With the grade 6 and 7 PE classes, I broke out an old favorite of mine, Capture the Flag. If you've never played before the object of the game is to find and take the opposing teams' flag and bring it safely back to your side of the playing field without getting caught by the opposing team. To make it more realistic for the students and to provide them with a clear visual of the boundaries that we were using, I took an overhead picture of our schoolyard and split it into two playing territories. I think the map sold the students on the idea of the game (as did free roam of the whole schoolyard) and I sent them out to hide their team flags and create a jail to house any prisoners they captured.
In a matter of no time, the students were racing across their territories looking for the best hiding places for their teams flag and trying to find a good spot to set up a jail that made it difficult for the other team to rescue anyone. It was great to watch how the teams worked together and strategized throughout the game--helping one another get out of jail, plotting how to capture certain threats and calling for back up as their flags were in jeopardy of being stolen. On top of it all, they were getting a great cardiovascular workout from all the running they were doing throughout the schoolyard.
This was by far one of my favorite PE classes of the year and judging by the smiles and red faces on the students in the pics below, it was for them as well!
