From the local grocery store, twice a year, I pick up 175 grocery bags. Then I include these with my concluding assignment for my fly fishing and fencing units. The assignment if for each student to decorate a grocery bag.

On one side is his/her name, PE period, grade and school name. On the other side I ask the student to draw a picture of himself/herself (and partners/friends) partaking in the fly fishing activity. Requirements are that each drawing have a four color minimum and drawings need to be appropriate, creative/artful, neat, and activity appropriate.

The procedures for getting this done is that first, students get instructions on the first day of the unit and do a pencil/pen preliminary sketch prior to doing final work. After all of the bags are complete they are returned to the grocery store and used for bagging groceries for their customers.

This has been an excellent activity and comments from the local residents have been great. This activity allows self expression for our students, a majority of whom are limited english speaking. It also allows the folks in our community to see the unique activities that we are offering in our PE classes.

Variations:

Another idea is to include in the grocery bag a number of possible handouts. Some handout ideas could be:

• An invite to come to PE class to see what other neat things the classes are doing.


• A copy of the Appropriate Practices document for secondary PE programs from AAHPERD/NASPE.


• A handout of our curriculum and units


• On the other side could include a drawing or writing about the basic food groups or healthy heart facts, a food pyramid, how many calories it takes to burn certain foods, etc.

Email this best practice!