The Art of Sport When we started thinking of ideas for the Celebrating 2012 project we ended up with many more ideas than could fit into the booklet. Rather than have them go to waste they are listed here, by subject, for extra inspiration. Art Ask the children to think about their favourite sport and one action carried out while doing it. With a partner they should act it out in slow motion. Critique each other positively. Take digital photographs of each stage of the movement. Download the photos to a computer and print out. Use these photos to create a painting in which each stage of the movement can be seen. Look at the work of Roald Bradstock for inspiration, particularly his javelin paintings, for inspiration. Look at images of ancient Greek ceramics. Many depict athletes in a distinctive style using black figures on a terracotta background. The children could work in pairs applying layers of papier maché to a giant balloon. When dry, take off the balloon then add a ring of card to the top and bottom to make a neck and a pedestal. Paint all over in a terracotta colour then when dry, lightly sketch a moving figure in the style of ancient Greek imagery. Use either a fine brush with black paint or a black fibre tipped pen to fill in the figure. Families in many parts of Africa are too poor for the children to have toys so they make them very creatively from old wire. Any soft wire that bends and holds its shape works well. Show the children some pictures of people playing different sports then bend and twist the wire to make figures showing movement. Challenge the children to make figures with only 3 pieces of wire or pipe cleaners. Stick feet to thick card to enable the figures to stand. Before or after making wire figures try drawing figures without taking the pencil off the paper. The continuous lines will reflect the shapes made by the wire. Sport and Movement is a great theme for making flip books. These can start as simple stick figures on pieces of photocopy paper and can become more sophisticated as the children become more engaged. Free flip book software can be found on the internet if you want to take it a stage further. Flip books can be used to emphasise or consolidate an area of learning as well as checking understanding and for the fun of making. Look at artists who show movement and what they do with the background in each image. Look at Roald Bradstock, Debbie Sampson, Tafa, LeRoy Neiman and Daniel You. A range of dynamic marks in the background can add to the feeling of movement. Experiment with a range of media and produce backgrounds onto which a figure could be placed. Try overlapping lines and shapes, blurred edges and flowing lines. This is a Visual Literacy exercise. Look at Umberto Boccioni s Dynamism of a Cyclist painted in 1913. Ask the children questions including what can you see? What makes you think that? How does the artist make it look like it is moving? What do you think about the colours? Encourage the children to express an opinion to develop speaking and listening skills. Look at other Boccioni paintings showing movement and compare. 1
Show the children Leonardo Da Vinci s Vetruvian Man and draw a figure posed in the same way. Or draw poses used in gymnastics and aim to make the figure symmetrical. On cartridge paper make a background full of movement using oil pastels or wax crayons painted over with Brusho or watercolour paint. Cut out several versions of the figure and glue onto the background in a repeated pattern. Further figures can be added as a second layer in a different colour if desired. Cut a figure from medium thickness card and place under a piece of thin paper such as A4 printer or photocopy paper. Ink the roller with a very thin layer of ink then roll over the card figure. Move the figure to a different position and roll over with a second thin layer of printing ink. This can be repeated as many times as desired with the children deciding how to arrange each figure under the paper. Coloured tissue paper can be layered and arranged to give a sense of movement. Cut or torn edges create different results, as does the arrangement of the colours. Accurately cut diamond shapes can suggest jerky, jagged movements or a feeling of falling. Torn tissue glued into circles can suggest spinning. Use well diluted PVA glue or a thin mixture of cellulose paste to glue the tissue to cartridge paper or thin card. Make sure the adhesive is used on both sides of the tissue to ensure firm adhesion. Literacy Find out which is the only sport to have been played on the moon. Write a paragraph to explain what happened. (KS1) Ask the children to pick their favourite sport then write down a set of instructions and rules as if explaining it to an alien. It needs to be as simple as possible and may include illustrations. Alternatively, they could present the information as a set of illustrated cards which can then be put in order. (KS1/KS2) How many children in the class play a sport regularly outside school? The children could interview each other about why they do it, how it makes them feel, how they feel when they win or lose. Follow this by interviewing an adult who plays sport regularly. Ask the same questions and compare the answers. Are there any significant differences? (KS1/KS2) Learn the word Hello in the languages of countries taking part in an international sporting event. Draw the flag of the country on paper then add the word, drawing it out in a nice font and colouring in. This links language with graphics, presentation and Geography. (KS1/KS2) Write some anagrams of different sports and display in class for the children to solve. Once they have some experience they can write the anagrams for the following week. Extend by finding more unusual sports. (KS1/KS2) Invite a sports journalist from the local paper into school to talk to the children about their job. Prepare by devising and writing interesting questions. Focus on open-ended questions modelling examples for the children on the board. (KS1/KS2) 2
Ask the children to imagine they are in the middle of playing a match of some kind. Things can be going well or their team could be losing. Something or someone unusual appears on the pitch. What is it? Who is it? Begin the story just before this strange appearance then continue the story? How does it end? This could be a good opportunity to introduce anti-climax as a story device. (upper KS1/KS2) Video a school sports match (football, netball, hockey etc) without any sound. Show the children the short film and ask them to do the commentary. It might help if they listen to a famous commentary such as the 1966 World Cup. Help them to identify important words or phrases that are very descriptive. Record the commentaries. (KS2) Newspaper reviews give the children a range of newspapers and allow time for them to look through the sports pages and discuss among themselves (20 mins or more). As the children to feed back about the issues they found in the paper was there a controversial decision? Who got the highest score? Who is on their way to winning a championship? This can help reluctant readers to be more interested. Pair children together if it helps with their reading skills. The children can then write up the highlights on strips of paper and put them on a sport-themed display board. The board can be kept interactive by updating every week by reading the sports pages for a few minutes once a week. Make sure a range of sports are included to keep interest high across the class. This works best over a short period such as 3 or 4 weeks. (KS2) Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4 children according to the sport they love best. Brainstorm words that they would use about that sport to convince others that it is exciting. They mustn t make false claims but must be enthusiastic and persuasive. Put each group together with another and read the words out. Take it in turns and get each group to question each other about the words used, thus developing single words into phrases and statements. From there each group must write a paragraph that promotes their sport and incorporates some of the words used. Challenge them to write the paragraph without naming the sport then read it to other children and ask them to identify the sport. (KS2) Look at the countries taking part in an international sporting event and get each child to choose a country. Their task is to write a travel or holiday leaflet about it. Use of persuasive language to highlight features of the country is important as they need to write in a way that would encourage people to visit. (KS2) Chariot racing was a hugely popular sport among the Romans. Help the children to find out some more about the sport, the arenas and the crowds that watched then write an account of a chariot race as if they were in the audience. (KS2) Numeracy Choose an international sporting event that awards medals such as the Commonwealth Games. List the medals awarded to each country and present the data in a bar chart (data handling). (KS1/KS2) Ordering of numbers - Provide a list of results given in time (e.g. a tournament or race) and ask the children to put them in order starting with the winner. Extend this by using decimal places for more able children. (KS1/KS2) 3
Football pitch co-ordinates draw a football pitch on cm squared paper and give one to each child. Provide several sets of starting points and co-ordinates that they must follow to work out if the player scores a goal, ends up with a free kick or is off side. (upper KS1/KS2) Mathematical sports league put the children into pairs by ability. Each pair makes up a list of 6 team names for their favourite sport it helps if the sport is one that gives scores in double or triple figures e.g. cricket. Next the children decide which teams are playing each other in Round 1. For each team the children throw 2 dice and either add or multiply the dice to get a score for that team. Write down the scores and list the teams in order. Which team wins? Draw teams to play each other for Round 2 and again note the scores putting the teams in order. Add together the scores for both rounds and work out who is the overall winner and the order of all the other teams. This can be extended with the children devising a league and working out which teams play each other. The children enjoy making up team names and it is an engaging way to extend or consolidate existing basic number skills. (KS2) Go to www.letour.fr and look at a map of the route covered during the Tour de France. What distance is the total race? Which town is closest to the UK and what distance is it? (KS2) History Find out about the Aztec game of Tlachtli. How was it played? Was it a team game? (KS1/KS2) Archery was very popular in Tudor England. Think about why that might have been (they needed good archers for war) and whether there is a link between the need for skills in a certain area and the subsequent development of a sport. Look at how sports like, shot putt, javelin and the hammer throw. Do these sports or any other sports have a link with a need for these skills in history? (KS2) Compare the game of football as it is played today and as it was in the Tudor period. Make a list of similarities and differences. (KS2) Link with work in Art on Ancient Greece to investigate sport and the way in which the games in ancient Greece have influenced modern sports and sporting tournaments. Compare the sports held in the ancient games with those held now. (KS2) Geography Choose a country that takes part in a major sporting competition and create a single page fact file. Include population, weather, major geographical features, biggest exports etc. Find a fact about the chosen country that is really surprising. Link with Literacy and/or ICT for presentation e.g. use a desktop publishing program to present the information attractively. (KS2) 4
Science Sports people need to be fit and many sports need good lung capacity. Go to www.sciencekids.co.nz to find out how to test your lungs. Compare results across the class and decide how to present the results (data logging). (KS2) All sports people use their muscles. What happens to your upper arm when you curl it towards your chest? Investigate whether the muscle contracts or relaxes when the arm is moved upwards. Many muscles work in pairs. Devise an experiment to show how the muscles work or make a model of the muscles in the arm using card, split pins and elastic bands. (KS2) DT Look at a variety of trainers (real or in catalogues). Make a list of the materials used in their construction. What features do the trainers have (air cushioning etc). Compare with old plimsolls. What advantages do athletes have with modern trainers? Link with Science to consider materials and their properties. (KS2) Athletes need to wear kit that is suitable for the sport they are involved in. List some sports and the clothes worn for each one. Compare samples of different shirts and shorts fabrics. What properties are needed? Do they need to insulate? Must they be washable? Breathable? Design a kit for a sports person indicating the sport and the properties needed. Draw out the design labelling all the features as well as making the kit attractive. (KS2) Music Link with PE and Dance and move to music of different styles. Fit the movements to the music and try to demonstrate different sports through the movements made. (KS1) Watch a film clip of a sport then compose a short piece of music to accompany the film clip. (KS1/KS2) Create short pieces of music that are intended to be played while watching different sports. How can the music evoke the spirit of a particular sport? Can the rhythm be used to reflect the movements made in a specific sport? Perform the compositions and ask others to guess the sport. (KS2) ICT Find some interesting information on the Tour de France type it up and present on an A4 page. Alternatively use a Fascinating Facts format by finding information that is surprising and entertaining. (KS2) 5
PE Do some basic ball skills work and include counting in multiples to link PE and Numeracy. For example, bounce and catch a ball ensuring the total is a multiple of 4. (KS1/KS2) A School Festival of Sport Use ICT lessons to design and print fliers and posters for the school s festival of sport. Choose one design to be used or create elements that must be included and allow for some individuality as long as the important details are all the same. (KS1/KS2) Whole School Events School Twinning if your school doesn t have a partner school somewhere else in the world, why not set one up in 2012? Decide on the focus for the twinning e.g. learning about life in that country with a particular emphasis on sport. Children could become pen friends with children in the partner school via email and exchange information. This helps develop awareness of other cultures and lifestyles. (KS1/KS2) 6