Ready, Set, Go!

Year Foundation Physical Education — Cross-Country Skill Development

Lesson Duration: 45 minutes
Class Size: 20 students
Curriculum Area: Health and Physical Education – Movement and Physical Activity
Australian Curriculum Version 9.0 — Foundation Level
Strand: Moving Our Bodies

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🧠 Learning Intentions (What we are learning today)

By the end of this lesson, Foundation students will be learning to:

1. Develop fundamental running skills
   • Focus on using correct running technique: tall posture, arms bent and swinging rhythmically, and soft, forward foot placement.
2. Increase stamina
   • Use fun, paced-running activities to begin building endurance.
3. Understand and practise pacing strategy
   • Learn to start slower and finish strong – run like a smart tortoise, not a tired hare!
4. Work as a team and display fair sportsmanship
   • Share, cheer, and take turns, showing respect for teammates and opponents.

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✅ Success Criteria (How we’ll know we did it right)

Students will:

• 🏃‍♂️ Maintain upright posture, with arms swinging gently and feet landing lightly during runs.
• ⏱ Complete a short course (approximately 200m) without stopping, using a steady pace.
• 💭 Verbally reflect on how they managed their energy levels.
• 🤝 Encourage peers and follow game rules without reminders.

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🧩 Materials & Equipment

• 20 coloured running bibs (2 colours, 10 each team)
• 10 mini marker cones
• 1 large marker cone for start line
• Stopwatch or timer
• “Run Smart” visual cards (with smiling tortoise and panting hare)
• Whiteboard or poster board for visual instructions
• Access to a safe grassed oval or large flat outdoor space

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⏰ Lesson Breakdown (45 minutes total)

1. Welcome & Warm-Up (10 minutes)

Activity: 'Run the Rainbow'

• Students jog around a marked circle or oval in one direction; when the whistle blows, the teacher calls out a colour.
• Students must run to a cone of that colour (set up on the outer field). Once there, they do a fun movement (e.g. 5 star jumps, twirl, hop), and re-join the jog.
• Purpose: gently elevate heart rates and engage visual cues, while rehearsing stop/start motor skills.

Explicit Focus (2 mins):

• Briefly overview lesson aims using age-appropriate visuals. Highlight energy levels using fingers (1 = tired, 5 = full energy).
• Introduce Tortoise vs Hare pacing cards. Discuss how each moved (slow & steady vs fast & tired).
• Ask: Which animal won the race? Why?

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2. Skill Drill Stations (15 minutes)

Set-up:
Divide oval into 3 rotating stations (5 minutes each, rotate after whistle).
Children rotate in groups of ~6, with 2 students as 'helpers' collecting equipment for soft leadership experience.

Station 1: Tall & Strong Running

• Students run 20m focusing on posture: head high, arms swinging, knees up gently.
• Encourage soft foot landings – "Quiet Feet Challenge" (can you run quietly?).
• Teacher-led feedback: freeze students mid-run, comment on arm carry or posture.

Station 2: Stamina Snake

• Relay-style slow-paced running around 4 cones (~100m total).
• Emphasis is on breathing and pace – try to keep same speed the entire loop.
• One team member tags the next, others cheer softly, encouraging effort.

Station 3: Pace Match Game

• "Your body’s speed dial": Teacher sets a musical pace (1 = slow music, 3 = medium, 5 = fast).
• Students run in place or short loops trying to match the speed number.
• Pause for a quick chat: How did your body feel at level 3? What about level 5?

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3. Mini Cross-Country Challenge (10 minutes)

"Run to the Forest" Challenge (200m loop – single lap)

• Whole class lines up behind a cone.
• Objective: run one full loop using what’s been learned — don’t start too fast, listen to your body.
• Students practice steady pace, don’t race others. Remind them: “It’s not who finishes first — it’s who finishes strong.”

Cheer Squad: After finishing, students line up beside the track to cheer on others — practising encouragement and respect.

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4. Cool-Down and Reflection (10 minutes)

Activity: Stretch and Sketch

• Students form a circle, do three gentle stretches (arms overhead, toe touches, big arm hugs).
• Teacher uses a large poster board. Students are asked:
  • “What did your body feel like when you ran too fast?”
  • “How did you know you were running just right?”
  • “What can we say to our friends after a good race?”
• Students draw a picture of themselves running using “just-right pace” on a mini whiteboard, or use gestures to show pacing (e.g. tortoise hands).

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🏆 Assessment Opportunities

• Anecdotal notes: Teacher moves throughout stations noting students using appropriate form, good sportsmanship and pacing strategies.
• Observational checklist: Use a simple 3-point scale (Emerging – Developing – Confident) for key success criteria.
• Student self-assessment: Thumbs up/middle/down during cool-down for stamina and pacing reflection.

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🏁 Differentiation & Inclusion

• Adjust distance for students with differing stamina levels.
• Visual pacing cue cards used for EAL/D or neurodiverse learners.
• Use buddy system for processing instructions and peer modelling.
• Offer choice of movement at warm-up cones (star jumps vs high knees).

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🌱 Links to Curriculum Outcomes — Foundation Level

Movement and Physical Activity | Moving Our Bodies

• ACPMP008: Practise fundamental movement skills and movement sequences using different body parts.
• ACPMP009: Participate in games and physical activities to explore and improve movement skills.
• ACPMP011: Demonstrate positive ways to interact with others during physical activities.

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💡 Extension Ideas

• Create a “Class Cross-Country Champion Wall” where students draw a footprint each time they complete a steady-paced run.
• Integrate with literacy by reading "The Tortoise and the Hare" and writing about a time they paced themselves well.
• Introduce basic timing with visible stopwatch runs and chalk markings for self-timed improvement tracks.

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Teacher's Notes 📝

This lesson builds the foundation for structured cross-country running in later years by focusing on play-based, self-aware, and cooperative strategies. The tortoise and hare metaphor proves developmentally appropriate for exploring pacing. Empathy and joy are embedded, helping students make positive emotional associations with endurance-based activities like cross-country.

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Let’s lace up those runners, stretch like a kangaroo, and pace like a tortoise — ready, set, go! 🐢🏃‍♀️🐨