Intentional and Purposeful Recess Activities

My Students

Remember when recess used to be all fun and games? Well, recess can still be fun, with learning involved. Accountability is at an all time high and my students need fun LEARNING activities to do while having recess. CPS mandates a 25 minute recess and I want my students intellectually engaged.

My students attend a school in Illinois.

Almost all of the students are minority students and come from single parent homes. Furthermore, 94% of the students are low income, most of whom only eat when they are at school. The streets are infested with gangs and so the students do not have much time outside of school to be outside. With the educational supplies and resources I would like to purchase, my students will be outside during recess, while engaging in highly purposeful and intentional activities.

My Project

With accountability at an all time high, students must be intellectually engaged and challenged at all times. The school day in Illinois is one of the shortest days in the country so teachers must maximize all minutes in the day, including recess. With the alphabet balls, parachute, and instructional bean bag set, I plan to have my students learning while engaging in hands-on types of activities on the playground. Not only will these materials strengthen student literacy skills, it will also improve their hand-eye coordination and motor skills. The bean bag set will be used on the playground for small groups of students to play with. The teacher assistants will allow students to practice their letters, while playing with the bean bags. Students will also use the parachutes to learn their colors. Finally, the activity mates will be used to teach students about different types of loco-motor skills.

Teachers must maximize instructional time to ensure students are able to complete in a global society.

Many minority schools lack the funding needed to deliver students a premier education so they can compete in this society. I am asking that you donate these instructional outdoor activity sets to my students so they are able to be saturated in literacy activities during the entire school day. Time is too valuable to not be teaching!