The song in this lesson can be used as a fun, energy burner at any time but it is also a very nice way to teach parts of the body.
Lesson Procedure:
- Teachers work hard to prepare engaging and academically challenging lessons, but often students are not ready to learn. If the class is fidgeting or falling asleep, wake students up with a brain.
- The kick pass and crouch lift are basic to football participation. The pupils will need to become competent in in these skills to fully understand the game while they are playing the game. Time should be provided today for pupils individual development in either pairs, group practice, or skills practice.
Warm Up and Maintenance:
See our 'Warm Up & Wrap Up' page.
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to understand and express a wide range of feelings and emotions, as well as ask others about theirs. Secondary aim: Students will reflect on when they have felt certain emotions; Level: Intermediate – teens and adults. Lesson Length: 60 minutes. To access the lesson plan, fill out the form below. An old classic but also a great way for students to visualize their understanding in a fun team game. Resources: whiteboards and pens or pieces of paper and pencils/pens, plus a list of subject-specific concepts. Game: Students work in small groups. One student from each group is chosen to start and they must draw the subject-related concept.
New Learning and Practice:
1. Teach the body vocab
Depending on the age / level of your students you may want to teach a just few words per class, building up to the full 8 words over a series of lessons. Prepare flashcards of the parts of the body used in the song. Slowly reveal each flashcard card and have your students touch their part of the body (so, when you show the 'head' flashcard get everyone to touch their heads). Chorus each word three times and then ask your students to individually say each word.
2. Practice the vocab
Lay the flashcards that you have just taught in front of you, facing your students (or lined up on the board). Randomly touch each card and have your students touch that part of their body and say the word. Do a final round with the cards in the correct order of the song (so they are basically doing a practice run of the song).
3. Play 'Flashcard Exercises'
Get everyone sitting on the floor and facing the front of the class. Give out body flashcards so that each student has at least one card (even better is for each student to have two cards). Shout out a random flashcard word (e.g. 'ears') with an action (e.g. 'ears - hands up!'). All students with the ears flashcards have to do that action. Continue with other words and different actions (e.g. jump up and down, run on the spot, turn around, stand up / sit down, wiggle, touch your toes, etc.).
4. Sing the 'Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes' song
Everyone stand up. As the song plays the teacher sings and does all the actions, touching each part of his/her body with two hands in time with the song. Make sure your students are followingalong. It’s easy and fun so your students will love doing this. Each verse gets faster so by the last verse it will be frantic but great fun.
Lyrics for 'Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes'
(Each verse gets faster and faster)
Verse 1:
Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose,
Head, shoulders, knees and toes.
Verse 2:
Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose,
Head, shoulders, knees and toes.
Verse 3:
Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose,
Head, shoulders, knees and toes.
(download MP3 here)
Gestures for 'Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes'
Doing the gestures with this song is a must! They are very simple and the kids will pick them up really quickly as they follow you.
Everyone needs to stand up. Simply touch the parts of your body with both hands in time with the song. The song starts off slowly with each verse getting progressively faster, making the gestures more frantic and therefore more fun!
We also have a video that you can stream in class to sing along with (Internet connection required):
5. Play 'Teacher Says'
This is the game 'Simon Says' but using the word 'teacher', or your name, instead. Go straight into the game (no explanations necessary) by saying 'Teacher says touch your (knees)'. Do the action and make sure everyone else follows along. Do a few more 'touch your eyes, touch your toes', etc. Then at some point give a command without the 'Teacher says' part (e.g. 'Touch your mouth'). First time round, everyone will touch their mouth, so make it very clear that they shouldn’t do this when you don’t say 'Teacher says'. After a while your students will get the hang of it. Play the game faster and faster. When a student makes a mistake they have to sit the rest of the game out. The last student standing is the winner.
6. Read classroom reader 'The Monster Family'
Before class, download and print off the reader 'The Monster Family'. As you go through each page, point to the pictures, elicit each key body word, and have your students touch their part of the body as shown in the picture, for example:
Teacher: What's this? (pointing at head)
Students: Head!
Teacher: Yes, a big head! Everyone, touch your head (touching head).
Students: (Touching heads) Head!
Teacher: What color is his head?
Students: Purple!
Teacher: Right! (Reading) Hello. My name is Little Monster. I have a big head.
etc.
Get the students really involved in the story by asking lots of questions (e.g. eliciting colors) and getting them to touch and say the parts of the body in the story.
After reading the story, give out a reader worksheet to each student and have everyone match the monsters to the parts of their bodies. Then go through the answers as a class.
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Alternatively, watch our video version of the reader (Internet connection required):
7. Do 'Mr. Shape Head’s Body' worksheet
Lesson Plan: Touch Football Teaching Games For Understanding Football
To finish off this section of the lesson, give out this worksheet which has the vocab from the song. As your students are doing the worksheets, ask questions (e.g. 'Which part of the body is that?', etc.). You can also give a body worksheet for homework.
Wrap Up:
1. Assign Homework: 'Match-Up the body parts'
2. Wrap up the lesson with some ideas from our 'Warm Up & Wrap Up' page.
The Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) approach was developed by researchers at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom to tap into children’s inherent desire to play. Bunker and Thorpe (1982) developed TGfU around the concept of teaching kids games by playing games. Butler et al. (2008) identified six Basic TGfU Concepts:
- Teach games through games.
- Break games into their simplest format - then increase complexity.
- Participants are intelligent performers in games.
- Every learner is important and is involved.
- Participants need to know the subject matter.
- Need to match participants’ skill and challenge.
Recent approaches to TGfU have advocated for a thematic approach to teaching games. Rather than teaching sport-specific units (e.g., volleyball unit, soccer unit), children and youth gain skills and knowledge to apply to different sports by playing a variety of games associated with 4 game categories:
- Target Games in which the participant propels an object, preferably with a high degree of accuracy, at a target.
- Net/Wall Games in which the participant propels an object into space trying to make it difficult for an opponent to return it.
- Striking/Fielding Games in which the participant strikes an object so it is placed away from defenders in the field.
- Territory Games in which participants invade an opponent's territory to score.
These categories represent games and activities that are similar in structure. By exposing children and youth to the primary rules, fundamental skills, and tactical problems associated with each category, they become literate in a variety of games, activities and sports and develop an understanding and competency of the skills and tactics associated with playing sports.
The skills and strategies used in the PlaySport activities are applicable to several different sports. For example, if a child understands the basic concept behind keeping possession of an object in an territory game (e.g., use short passes, shield the ball, support the player with the ball), this will help them to play a variety of territory games whose tactics can be applied to related sports (e.g., basketball, soccer, handball, lacrosse, wheelchair basketball, goalball).
In PlaySport, activities have been grouped into specific categories which represent games and sports which are similar in structure and include aspects of certain sports. For example:
Target
Net/Wall
- Badminton
- Sitting Volleyball
- Squash
- Tennis
- Volleyball
- Wheelchair Tennis
Striking/
Fielding
Territory
Lesson Plan: Touch Football Teaching Games For Understanding Statistics
- Basketball
- Goalball
- Handball
- Hockey
- Lacrosse
- Soccer
- Wheelchair Basketball
Individual
Pursuits
To promote lifelong healthy, active living for all, it is important not to limit children and youth to game and sport activities. Many children and youth prefer activities that do not involve team play, and these can provide plenty of opportunities for fun through the development of fitness and movement skills related to control of body rhythm, movement aesthetics, creativity, sequencing, composition and stability. With this in mind, PlaySport also includes Individual Pursuit activities. These are games in which children work individually with their own equipment, or in some cases interact with others, monitoring their own behaviour, movements and physical expenditure.
Teaching Games for Understanding is a child-centred approach where the leader acts as a facilitator and the participants make their own adaptations in order to maximize the level of challenge and fun! The following steps are elements of a Teaching Games for Understanding approach:
- Activity Appreciation: trying out a version of the activity in a small-group
- Tactical Awareness: developing understanding of common elements of games and tactics needed for success
- Decision-Making: learning and practising making decisions in action, in response to different situations
- Application of Skills: identifying and practising the skills needed to improve play
- Performance: putting it all together, applying the skills, decision-making and tactics in game situations
The process is a cyclical one with participants continuing to adapt and change as needed for the best playing experience.