Strengths and Shapes - Outcome B(4-6) - 4

Gymnastics is a good dimension to explore individual differences as many students who are very skilled at traditional sports may find the flexibility component of gymnastics a challenge.

As a cool down or warm up activity ask students to perform a variety of stretches involving flexibility of many segments of the body.

Why are some students more flexible than others? For the same reason some people can easily climb a rope and others cannot. Some reasons include:

• Inherent body structure
• Practice - how often do they stretch
• Do they like the activity

Brainstorm ways to improve flexibility.

Add a stretching component to each class. See if students notice a change in their flexibility or range of motion by the time the gymnastics unit is complete.

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