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Teacher Tips—What Works!

What You Can Do

Donna Lloyd-Kolkin, Ph.D., Health Communication Specialist

Although changing state legislation or school policies to increase physical education and recess requirements may be beyond your means, you can still find ways to help your students increase physical activity. A few minutes here and there is often all it takes.

Here are some suggestions from the VERB program at CDC. VERB-It's What You Do-is a campaign to promote physical activity among "tweens" from 9 to 13.

Authentic Graphing: Have students do different activities, such as standing still, walking, and running in place. Have students measure their heart rate after two minutes of each activity by taking their pulses. Graph and discuss the results. Include a discussion of ways to increase heart rates throughout the day.

Q&A Catch: Play a game of catch in which a student catches the ball, calls out the answer to a question posed by the teacher, then quickly passes the ball to another student to answer the next question.

Fitness Breaks: Schedule a two-minute fitness break between lessons. Ask for student volunteers to lead the class in stretches or play a popular song and let students dance.

You can find more ideas for 10-minute activities that can be integrated into various academic areas for elementary and middle school students at Energizers developed to support North Carolina's physical activity initiatives or Brain Breaks developed for the Michigan Department of Education.

You can also encourage students to be active outside the classroom. For example, you could:

Have the class "walk" across the country by having students walk the schoolyard or track during recess or before and after school, then recording their cumulative miles on a map posted in the classroom.
Request donations from parents of used sports equipment for use at recess.
Ask students about their physical activity outside of school and encourage them to participate in school and/or community recreation programs.
Create a bulletin board where students and teachers can post pictures of themselves being active.

Finally, you can encourage students and their families to have youngsters walk or ride their bikes to school. KidsWalk to School is a national initiative to promote physical activity. It provides an excellent opportunity for schools and communities to work together to support children's health. Check the CDC for many resources available to help you encourage your students to add this valuable avenue for increasing physical activity to their day.

Positive Role Models Present Health Workshops

Pamela Rizzo Connolly, M.E., Curriculum Coordinator, Health and Physical Education

Sixty-five students in health classes at North Catholic High School work as positive role models for younger students in the North Pittsburgh area. Called the North Catholic Peer Health Team, the group is led by Curriculum Specialist and Health and Physical Education Coordinator Pamela Connolly. Students travel to one of 30 elementary schools to offer unique health workshops based on the 10 content areas of Coordinated School Health Education. The program reaches over 4,000 elementary school children per year. In addition to the health workshops, they have also partnered with the University of Pittsburgh to bring science workshops to grades 4-8.

The training program is endorsed by the American Heart Association and all of the high school students are certified CPR and First Aid Instructors. North Catholic High was accepted as a participating school by the National School Fitness Foundation in 2003. The school also owns and operates its own fitness training center.

Connolly writes grants to pay for the driver and all program materials given away at the workshops. The team does not charge for the workshops except for the CPR training. They recently received a donation to develop a new alcohol awareness program that uses "drunk goggles," weighted vests, and an obstacle course requiring manual skills to be performed while wearing the goggles.

Several of the workshops are summarized below. You can link to one of the presentations for the workshop Eating Well/Feeling Great. Connolly encourages teachers to use the ideas from the workshops, and is willing to share programs, lesson plans, and materials with anyone who is interested. She can be reached at ConnollyP@north-catholic.org.

Workshops Developed by Peer Health Team

Eating Well/Feeling Great A nutrition workshop for grades 5-8. Topics covered include healthy eating and exercise, body image, the BMI, celebrity images, anorexia, and how to prepare healthy snacks .Healthy snacks are provided. Approved by the American Heart Association. Link to a sample presentation created for Eating Well/Feeling Great.
Sunwise An award winning workshop from the Environmental Protection Agency. Covers dangers of sun exposure-UV rays, tanning, repeated sunburn, melanoma. Many fun activities including a plastic disc that turns red when held out of a window on a rainy or cloudy day. Workshops for grades K-2, 3-5. New for Grades 6-8: The History of Tanning.
Germs, Germs, Germs This is a hand washing workshop. Germs are observed under a blacklight. A short video is shown along with a short oral quiz. Includes use of a nail brush, proper hand washing technique, and protecting yourself from viruses. Appropriate for grades K-5.
Emergency Education This is for children in grades K-2. Skills include dialing 911, talking to the dispatcher on the phone, recognizing an emergency, giving a correct address, and letting the paramedics into the home. Role plays and practice help to teach these skills.
First Aid Skills How to deal with bleeding, shock, burns, bee stings, broken bones, and other injuries. Role plays and practice time are provided. Grades 3-8 can master these skills. Students in grades 6-8 can take the test for certification.
The Dangers of Smoking and Chewing Tobacco Award-winning program from the American Cancer Society. This is a hands-on workshop where children do 6 activities that show the dangers of tobacco. Chewing tobacco is covered thoroughly.
I'm Tired of Being Bullied This is for grades 3-8. Explains the many forms of bullying and ways to stop it. Prosecution for bullying is explained. Role plays reinforce strategies to stop bullying.

Puppet Shows for the K-2 Crowd

Refusal Skills This animal-character puppet show teaches children refusal skills. A teen narrator explains each step in the process and explains the storyline.
Conflict Resolution Teaches the cycle of conflict, introduces personality types and presents basic skills. There are 8 role plays to teach the T.A.L.K technique, for grades 4-8.
I'm Tired of Being Bullied A narrator explains the forms of bullying, how to stop it, and the consequences for bullying.

Note: All puppet shows have music. A portable theatre is brought to the school and set up in 5-7 minutes.