Crows and Cranes Lesson Plan

Name: Karolinka Peterka

Grade Level: 3
rd

Content Area: PE
Date for Implementation: 5/27/14
Lesson Title: Crows and Cranes
Small Group/Whole Class

Goal: (PE 3.1.1) Chase, flee, and move away from others in a constantly changing environment.

Content Objective: Students will chase and flee from their classmates while playing the tag game of
Crows and Cranes.

Language Objective: Students will listen for and distinguish between words in the Cr consonant cluster
to determine their next move in the game.

Assessment:
Formative Assessment: I will observe the students while they are playing the game to determine
if students are following the correct instructions, running the correct direction based on the
word called, and reacting in a reasonable amount of time.

Summative Assessment: I will score the students based on following the correct instructions of
the game; successfully chasing their opposing classmates at the correct time; successfully fleeing
their opposing classmates at the correct time; and having a reasonable reaction time (not
running before the name is called, not delaying)
3 Proficient
2 Satisfactory
1 Needs Improvement

Materials:
Open area with boundary lines
List of Cr words:
o Cross
o Crash
o Crawl
o Crab
o Crayfish
o Cricket
o Crisp
o Creepy
o Cram
o Creek
o Crib






Differentiation:
I will have a signs with the target word (crow, crane, etc.) written on them. There is one student
in the class who has trouble hearing so the visual word will reinforce the spoken word.
Not all students are strong in running, therefore, to keep the game fair, after a few rounds I will
vary the method of locomotor movement (walking, skipping, hopping, etc.)
I will use partner talks and modeling to reinforce the rules of the game, auditorily and visually. In
partner talks students can practice speaking in a smaller, more comfortable setting.
S
t
a
r
t
-
C
r
o
w
s

S
t
a
r
t
-
C
r
a
n
e
s

S
a
f
e
t
y
-
C
r
o
w
s

S
a
f
e
t
y
-
C
r
a
n
e
s

Instructional Sequence:
Introduction:
1. We will begin the PE lesson with a quick warm-up. I will have students line up in front of
me with their arms outstretched so everyone has room. I will tell the students that we
will be doing a lot of quick running in our PE game so we have to warm up and stretch our
muscles first. We will play Simon Says : I will model the stretches and they should follow
my lead.
2. First I will have them roll their shoulders forward 5 times, then roll their shoulders
backward 5 times. I will have them reach down for the ground and hold for 5-10 seconds.
3. Then we will reach for the sky.
4. As they are reaching for the sky I will have them use their right hand to hold their left wrist
and gently lean to the right. We will hold for 5-10 seconds, then we will repeat to the left.
5. Next we will do the lunge calf stretch, holding for 5-10 seconds on each side.
6. Finally, they will stretch their quads by balancing on their left foot and holding their right
ankle behind them with their right hand. I will encourage students to hold their left arm
out for balance. We will repeat to with the left leg.
7. Now I will give instructions on how to play the game. I will split the class into two teams
using their class numbers (evens vs. odds). I will tell them that we will be playing a game
called Crows and Cranes, one team will be the Crows, and the other will be the Cranes.
8. Each team will line up along their start line so that they are facing the other team. I will
then call a team name. If I call the Crows, the Crows will run towards the Cranes and try
to catch them. To get away, the Cranes will have to turn around and run to their safety
line. If I call Cranes, the Cranes chase the Crows and the Crows turn around and run for
safety. Once you are past the safety line, you are safe and can stop running. If you get
caught, you still get to play, you just have to join the other team.
9. I will ask students if they have any questions. Then, to make sure they understand the
instructions, I will ask:
a. When do you start running?
b. What happens when I call Crows/Cranes?
c. What happens when I get caught?
d. What happens when I pass my safety line?

Body:
1. I will begin the game by alternating between calling Crow and Crane.
2. I will observe the students to see if they are following instructions and reacting correctly.
3. To increase the challenge, after a few rounds I will tell the students I will make it more
tricky. They have to be extra careful listeners because I will try to trick them. Instead of
always calling Crow or Crane, sometimes I will call another word that starts with Cr. If I
say a word that is not Crow or Crane, they shouldnt run anywhere. They only run when
they hear Crow or Crane.
4. Variation: Instead of having students run to their safety lines, they need to use a different
locomotor movement (skipping, hopping, walking, etc.)
5. Other Variation: Change the teams to Odd and Even. When I call out a multiplication fact,
if the product is even, the Even team chases the Odd team. If the product is odd, the Odd
team chases the Even team.
6. While the students are playing, I will be taking notes on the students performance (see
Assessment)

Closure:
1. We will come together as a class to discuss the game. I will ask questions such as:
a. How did you feel during the game?
b. When did you usually get caught?
c. Was it easy or hard? What parts were easy? What parts were hard?
d. Did you notice yourself reacting faster by the end of the game?

5/27/14
Reflection on Teaching Crows and Cranes

I had the opportunity to teach the PE lesson Crows and Cranes to a class of 25 third graders. Given
the circumstances, I think the lesson went pretty well. There was high engagement throughout the whole
lesson and everyone in the class was eager to participate. Also, judging by their laughs, the students were
having fun and enjoying the lesson. I generally had positive behavior throughout the game. When
students got caught by the opposing team, there were no disputes. When the students were reminded to
switch teams after they were tagged, the students complied without debate. Finally, despite the fact that
we had a very limited time for the lesson, the students were able to learn the rules of the game quickly.
They paid attention to the instructions and figured out the details of the game during the first few rounds.
One reason this lesson was challenging was because we ran out of time. The PE lesson was the
last lesson of the day, and due to the nature of the other lessons, we only had fifteen minutes to learn the
game and play. I explained the rules to the students inside the classroom before we went out to the
basketball courts. Unfortunately, because I wanted to give the students the chance to play, my
instructions were not as thorough as I would have wished. Therefore, the first few rounds of playing
Crows and Cranes did not go very smoothly. However, after being exposed to the game the students
caught on quickly. One thing that I forgot to mention was what the students should do after a round is
over. I had to give them additional instructions on returning to their start positions while the students
were already playing. Because we were already outside, some of the students were having difficulty
listening. Also, the lines on the basketball court were not very clear. Not all students had a definite start
line to stand on so lining up the students was a bit of a struggle. Finally, because we played right up until
the end of the school day, we did not have an opportunity to try any of the other variations of the game,
like using different words as tricks, or trying different locomotor movements. I also did not have a chance
to debrief with the students to talk about the game as I had planned in my closure.
Because I only had a very short time to teach Crows and Cranes, I would definitely want to return
to this PE lesson with the students. However, there are some changes that I would like to implement next
time I teach it so that the lesson can be more successful. First of all, I want to make sure that I have at
least thirty to forty-five minutes for this lesson. That way we would have enough time to thoroughly go
over the directions, try the other variations, and debrief at the end. Furthermore, I would use a whistle to
get the attention of the class while we are outside. I could also use the whistle to signal the students to
return to their start positions so we could start another round. I think the whistle will help get their
attention before giving instructions. Because the students did listen better while we were inside, I would
still explain all the rules inside the classroom. However, I would make sure that the students also knew to
return to their start positions. Next time I would draw the basketball court on the board to give the
students a visual of where they would be standing and where they would be running. While we were still
in the classroom, I would have students partner talk to review the rules of the game and different What
if scenarios. This would limit the confusion when we actually got outside. Finally, next time I would
review some safety rules with the students before we begin playing, especially when it comes to running
and tagging. I did have one student who started pulling on clothing instead of tagging which led to some
minor accidents. Had we had time to go over these expectations before playing, these issues could have
been avoided.
Overall, given the shortened time limit, I think the lesson was pretty successful. Because the
students enjoyed playing the game, I think they will be excited if I reteach the lesson. Since they already
know how to generally play the game, next time we can focus on developing the rules and expectations,
talking about the students reactions to the game, and experimenting with different variations.