This third edition of Teaching Children Gymnastics will help you tailor a gymnastics program to your teaching situation while combining the best facets of developmental skills, health-related fitness, and conceptual learning based on process characteristics of body, space, effort, and relationships. Internationally renowned author and educator Peter Werner and coauthors Lori Williams and Tina Hall guide you through the process of teaching gymnastics skills and then linking those skills into sequences.
Having conducted workshops at all levels, the three authors combine decades’ worth of gymnastics knowledge and teaching experience. In this book, they offer updated and new material, including
a chapter on designing gymnastics sequences;
sections on behavior management, inclusion, and advocacy;
information on scope and sequence for grades K to 5;
information based on revised national standards, assessment, and designing of gymnastics sequences; and
additional learning experiences, plus ideas for creating more learning experiences.
You will find real-life scenarios that will help you apply the material, and you will learn how to create a positive learning environment for your students. Chapter objectives, summaries, and reflection questions enhance the learning experience.
Part I of Teaching Children Gymnastics provides an overview of developmentally appropriate gymnastics, exploring why it should be part of a high-quality elementary physical education program and how the instructional approach used in the book differs from the traditional approach used in physical education. The material in part I will help you plan your program, incorporate it into your curriculum, and assess your students.
Part II provides great learning experiences for the skill themes of traveling, statics, and rotation. Each skill theme is broken into categories that help children acquire the skills they need to learn. It’s in this portion that they develop sequences that integrate all the skills they have learned. The authors also supply an appendix with forms and handouts, cutting down your preparation time.
Teaching Children Gymnastics is a great tool for novice and experienced teachers alike. More than that, it’s the perfect resource for opening up the fun and exciting world of gymnastics to youngsters who are always looking for an excuse to perform just the types of skills that they will learn—and design sequences for—through this book.
Part I Developmentally Appropriate Gymnastics
Chapter 1 Why Is It Important to Teach Children Gymnastics?
Defining Developmentally Appropriate Gymnastics
Brief History of Gymnastics
Gymnastics Today
National Standards for Physical Education
How Gymnastics Should Be Taught
Where Are We Now?
A Look to the Future
Summary
Questions for Reflection
Chapter 2 Tailoring Gymnastics to Fit Your Teaching Situation
Planning
Developing a Positive Learning Environment
Summary
Questions for Reflection
Chapter 3 Incorporating Gymnastics Into Your Program
Scope and Sequence
Stages of Gymnastics
Task Development in Gymnastics
Direct and Indirect Teaching Styles
When to Encourage Student Demonstrations
Accountability: The Gymnastics Work Ethic
Stressing Good Body Mechanics and Aesthetics
Skill Themes for Gymnastics
Process Variables
Learning Experiences
What Makes a Learning Experience Developmentally Appropriate?
Summary
Questions for Reflection
Chapter 4 Assessing Children’s Progress in Gymnastics
New Ways to Assess
What to Assess
How to Assess
Psychomotor Assessment
Cognitive Assessment
Affective Assessment
Reporting What Has Been Assessed
Summary
Questions for Reflection
Part II Teaching Developmentally Appropriate Learning Experiences in Gymnastics
Chapter 5 Learning Experiences for Traveling
Mini-Index
And Away We Go
Landing Pad
Traveling Transformers
Bunny Hop
Ready for Takeoff
Rock and Roll
Fantasy Flight
Cross at the Intersection
Clock Face
Beam Me Up
Me and My Shadow
Additional Ideas for Learning Experiences
Chapter 6 Learning Experiences for Statics
Mini-Index
Patches and Points
Push and Pull
Same, Different
Shoulder Stand
Copycat
Dimensions
Statues
Bottoms Up
Twins
See What I Can Do
Lean on Me
Additional Ideas for Learning Experiences
Chapter 7 Learning Experiences for Rotation
Mini-Index
Balls, Eggs, and Pencils
You’ve Got It All Backward
Sit-Spins
Roll, Roll, Roll Your Body
Taking a Spin
The String Challenge
A Roll by Any Other Name . . .
Let’s Make a Connection
Hip Circles
Partner Task Cards
Feet, Hands, Feet
Additional Ideas for Learning Experiences
Chapter 8 Designing Gymnastics Sequences
What Makes a Good Gymnastics Sequence
Sample Gymnastics Sequences
Peter Werner, PED, is a retired distinguished professor emeritus from the department of physical education at the University of South Carolina. His area of expertise is physical education for children, including gymnastics, dance, and interdisciplinary learning. Dr. Werner has presented at numerous national conferences for the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and for the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. He has presented a session on educational gymnastics at an international conference as well.
Dr. Werner served as senior editor for Teaching Elementary Physical Education and has served in editorial roles for many other physical education publications. He has been recognized numerous times for his contributions to physical education, including receiving the Ada B. Thomas Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award in 2001 from the University of South Carolina, the Margie Hanson Service Award in 2002 from the Council on Physical Education for Children, and the Hall of Fame Joy of Effort Award from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education in 2008. He is a coauthor of Interdisciplinary Teaching Through Physical Education (2009), Seminar in Physical Education (2008), and Geocaching for Schools and Communities (2010), all with Human Kinetics. He has also written hundreds of articles.
Dr. Werner and his wife make their home in Black Mountain, North Carolina, where he enjoys whitewater canoeing, running, biking, and hand-crafting brooms.
Lori H. Williams, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. She has taught physical education at the elementary, middle school, and college levels. Her 25 years of teaching experience include 14 years in public schools. Gymnastics has always been part of her curriculum. She coauthored Schoolwide Physical Activity (2010) and several articles for refereed publications. Williams has presented at numerous state, regional, and national conferences, many of which included a focus on gymnastics. She has been an active participant in collecting and analyzing assessment data at the state level with the South Carolina Physical Education Assessment Program, and she has been a member of the NASPE Assessment Task Force.
Tina J. Hall, PhD, is an associate professor in the department of health and human performance at Middle Tennessee State University. She has taught since 1985, spending 18 of those years at the elementary and middle school levels. Her experience in gymnastics includes teaching gymnastics as an integral part of her elementary and middle school physical education curriculum, conducting an afterschool gymnastics club, and teaching educational gymnastics to future physical educators at the college level. Hall has conducted numerous workshops and in-services focusing on gymnastics. She is a coauthor of Schoolwide Physical Activity (2010) and several articles for refereed publications.