Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The Benefits of Tag
After reading the Hall of Shame article, I would have to agree with the article for the most part. Most of the games listed do not comply with any of the state or National standards for Physical Education. However, I did not like reading that tag was in the Hall of Shame. I feel while certain tag games aren't appropriate for PE, that there are certain tag games that are appropriate for the Physical Education classroom setting. There are a few tag games which I learned and incoporated at the summer camp this past summer, which included a lot of physical activity and strategy.
My personal favorite of all of the tag games played this summer was frozen ant tag. The campers liked when I would have this as one of my games at my station. It's a game where you have a few taggers, depending on the size of the class or group. When a person is tagged, they lay on the ground on their back with their feet in the air like a frozen ant. They are free when a person who isn't a tagger comes over and taps their foot. I knew it was a success because the kids would sometimes still keep playing after the whistle was blown. Also, the lazy counselors wouldn't like the game as much because they knew it required a lot of running around. This game is very similar to Buffalo tag.
A second tag game which was also popular was survivor tag. Again depending on the size of the class or group, the class would be divided anywhere from 2-4 teams. This is like regular tag except with teams. Once you're tagged by another team, you have to remain frozen, until one of your teammates rescues you. The last team standing is declared the winner. A modification for this game can be made. You could, divide the class into two teams, it would have to be a smaller class size to accomadate the teams. Once a person is tagged by the other team, then they join that team, and vice versa. The game would last for a long time, and no student would be sitting out. To avoid confusion of teams, students could wear pennies for one side, and the other side could have pennies, but have them hanging from the side. When they are tagged, they put the pennie on, and vice versa for the other side.
Flag tag is a game that I learned at my old college. Each student in the class takes a pennie, or depending on the equipment, actual flags that are used during flag football. I prefer to use the pennie. Anyway, the student takes the pennie, and hangs from the side of their shorts. When the whistle is blown, the objective is to collect as many flags as possible, without your flag being taken. If your flag or flags depending on how many they have, is taken, you're out of the game However, there are two different modifications for this game. The first being that a student can stay in the game, even after their flag is taken, and would just continue to try and get as many flags as possible. The second modification being that a student could grab another flag from the side. I wouldn't suggest the second modification as much since it would require to have a lot of pennies, and it slows the game down.
There are other tag games, such as blob tag, which can be used for an icebreaker in the beginning of a class. Tag can be essential to a Physical Education setting if done properly. The Hall of Shame article was correct when they said that elimination tag games aren't appropriate since students are forced to sit out to the side when they're out. However, if done properly, students can be physically active while participating in these games, and won't have a low self-esteem by being eliminated. They can't be eliminated, if elimination isn't an option.
My personal favorite of all of the tag games played this summer was frozen ant tag. The campers liked when I would have this as one of my games at my station. It's a game where you have a few taggers, depending on the size of the class or group. When a person is tagged, they lay on the ground on their back with their feet in the air like a frozen ant. They are free when a person who isn't a tagger comes over and taps their foot. I knew it was a success because the kids would sometimes still keep playing after the whistle was blown. Also, the lazy counselors wouldn't like the game as much because they knew it required a lot of running around. This game is very similar to Buffalo tag.
A second tag game which was also popular was survivor tag. Again depending on the size of the class or group, the class would be divided anywhere from 2-4 teams. This is like regular tag except with teams. Once you're tagged by another team, you have to remain frozen, until one of your teammates rescues you. The last team standing is declared the winner. A modification for this game can be made. You could, divide the class into two teams, it would have to be a smaller class size to accomadate the teams. Once a person is tagged by the other team, then they join that team, and vice versa. The game would last for a long time, and no student would be sitting out. To avoid confusion of teams, students could wear pennies for one side, and the other side could have pennies, but have them hanging from the side. When they are tagged, they put the pennie on, and vice versa for the other side.
Flag tag is a game that I learned at my old college. Each student in the class takes a pennie, or depending on the equipment, actual flags that are used during flag football. I prefer to use the pennie. Anyway, the student takes the pennie, and hangs from the side of their shorts. When the whistle is blown, the objective is to collect as many flags as possible, without your flag being taken. If your flag or flags depending on how many they have, is taken, you're out of the game However, there are two different modifications for this game. The first being that a student can stay in the game, even after their flag is taken, and would just continue to try and get as many flags as possible. The second modification being that a student could grab another flag from the side. I wouldn't suggest the second modification as much since it would require to have a lot of pennies, and it slows the game down.
There are other tag games, such as blob tag, which can be used for an icebreaker in the beginning of a class. Tag can be essential to a Physical Education setting if done properly. The Hall of Shame article was correct when they said that elimination tag games aren't appropriate since students are forced to sit out to the side when they're out. However, if done properly, students can be physically active while participating in these games, and won't have a low self-esteem by being eliminated. They can't be eliminated, if elimination isn't an option.
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