route. Each of the class teachers
and parent helpers led the children through the course
and encouraged the children to "hunt" for the
flashcards so they could read about the flowers.
Mid-way through
the course, a rest station was developed so that the
children could rest a while, eat their lunch, and talk about what had been accomplished so far. At the
end of the course, the Grade 2 children were
encouraged to write about the "VALLEY WALK-A-THON" in their
PE journal. The K's were encouraged to
draw about the activity. The class teachers used the
experience for integration objectives.
During the PE lesson
following the event with the Grade 2 children, a class discussion
was used to identify the feelings association with
keeping active and fit. The event was also targeted to
have a carry over effect into the children's life out
of school. The message being that keeping active and fit can be done
even by engaging in simple activities, such as a family country
walk.
Pictures of the Walk-A-Thon!
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