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Name of Activity:

Turkey Stuffing

Purpose of Activity:

The objective of the activity is to throw and catch accurately, so your team's turkeys have the most stuffing!

Prerequisites:

The students should know how to properly throw an object underhand and overhand, and know how to catch an object high and low.

Suggested Grade Level:

3-5

Materials Needed:

An assortment of small objects for throwing, ie., beanbags, soft balls, etc. to represent the turkey food, 2 containers for the objects, 3-5 red pinnies, 3-5 blue pinnies, 3-5 red hoops, 3-5 blue hoops, cones to mark throwing lines.

Description of Idea

Set-up:
Organize the students into two teams, a red team and a blue team, one on each end of the playing area. Set up cones to mark the line where they must throw from. Depending on the size of the class, choose 3-5 students from each team to be turkeys. These students will put on the pinnies and stand inside the hula-hoops (ovens), which are scattered around the playing area. Students who are not "turkeys" for their team are the "turkey stuffers" and should stand behind a team cones.

Instructions:
Review the underhand toss, which is used when the target is close, and the overhand throw, used when the target is farther away. Some "turkeys" will be closer than others, and should have the food tossed underhand. The role of the "turkey stuffers" is to take the turkey food from their team's container and throw it to one of their team turkeys. If a turkey catches the "food", he/she will stuff the food inside the pinny. (Make sure the pinnies have elastic at the bottom, to hold in the "stuffing.") When all of the food is gone from the bucket, the "turkey stuffers" will sit down behind their cones until the other team has finished. At the end of the round, the teams will count how much stuffing made it to their turkeys.

Rules:
"Turkey stuffers" may hold onto only one piece of food at a time.
"Turkeys" must catch the food in the air while keeping at least one foot in the "oven" (hoop).
"Food" that hits the floor during a throw or a catch must stay on the floor.

Scoring:
Depending on the class, here are some different ways to keep score during this activity:
1) Count the amount of stuffing that each team collected during the round. Each team then has the goal of trying to beat their own score.
2) Award a point to the team with the most stuffing for the round.

Variations:

Instead of dividing the class into two teams, have the class work as one group to improve their score each round.

Assessment Ideas:

Using a skills checklist, assess students on proper underhand or overhand throwing skills, catching, cooperation and sportsmanship.

Teaching Suggestions:

Remind students that when throwing the equipment, they should call out that student's name. Also, have them make eye contact before throwing. When it is time to clean up, all equipment should be placed in the bins, not thrown.

Submitted by Kelsey Watson who teaches at Veterans Memorial Elementary School in Norwich, CT. Thanks for contributing to PE Central! Posted on PEC: 1/24/2013.
Viewed 60685 times since 11/20/2012.

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Turkey Stuffing

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Previous Comments:

Kelsey Watson

ADJUSTMENT FOR LARGER CLASS SIZES:

This year I have larger class sizes so I made a few changes that I wanted to share.

I created 3 positions:
1. Turkey - wears the pinnie
2. Mixer - holds a bucket (used to "mix" the stuffing before it goes in the turkey)
3. Stuffer - throws the stuffing to the mixer

I only gave teams 1 minute to see how many pieces of stuffing they could get, then the teams tried to beat their score each time. (I played 3 rounds so that every student gets to try each position).

The stuffers throw to the mixers. If the mixer catches the ball IN the bucket then he/she passes back to the turkey who will then stuff it into the pinnie. You can have the turkey run in place so that they are moving, or have them be the "encouragers" for that round.

If a ball misses the bucket, the mixer is able to pass it back with his/her foot so that the team does not run out of equipment to throw.

After a minute, count the pieces and then:
Stuffers switch to Mixers
Mixers switch to Turkeys
Turkeys switch to Stuffers



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