VAHPERD The Virginia Journal Fall 2017

 The fifth region, the Appalachian Plateau, was designed with ten folded tumbling mats stacked into a mountain shape. After swimming south the Settlers must crawl up and over the plateau. During the actual obstacle course race there would be two ships of Settlers who would leave England in the north corner of the gym, racing southwest to Jamestown. Racing involves Settlers sitting on a folded mat with scooters underneath to act as their ship. The first shipload of Settlers to traverse all five regions, climb up and over the Appalachian Plateau – making sure all of their shipmates finish together – get to wave the Virginia flag, signaling a victory.

the fourth grade Teachers asked if the game could be demonstrat- ed to parents and guests, after the visit to their child’s classroom during the classroom visitation time period. With four classes making up the 4 th grade, each class’ parents had their own dem- onstration and explanation of the integrated lesson. The demon- stration of the obstacle course expanded the concept of the One to the World design, as well as, integrating movement into the academic lessons.  To enhance the learning experience, the author produced post- ers listing the five regional names, accompanied by a picture of that region. Posters were also produced with the names of the regions, as well as, posters of the five surrounding States that border Virginia.  During the parent’s visit a video was produced and loaded on the Guilford school staff drive and sent to the Loudoun County Public Schools Information Office, along with a press release and pictures. All of these accompanying materials supported the con- cept of the One to the World project.  Before actually playing the game, students viewed pictures of the five regions via online materials which provided some histori- cal background to support classroom teachers.  When other grade level classes came for their Physical Educa- tion class time they naturally wanted to learn and play the game. This was especially helpful to the 3 rd grade students and teachers as a way of building a foundation for their upcoming 4 th grade lessons. Naturally the 5 th grade students wanted to review their knowledge from the previous year. In the end, all grades and classes tried out the course.  What began as an anchoring lesson with movement became a collaboration, expanding a text book lesson, into a brain based learning experience. From administrators to teachers, to parents and students, everyone was excited with the way Physical Educa-

 The author’s initial purpose then expanded after another class- room teacher visit. We learned that the fourth grade parents and guests would be visiting their classrooms to see various parts of their class projects after school duringAmerican Education Week in October. During the student’s scheduled Physical Education class periods the fourth grade students experienced the course by racing other teams of classmates through the course.  After watching their students race through the obstacle course

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