HIGH SCHOOL PHYSICAL EDUCATION LESSON PLAN
Unit: Tumbling Teacher: Catherine Peff
Grade Level: Middle School Lesson 3
Content Summary: Students will practice executing inverted skills, progressing from a tripod, to a headstand, to a wall handstand, and finally to a free standing handstand.
They’ll then learn about weight transfer by practicing jumping over noodles, first with just their feet and then with their hands, finally leading up to completing a full cartwheel.
Essential Questions:
Why is it important to understand center of gravity when performing headstands and handstands?
Why is a handstand more difficult to perform than a headstand?
What type of skill are cartwheels, headstands, handstands?
What is the proper sequence of skill movements when executing a cartwheel
What are the major muscles used in performing inverted skills?
Student Objectives:
Students will:

Understand the role of center of gravity, by explaining why headstands and handstands are often difficult to perform.

Understand the role base of support plays in headstands and handstands by trying to progress from executing a tripod to executing a free form handstand.

Show an understanding of physical fitness by being able to name the predominant muscle groups used to execute a handstand and headstand.

Demonstrate weight transfer by being able to successfully transfer their weight while jumping over an obstacle 5 times.

Follow all safety rules for specific activity situations 100% of the time.
Assessment:
Teacher will walk around and observe students to see of they are transferring their weight correctly when jumping over the noodles. Teacher will test for comprehension by asking questions during the closing.
*Performance Task: Students evaluate each other performing 2 jumps, 3 rolls, and 2 inverted skills.
Maryland Standard Content Theme
1. Skillfulness
2. Biomechanical Principles
3. Motor Learning Principles
X
X
Fitness
Throwing and Catching
Striking
X
4. Exercise Physiology
5. Physical Activity
6. Social Psychological Principles X
Materials:
X
X
Speed/Time/Accuracy
Mat Room
Noodles for half of class
Performance task handout (1 for every student)
Whistle
*Peer Performance Task Worksheet (If time allows)

Safety Rules
Opening:
Warm-up/
Take
Attendance
Fitness
Lesson
Development
Introduction
Lesson Focus
5 min.
2 min.
5 min.
1) Walk on the floor when wearing socks
2) On the mats, move one person at a time from North to South
3) Use space awareness. Watch out for other tumblers
4) Do only the activities the teachers ask you to try to do.
Time
2 min.
Students enter gym and immediately get into scatter squads. Teacher leads stretches.
8 min. Team Marathon Fitness
Instruct each squad to go to a different corner of the gym and sit in line.
When I blow the whistle, the squad leaders will come to me and pick up a fitness card. They must do all the activities listed as a group.
Learning Activities:
Have students quickly get in personal space on mat, facing me.
Review: Ask everyone together to demonstrate, while standing facing me…

Balance position (2)-stork, airplane

Jump (2)-tuck, pike

Forward roll (review skill cues)

Backward roll (review skills cues)

Inverted skill (learn today)-headstand, handstand, cartwheel
*Stress importance of following safety rules,
Activity #1: Headstand/ Handstand
Set-up: Students stand spread out on mats all facing you .
We’ve worked on balance positions with out head higher than out hips, now we’re going to work on balancing with our head below our hips.
What does inverted mean? Upside down
Have students stand with partner and explain that they are going to take turn trying the following skill
Safety Points
Fingers spread apart
Hands: shoulder width apart
Eyes: looking at fingers
Elbows: straight
1.
Introduce and demonstrate Tripod
2.
“Place your head and hands on the mat in a triangle shape.”
3.
“Lift up on your toes, raising your hips in the air.”
4.
“Try to balance your knees on your elbows.”
5.
“Tuck your chin and forward roll to safely come out of tripod.”
6.
“Try getting back in tripod position and if you can hold it for 3 second, slowly and in control, straighten your legs to a headstand, then tuck your chin and roll forward.
Handstand
Have students all stand against the wall.
“Is my center of mass (my bottom) closer to the ground in a headstand or handstand?”
“Your center of gravity has to be directly over your hands. This is very

5 min.
5 min. difficult to do. If back is arched or hips move backwards, gravity will pull you down.”
“Takes a lot of strength to hold the body in the proper “tight” position.
What are the main areas of the body that are used when performing a handstand?” (shoulders, hips, stomach)
Explain that were going to be kicking up against the wall to get into the handstand position. Sort of like using training wheels.
1.
“Put your hand down about a foot away from the wall and put your legs in the position as though your were a sprinter in the starting blocks.”
2.
“Kick your straight leg up, heel first.” (Keep it straight so it will generate more energy to lift your body)
“As your kicking leg goes up and over your head, the other leg that was bent should come up to join the kicking leg, until both legs reach the wall.” Feet should rest on the wall, not slam into the wall. Teach you the right amount of force you need to kick up into a freestanding handstand.
3.
“Now that you’re in position, try to lightly tap your feet away from the wall into a free handstand.”
4.
More advanced students can move away from wall, remind them to roll out of handstand.
Activity #2: Cartwheel (stationary w. noodle)
Set-up: Students get noodle and get back in scatter squads
1.
Have student demo cartwheel for everyone to watch.
2.
Cartwheels are executed by placing hand-hand-foot-foot on mat in a straight line.
3.
The body should look like a wheel.
4.
Very important to learn how to transfer your weight. Have students stand up and practice transferring weight from left to right foot and back, just with hopping.
5.
“How is weight transferred in cartwheel?” (feet to hands and back to feet)
6.
Drill to transfer weight from one side to the other. Everyone needs to get a noodle. Demonstrate how they should place the hands on either side of noodle and transfer weight from one side to the other.
7.
Have students get a noodle and practice. (student kicks up and over the rope with the closer foot, followed by the other foot, a one-two action. Legs may start bent, but should straighten as they kick off the floor.
8.
Have students stand in lunge position perpendicular to noodles with arms forward horizontally. Bend forward placing one hand (hand on same side of body as front foot), then the other hand on each side of the noodle. Simultaneously kick over the noodle with the back foot, followed by the front foot. The students should finish standing on the other side of the noodle. Let student practice this. Round off is hand, hand, feet together.
Activity #3: Cartwheels (In line)
Set-up: Return noodles and get in single file lines behind mats. Separate into three lines (middle school, high school, college)

Closing
Escapes &
Extensions:
Meeting
Individual
Needs:
Evaluation/
Reflection:
4 min.
Have students one a time practice doing cartwheels down the mat. Remind them not to begin until person in front has reached the cone. For middle school, leave noodle in the middle of the mat and just have students walk up, stand in lunge position and practice correctly placing hands and kicking over the noodle. For more advanced students see if they can link a cartwheel with a forward roll, round-off etc…
Allow students time to practice moving down the mat. If have room, designate separate space for students to practice handstands and headstands.
Have everyone take a seat in the center area of the gym
1.
Turn to person next to you and discuss with partner why you think it’s difficult for many people to do a headstand and handstand.
(difficult to maintain the center of gravity in a straight line, weight on shoulders, weak upper arms)
2.
Would anyone like to share some of the reasons they came up with?
3.
Why is a headstand generally easier to do than a handstand? (relying on small muscle group—the shoulders—to support weight of body, smaller base of support)
4.
What are some exercises you can do to strengthen your shoulder and abdominal muscles?
5.
Where do we transfer our weight when doing a cartwheel? (feet to hands to feet)
6.
Review balance poses, jumps, and inverted skills.
Escape : Just have students practice cartwheels with partner using noodles, don’t have them move across the floor in lines.
Extension : Give more practice time for headstands, handstands, and cartwheels.
Have students complete performance task.
Encourage students to work at their own pace, if they don’t feel comfortable doing handstands, let them continue to just work on the tripod stand. Allow lower skilled students to continue practicing the cartwheel using the noodle.
For more skilled students, have them try doing handstands away from a wall and challenge them to see how long they can hold it for. Also, challenge more skilled students to try linking together a cartwheel, handstand, and a roundoff.
Student Learning Expectations:
Implementation:
Resources:

Essential Questions:

What provocative questions will foster inquiry, understanding, and transfer of learning?
Objective will support the cognitive demand required to further understand and discuss this question.
Student Objectives:
Each lesson must include at least two objectives, one psychomotor and one cognitive.
One of these two must be assessed and aligned with the assessment tool and Essential
Question.
Assessment:
This is a ‘big picture’ explanation. Details are mentioned in Lesson Development.
Materials:
Include all equipment for the lesson (for both students and teacher).
Opening:
Assessing prior knowledge, review from a prior lesson, motivation (anticipatory set) for the day’s lesson.
Lesson Development
The instructional sequence will depend upon the strategies and techniques.
1.
Content-Related Warm-up – How will you connect this lesson to their prior knowledge? How will you connect the activity to the content?
2.
Modeling/Direct Instruction – How will you aid students in constructing meaning of new concepts? How will you introduce new skills or procedures?
(Teacher directed)
3.
Guided Practice – What will students do together to use new concepts or skills?
How will you assist student in this process? (Teacher-monitored)
4.
Independent Practice – What opportunities will student have to use new skills and concepts in a meaningful way? How will students expand and internalize their understandings of the concept and apply it to real world situations?
5.
Assessment – How will students demonstrate their mastery of the learning objective? Formative: How will you monitor student progress throughout the lesson? Summative: How will you ensure that all students have mastered the identified learning objective? How will assess their learning?
6.
Closure – How will you assist students in reflecting upon what they learned today and are prepared for tomorrow’s lesson? What homework will be assigned (if any) to help students practice, prepare, or elaborate on a concept or skill taught?
Remember: o Include “Transitions” between lesson segments o Include “Cues” o Bullet points (concise) are acceptable as long as the wording is clear o Provide actual questions/statements you may ask to elicit action for discussion Escapes & Extensions:
Extension or Running Early – what appropriate activities could you add if you complete all other lesson development activities prior to the end of the period?
Running Late – If you find you will not get finished in time, what developmental activities will you cut or modify in you lesson development or closure, without disrupting the flow of the lesson?

Meeting Individual Needs:
Address basic variations for STEP (space, time, equipment, people).
If you have a specific disability, then address it.
Evaluation/Reflection: o Student Learning Expectations: Did students achieve the stated objective? How do you know? If not, why not? How will students evaluate their own progress in meeting the objective(s)?
o Implementation: How effective was the lesson? What went really well? What would you do differently?