Today on the PE Express podcast, I'll share a few tips on jump rope skills for the intermediate student.

Welcome to the PE Express podcast two to three times a week, a PE expert will share a tip, activity idea, or teaching strategy to help you become a better PE professional. Today's host is Chris Nichols. Chris has been a Physical Education teacher for 23 years and is the 2018 Texas APHERD Elementary Physical Education teacher of the year.

Today I want to share a few ideas about teaching jump rope skills to your intermediate students. The intermediate students at my school are classified as third through fifth grade. I like to first start with link selection, dependent on the height of the jumper. It should be long enough so that the ends reach to the armpits. Grades three through five need a mixture of ropes, varying from seven to nine feet. For my EC students, I use segmented ropes but switched to speed ropes for the intermediate students to promote more speed and control. I introduce three new skills a day and allow the students to experiment with those skills. I used to demonstrate all the skills myself, but after 23 years in the gym, my skills aren't the same, so I rely on animated videos or even better use students if you can, to show the skills.

A sampling of some of those skills for the intermediate students includes: The standard basic jump skiers, bell straddle, heel to heel, heel to toe, toe to toe, swing kick, rocker and can can. There are so many skills that you can introduce to the students. What I also like to do is I create a wall of fame where I hang posters around the gym with each one of the skills. Once the student has mastered that skill, they're allowed to go write their name on that wall of fame. There are so many skills out there that can test their abilities, challenge your students, allow them to select what they would like to do and use music to allow them to create opportunities with movement sequences. Thank you for listening and have a great day.