Physical+Education

=** Subject: Physical Education **=

Ohio Academic Content Standard: Physical Education

 * Standard 1:** Demonstrate competency in motor skills and movement patterns needed to perform a variety of physical actitivies.


 * Benchmark A:** Combine locomotor and non-locomotor skills into movement patterns.

1. Perform a sequence of 5-7 movements (e.g. dance, gymnastics, jump rope) with smooth transitions between movements. 2. Balance on a variety of objects that are either static or dynamic.
 * Grade 4 Combined Skills:**

**Technologies Incorporated in this Lesson:**

 * SmartBoard with Sound available from SMART Technologies


 * Nintendo Wii available at WalMart


 * Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party 3 available from DDR GAME



**Classroom and Activity Description:**
This lesson takes place in a regular fourth grade physical education class with students on various academic levels including below, at, and above grade level. This activity may also be utilized with students who have poor-gross motor skills to help build muscle strength.

Teachers will connect the Wii, an interactive gaming system, into the SmartBoard to assist students in learning how to use rhythm of various popular songs to move their bodies as they twist and shake while staying balanced. This game will increase students' gross motor coordination while they follow the arrows with their eyes and hit the beats with their feet. Students will get their blood pumping to help burn off unnecessary calories while playing solo or with multiple players while they compete for the position of best dancer.

**Tried and True or New and Innovative? **
This activity is considered tried and true because it is becoming much more common through school districts nationwide. This is also technology which our target population will relate to as they most likely have previous knowledge of working with various gaming systems.

Supporting Research:
A professor at West Virginia University's School of Physical Education can recall witnessing kids lining up in an arcade to play a fiercely kinetic video game called //Dance //  //Dance //  //Revolution // . She suggested that it was a possible remedy for the increasing amount of obese children. In the spring of 2004, the state partnered with the university on a research project to measure the effectiveness of Dance Dance Revolution on combating childhood obesity.

According to popular wisdom, looking to a video game to correct weight gain makes as much sense as eating licorice to protect against tooth decay however; Dance Dance Revolution is not a sedentary, brain cell-gobbling narcotic like many other computer games. Instead, it sustains the students because of the nature of the game. The object is to step on the tiles as they light up, while watching for clues in the form of arrows that flash all over the screen.

After conducting a study containing 50 students, all of whom had a body mass over the 85th percentile, the threshold for being overweight, the initial results of the study were overwhelming. Pre- and post-testing showed that students gained better blood flow, increased aerobic ability, and no weight gained. Students were also more willing to try new activities, invite friends over to play as well as demonstrating more confidence in participating within physical education class.

After seeing this data, West Virginia's department of education mandated the integration of //Dance //  <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dance // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Revolution // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> into physical education programs of all of its middle and junior high schools, with plans to expand it into the high schools and eventually the elementary schools. Some schools are even allowing children to dance using Dance Dance Revolution before and after school as well as at school dances due to its profound physical benefits.

// References //