This Thanksgiving is not going to be like the ones we have had before. We are in the midst of our second wave, which means the responsible choice is to limit social (family) gatherings. To keep each other safe, we literally have to skip the most important part of our Thanksgiving holiday: coming together as families. Tragically, many are missing loved ones due to the virus, and all I can express is my deepest condolences. It’s not fair. It doesn’t feel like there is much to be thankful for. However, the paradox of dark times is that it brings out the best in those who answer the call to help others. It teaches us to appreciate what is truly important and special in our life.

While we cannot be with our family in person like we have before, we have excellent technology, which allows us to see each other and be together even from far away. While we can’t be with our students in person, we can still teach and be a community online. The fact we had to pivot to a completely different teaching model for most of us is an incredible and admirable feat that will be remembered for ages. The students are still learning; we are still employed. If we are in person, it feels alien to have masks, partitions, social distancing, assigned seats, etc., but the profound effect of in-person social interaction cannot be understated, even if different. Face to face social interaction has incalculable benefits for mental health and wellbeing, and the ultimate goal is for everyone to get back.

Social distancing has meant our favorite hobbies and forms of entertainment has been suspended. Date nights at our favorite restaurant might be gone for now, but we still can get carryout to support our local non-franchise mom and pop restaurants because they are part of our community. Eating out less has meant more home cooked meals, which my soon-to-be toddler has expressed a growing interest in learning how to cook. When the pandemic is ultimately over, life is going to be that much sweeter. There was a reason there was the roaring twenties of the past century, which is often not discussed. A lot of the jubilation was to celebrate the end of a frightening influenza pandemic after WWI. We will eventually make it through, feeling grateful and thankful for the important things like health and family.

In the spirit of being so grateful for all of you who follow my blog posts, give my free lessons a try, and especially to those who have purchased my lesson plans, I want to say Thank You. To express this sentiment, I’m throwing a holiday sale until the end of November.

When you use promo code THANKS in the checkout, you will receive an extra 25% off your entire purchase.

I’m also including a free lesson plan for at-home students called Camouflage, which takes all the fun of virtual hide-and-go-seek and combines it with a lesson on different types of camouflage techniques used by animals.

Thank you again, and good luck.

Camouflage

At-Home Edition

Introduction:

As we go farther and farther into At-Home learning, ideas are beginning to dry up for meaningful physical education lessons. At-Home learning has so many constraints: limited spaces, limited materials, and limited attention. More and more we need to resort to lessons that may not be as “physical,” but over-deliver on the fun component to keep the students engaged. For virtual instruction, keeping the students engaged and happy is as important as any physical or educational standard that we are trying to accomplish. When possible, we can combine low hanging fruit (fun games that keep the students engaged) with a concept from the classroom.

A popular game over Zoom has been a version of hide-and-go-seek. In this version of the game, we combine this idea of hiding with how animals naturally hide themselves with camouflage. This version is not only fun, but also gets the students thinking about animal survival and adaptations.

Materials:

· A computer with a camera

· A decently sized room that has plenty of options for hiding

· Optional: different types of clothing which may help the student blend in to their surroundings

Prior Knowledge: This lesson can be done anytime the students are studying the Second Great Lesson or biology studies.

Presentation

Begin the lesson with introducing the various ways that animals use camouflage to protect themselves or hunt.
- Color Matching
  - This is matching the color of the surrounding environment, and is one of the most basic ways to camouflage.
- Disruptive Coloring
  - This camouflage uses multiple colors to draw focus on different color patterns as opposed to the outline and shape of the animal.
- Self-decoration
  - The animal uses surroundings from the environment to mask their appearance. This will be the method that most students will use to hide themselves.
- Active camouflage
  - The ability to change colors or patterns of the body. Pretty much impossible for our players to do (unless they do something super creative).
- Mimesis
  - Appearing to be something else to confuse a predator. For example, looking like a leaf or branch would dissuade a predator from caring about them.
Now it is time to explain how to play the game. For any part of this game to work, the students need to understand the constraints of their camera, and what it means to be “in frame.” When I explained this to my students, I was in my office and showed them a shelf that I would have used to hide behind because the shelf was “in frame” of the camera. However, I would not have hidden underneath my desk because the students would have had no idea that I was there because they could not see that in the camera. We want the students to have great hiding spots, but it has to be within the camera.
Depending on the number of students, choose one or two predators. Their job is to “hunt” prey in the other screens.
Give the prey at least 60 seconds to camouflage themselves. If they have a parent at home who is willing to help, the parent can turn the camera off and on. The predator should face the opposite way of the camera either way (so they cannot look at the screen) before the game starts.
After the students are done hiding, it is time for the predator to hunt. They have two guesses or chances to correctly guess where the prey is. For every correct guess of where a student is hiding, they earn another guess. We explain to the predators that each guess is like the predator pursuing its prey, which takes a lot of energy. If the predator gets its prey, then the effort used for the hunt is replenished from the food. If the predator is not successful with their guess, this is like the predator using lots of energy and not replacing it with food, which would mean the predator does not have anymore energy for hunting. If the predator gets two wrong guesses in a row, they have starved.
When the predator is looking at the screens and they are ready to take a guess, they must be as specific as possible when guessing. They cannot say something as general as “behind the couch.” They must guess if the student is behind the left sofa pad or the right sofa pad, or if they are underneath the couch. The students must use prepositions when describing the location of the student when guessing.
If the predator is right, then the prey stands up and reveals where they are and the predator gets another guess. If they are not correct, the predator can try again with the same prey or move on to a different prey. If there are several predators, alternate between their guesses.
The game is over either when the predator runs out of guesses or all the prey is found.
Repeat as many times as you can within the time frame and switch up who is the predator. Prey are allowed to hide in the same spot that they did in previous rounds.
It is up to the teacher to watch where students are hiding to deem if the hiding spot is “viewable.”
Some students will get very creative with how they decide to hide themselves, which may include outfit changes or wearing additional clothing. Especially for younger students, give them a gentle reminder to turn off their camera or leave the room if they are changing clothes.

Aims:

Direct: For the students to understand how animals use camouflage to avoid predators.

Indirect:

Listening to directions

Fun

Creative Thinking

Communication skills

Physical skills practiced:

It depends on the locations and methods that the students choose to hide.

Control Of Error:

The instructor, who is not an active participant in the game, needs to monitor the prey to see if they are following the protocol for staying within view. The instructor should also be the timekeeper for hiding time as well.

Points of Interest: The students will be excited to play a game that feels like something they do in person all the time: hide-and-go-seek!

Age: All Ages