Cheer and Dance
Spirit clubs have been popular for
many years. However, over the years,
cheer and dance have become much
more than just cheering for your
favorite
team or player.
Cheer and dance have
taken on a whole new
face and become a
sport with competitive
tournaments of their
own.
In 1996, American
Youth Football and
Cheer was created to
promote the wholesome development of
youth through their
association with adult
leaders in the sport
of American football
and cheerleading. This
organization has helped Cheer and Dance organizations spring up around the country, and kids of all
ages are getting involved.
Caprock Press
girls of all ages. In
addition to the
skills and routines
learned during
regular classes and
camps, cheer tournaments often take
place on weekends
or during the summer. Contact the
youth football and
cheer organizations
in your community
to learn more about
upcoming camps or
classes in your area.
Activities
PHYSICAL EDUCATION Divide into
groups and develop a school cheer with appropriate movements. Each group should teach the
other groups their cheers and routines.
READING Some words have multiple mean-
ings. Define the word “spotting” as it is used in
the article. What are some of the other definitions for “spot”?
ART Sketch several cheerleading stunts. Remember, over two-high pyramiding is illegal.
MATH How long has the American Youth
Football and Cheer Organization been in existence?
ART/WRITING Create a poster that promotes Cheer and Dance as great exercise.
CRITICAL THINKING/ART What is
school spirit? Do you think you have it? Make a
poster, banner, bookmark, or some other product
that conveys your school spirit.
Safety First
It is important that Cheer and Dance Squads
follow industry safety rules when performing their
stunts and routines. The American Youth Football
and Cheer Organization prohibits the use of trampolines, springboards, and over two-high pyramiding.
Cheer Classes and Camps
Cheer classes and camps are offered in many
communities around the country. These instructional
opportunities provide training and fun for boys and
Basics Taught at Cheer and Dance Organizations
• Performance Cheers and Sideline Chants
• Jump and Motion Techniques
• Stunt Training
• Safety and Spotting Techniques
• Choreography (Dance Routines)
Discussion Quest ions
Does your school have a spirit club?
Do you think Cheer and Dance
routines provide a lot of
beneficial exercise?
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Activities
Housework and Chores
as Exercise
Common Chores Around
the House that Count as Exercise
When we think
about exercise, running, push-ups, and
structured physical activity games
or sports come to
mind. However, everyday activities such
as housework and chores can provide just as
many health benefits as regular structured exercise. In addition, people experience the benefit
of accomplishing tasks at home.
• Vacuuming briskly
• Sweeping floors or porches
• Mowing the lawn (push mower)
• Pulling weeds
• Raking the leaves
• Washing windows or walls
• Cleaning out the garage
• Rearranging the furniture
• Carrying groceries in from the car
• Washing a car
• Planting flowers
• Trimming shrubs
Discussion Quest ions
List or draw other household chores that
can provide exercise.
Does your family share
housework chores?
What kinds of household
chores do you do?
CRITICAL THINKING/WRITING
With your family or in class, make a list or draw
good cleaning or organizing projects for your
home. How will these projects provide physical
activity and which muscles will benefit?
MATH Megan’s mom rearranged the fur-
niture in the living room and dining room,
which burned approximately 172 calories.
Then, she vacuumed for 20 minutes, which
burned another 43 calories. Finally, she went
outdoors and raked leaves for approximately 45
minutes and burned another 196 calories. How
many calories did Megan’s mom burn in all?
ART Divide a piece of paper in half. On one
side, draw a picture of a household chore you
don’t mind doing. On the other side, draw a
picture of a household chore you don’t like
doing. Which chore do you think provides the
most exercise?
READING Categorize the household chores
in the activity as outdoor or indoor chores.
Outdoor and indoor are antonyms or opposites.
Make a list of other antonyms.
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Discussion Quest ions
What are your favorite holiday recipes?
What other kinds of healthy options
can you make available during the
holiday season?
Activities
MATH Use measuring cups to measure
dry ingredients. Compare ¼, ¾, and ½ cups.
Which is greater?
Place a food thermometer in cold water and
record the temperature. Now, place the
thermometer in warm water and record the
temperature.
Holiday Recipes
During the holiday season, it is a good
idea to have several sugar-free and
low-fat or fat-free dessert options at
your holiday gatherings.
Green Holiday Pudding
1 package of sugar-free and fatfree pistachio pudding
1 container of sugar-free and
fat-free Cool Whip
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or
pecans
1 can crushed pineapple, in
unsweetened juice, drained
Mix the Cool Whip and the pistachio pudding together in a bowl.
Add the drained pineapple and
mix well. Then, add the walnuts
or pecans. Refrigerate two hours
before serving.
Serves 4-6 (regular portions)
Serves 8-12 (smaller healthier portions)
Sweet Potato Pie
Piecrust:
1 Grapenuts crust - 1 1/4 cups Grapenuts plus 1/8 to 1/4 cup of sugar-free
maple syrup
Pie Filling:
Egg substitute equivalent to 2 eggs
1 1/2 cups cooked, mashed sweet
potatoes
1 1/4 cups skim milk
3/4 cups Splenda (granular)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp each of allspice, cloves, and
nutmeg
Preheat oven to 425°F. Put the Grapenuts and sugar-free maple syrup in a
9-inch pie pan to form a piecrust. Combine all the filling ingredients and pour
into the crust. Bake 15 minutes, then
reduce heat to 350°F and continue
baking 40 minutes until set.
Serves 6-8 (regular portions)
Serves 12-16 (smaller healthier portions)
ART Draw pictures to illus-
trate the recipes in the article.
READING Read the nutri-
tion facts label on a package
of Grapenuts and fat-free
pistachio pudding. How many
calories does a serving of each contain? How
much fat is in a serving? How many grams of
fiber are in a serving of each?
MATH/ART Using your best estimates and
small paper plates, draw and compare the two
serving sizes suggested for each recipe in the
article. As a class, compare and discuss your
estimates and drawings.
WRITING/ART Family and friends often
drop by during the holiday season. With your
family or in class, make a list or draw healthy
snacks, foods, and physical activity options that
you can have on hand when company drops
by.
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Breaking Holiday
Eating Habits
During the holidays, people often eat more foods
that are high in sugar and fat and they usually take in
a lot more calories than they burn. This type of holiday eating pattern can cause a person to derail from
his/her typical healthy lifestyle. Once the body has
adapted to eating more sweets and high fat foods, it
begins to crave these foods more often. These types
of cravings can be hard to resist.
It is important that people return to their healthy eating patterns as soon as possible after the holidays.
Use the following tips to regain your healthy eating and lifestyle habits.
1. Visit www.choosemyplate.govand
andrequest
requestanother
anotherpersonalized
personalized
plan. Review the recommended servings of foods and physical
activity time.
2. Stock your refrigerator and pantry with plenty of vegetables, fruits,
and whole grains.
3. Get rid of leftover holiday snacks or beverages that are high in fat
or sugar.
4. Drink plenty of water throughout the day.
Discussion Questions
What kinds of foods did you eat
during the holidays?
How do you plan to improve your eating
habits now that the holidays are over?
Activities
MATH
Kate’s
personalized
MyPyramid
MyPlate
planplan
indicates that she
should eat
approximately
1800 calories per
day and spend at
least 60 minutes each day being physically
active. During the holidays, she ate around
2400 calories per day and was physically active
around 25 minutes each day. How many more
calories per day did Kate consume during the holidays?
How many less minutes
per day was Kate physically active than was
recommended on
her personalized
MyPyramid
MyPlate
plan?
5. Return to your typical eating schedule as soon as possible.
READING
6. Avoid large meals and the opportunity to overeat.
7. Eat three smaller meals and two healthy snacks to give you energy
throughout the day.
8. Increase your physical activity time to burn off any extra pounds
gained during the holidays.
9. Plan opportunities to be physically active at home with family
members (brisk walks, shoot hoops, inline skating).
10. Try to balance your daily calorie intake and physical activity.
Circle the healthy foods that should be included in a person’s diet. Put an X on
foods that should be limited or avoided.
carrots
sodas
candy bars
fat-free milk
cookies
milk shakes
apples
beans
whole wheat bread
french fries
lean meats
green beans
water
fat-free yogurt
fried chicken
Page 4
Answers on page 6
Review the
list of tips in the article with a family member
or classmate. Put a check mark by the tips that
you feel you are already doing. How can you
include some of the other tips?
WRITING/ART
Write or draw a three-day
healthy menu to help you get over the holiday
eating hump.
ART Illustrate one or more
of the healthy tips in the
article.
PROBLEM
SOLVING Suggest some
ways that people could avoid the typical holiday
eating patterns that frequently cause weight
gain.
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Activities
READING/WRITING Describe, in writ-
ing, your last health screening. Give facts and
opinions about the experience. Trade papers
with a classmate and proof, edit, or make suggestions that would enhance the paper.
School Health Screenings
Have you had a health screening at your school this year?
Have you had your vision or hearing checked? Have you
ever wondered why your school takes time every year to
make sure you aren’t having any health problems? Fortunately, school health screenings identify early health problems that may otherwise go undetected.
Common school health screenings include:
• Vision
• Immunizations
• Height and Weight
• Dental
• Hearing
• Scoliosis
• Pediculosis (Lice)
• Tuberculosis
If a nurse feels that a child might have a medical or dental
problem, a letter is sent home to the parents requesting
that the child be seen by the appropriate medical professional. The letter must be signed by a physician or dentist
and returned to the school.
Keeping the School
Environment Healthy
It is important that schools
make efforts to keep their
environments sanitary and
free of germs or illnesses
that can be spread from
person to person. There
are several steps students
and school staff can take to keep their
building and classrooms healthy:
• Cover your nose and mouth with tissue
or
cough
and sneeze
into your elbow.
when
coughing
or sneezing.
• Throw used tissues in the trash.
• If you use your hands to cover your
mouth or nose, make sure you wash
them immediately.
• Wash your hands throughout the day.
You will learn more about hand washing on the next page.
• Wash desks and commonly shared
surfaces on a regular basis.
• Stay home when you are sick.
Fill in the missing letter in the
following school health words:
Sc__liosis
Im__unizations
H__ight
__ision
Nur__e
Answers on page 6
__earing
ART Create a picture or a thank you card that
shows your appreciation for your school nurse.
MATH If your school
nurse conducts five different health screenings
per year in each classroom and your school
has 20 classrooms, how
many classroom health
screenings will be performed this year? Explain how
you found your answer.
CRITICAL THINKING
Checking a student’s height
and weight is a common
health screening in schools. If
a child’s weight is abnormally
low or abnormally high, should
this be a health concern?
What should the school nurse probably do?
WRITING/ART Write or draw a classroom
checklist that lists or
illustrates ways to keep
your classroom healthy.
Hang it up to remind
students to follow these
steps on a daily basis.
Examples: wash hands,
clean surfaces, etc.
Discussion Quest ions
Why are school health
screenings important?
What kinds of health screenings
have you had this year?
Discussion Quest ions
What would you do if someone
coughed in their hand and then
wanted to shake your hand?
At home, what kinds of towels do
you use to dry your hands?
Activities
READING Sequencing is putting events in
order. Rewrite the hand washing procedures out
of proper order. Exchange with a classmate and
have them number the steps in the proper order.
Did they do it correctly?
MATH Create a time chart for a typical day.
Write the phrase “wash hands” for the times of
the day that you are most likely to wash your
hands.
ART Draw a picture that illustrates a pair of
hands being washed and germs falling off the
hands and dying as they go down the drain.
PROBLEM SOLVING What would you
do if you had a friend that never washed his/her
hands after going to the bathroom?
CRITICAL THINKING/ART Create a
sign that could be posted in your kitchen or
bathroom at home to remind others to wash
their hands.
Page 5 Answers
Scoliosis, Height, Vision, Immunizations,
Nurse, Hearing
Page 4 answers
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Why and When Should You
Wash Your Hands?
Everyone has been told
to wash his or her hands.
In fact, Healthy and Wise
covers this topic every year
and even gives students
steps for washing their
hands properly. While we
have covered some of the
basic reasons for washing one’s hands, today
we are going to discuss
some of the more serious
consequences related to
infrequent hand washing.
Hand-transmission is a critical factor in the spread
of bacteria, pathogens, viruses, foodborne illness,
and other infections. Studies and inspections in
hospitals, schools, and childcare centers often find
that hand washing is greatly neglected. In fact, it is
very common to find fecal matter (bodily waste) on
the hands of staff members in these facilities. The
risk of illness and disease can greatly be decreased
with the use of frequent and proper hand washing.
Times You Need to Wash Your Hands
• Before preparing food
• Before meals
• After using the restroom
• After touching animals or animal
waste
• When hands are dirty
• When someone around you is ill
How Should You Wash Your Hands?
1. Use warm water.
2. Wet your hands before applying soap.
3. Rub your soapy hands together for at least 20 seconds.
4. Rinse your hands thoroughly to remove all soap.
5. Turn off the water with a paper towel.
6. Dry your hands with an air-dryer or a clean paper towel.
Wash your hands thoroughly after using the bathroom and make sure everyone in your family does, too.
Wash your hands just before eating or preparing food and immediately after touching anything that
might contaminate your hands.
Healthy foods (circled) – carrots, lean meats, apples, green beans, beans, fat-free milk, whole wheat bread, water, fat-free yogurt
Foods to be limited or avoided (X) – milk shakes, sodas, candy bars, fried chicken, cookies, french fries
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Healthy and Wise
New Year’s Resolutions
In January,
Every
January,
Healthy
Healthy
and and
Wise
Wise
encourages
encourages
its readers
its readers
to reflect
to reflect
on their
on their
past health behaviors and make a commitment to improve or change the
ones that can greatly enhance their health. It is best to make resolutions
that you will be able to achieve.
Healthy New Year’s Resolutions Include:
I will get at least 30-60 minutes of
physical activity each day.
I will spend time with my family
being physically active.
I will try to select healthy foods
every day.
I will always start my day with a healthy breakfast.
I will drink plenty of water throughout the day.
I will limit soft drinks and foods that are high in sugar
and unhealthy fats.
I will reduce the amount of television I watch.
I will brush my teeth at least twice each day.
I will wear my seatbelt when I am in a car.
I will wear my helmet when I ride my bike, scooter, or
go skating.
Activities
READING Compare and
contrast your Healthy and
Wise New Year’s Resolutions
to a classmate’s. How are
they alike? How are
they different? Why should New Year’s Resolutions
be individualized?
MATH Divide the upcoming year into quarters
by listing the months in each quarter.
WRITING With family
members, set at least one
Healthy and Wise New
Year’s Resolution that you
can work towards as a family.
Bring your resolution back to
class and place it
your
health
in in
your
health
journal.
ART Draw a picture that
illustrates your Healthy and Wise
New Year’s Resolutions. Hang it
on your refrigerator or in another prominent place to
help you remember to work towards your goals every
day.
I will wear sunscreen lotion when I plan to be in the
sun.
I will try to have a positive attitude every day.
I will always refuse the offer to smoke, use drugs, or drink alcohol.
Write or draw at least two Healthy and Wise New Year’s Resolutions.
Resolutions for 2007
1.
2.
Think about your Healthy and Wise New Year’s Resolutions every day
and make time in your schedule to work towards your health goals.
PROBLEM SOLVING Lacey’s
family has made a Healthy and Wise
New Year’s Resolution to cut down
on their fast food intake. They are
a busy family and often pick up fast
food for breakfast and dinner. What
suggestions can you give Lacey’s family to help
them accomplish their New Year’s Resolution?
Discussion
Questions
Why do you think people make
New Year’s Resolutions?
What kinds of New Year’s Resolutions
have you made in the past?
Did you stick to them?
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The Benefits of
Positive Thinking
Not only can a positive attitude help bring mental and emotional happiness, but it can also lower the risk for early death
and produce other health benefits as well. Studies have
shown that your mental health can influence your physical
health. These same studies also showed that people who
tend to focus on negative thoughts do not enjoy as good of
health and are more likely to die early.
Activities
MATH Integers include all positive and negative whole numbers, and zero. Draw a number
line that illustrates 0 to 10 and 0 to -10.
READING/WRITING
Write or say three optimistic
statements. Share your statements with your classmates.
ART/WRITING Create
a poster that encourages the
students at your school to
be “Positive Thinkers” and
“Optimists.”
“Optimists”.
CRITICAL THINKING What kinds of
strategies would you use to change a pessimist
into an optimist?
SCIENCE/RESEARCH Every object is
made up of billions of tiny particles called protons and electrons. These particles are so small
they can only be seen with special microscopes.
Despite their small size, protons and electrons
carry an electrical charge. Do further research,
if necessary, to find out which one carries a
positive charge and which one carries a negative
charge.
Discussion Quest ions
Are you a positive thinker?
How does your attitude
affect your mood, health,
and performance?
Other Benefits Associated
with Positive Thinking Include:
• Fewer problems with work, school, or other daily activities
• Less pain and fewer limitations due to pain
• More enjoyment from social activities
• Increased energy
• Feeling more peaceful, happier, and calmer
Are You an Optimist or a Pessimist?
An optimist focuses on the positive and sees the best in the situation or world. A pessimist focuses on the negative and tends
to always look at the downside of a situation. In general, an
optimist will look for reasons to be happy and satisfied, while a
pessimist will look for reasons to grumble and complain.
Decide if the statements below
are optimistic or pessimistic:
1. The rain cancelled our baseball game, but we sure needed
the rain and sometimes it is good to take a day off.
2. The rain cancelled our baseball game and will probably
mess up our remaining schedule.
3. The school fundraiser is selling bottled water instead of
sodas this year and might not make as much money as last
year.
4. The school fundraiser is selling bottled water instead of
sodas this year, which will be much healthier for students
and parents.
Be Healthy and Wise
and Choose to Be an Optimist!