roller skating lesson plans

Question
I am beginning a unit on roller skating and will have skates for 5 weeks.  I work with 2nd and 3rd graders.  I am looking for lessons to work them through from how to stand, stop, fall, to skating backwards and games we can play as they get more proficient.

Answer
I'll give you an outline that we use for our kids classes.  It's a progressive learning outline with constant reviewing of what was learned in the weeks before.  I don't know how much time you have available to teach the kids so you'll have to adjust it accordingly.

Week #1:   

    1)  Safety when entering a skating surface.(looking to make sure
        there is a clearing so you don't run into other skaters)

    2)  safety equipment:
            wrist guards, knee pads, elbow pads and if skating
            outdoors, a helmet.
    3)  Falling:  Get as low as you can and just sit down.
    4)  How to get up when you fall.
            Roll sideways and get up onto both knees,put one knee up,
            put your hands on your knee, then push yourself up
            with your hands and your toe stop.  The skate in back
            should be straight up so you can dig the toe stop into
            the floor while using your hands that are on the front
            knee to push yourself up.

    5)  Stopping with your toe stop.
            Coast, bend both knees, drag one toe stop behind you.
    6)  Pushing: posture straight, hands on hips,toes turned
        outward and start taking small marching steps.
        This will get them moving. Toes pointed outward is the key
        to get them moving.

Week #2
        Review posture, falling, getting up, stopping and pushing.
        You may want to have them skate with a partner.  They seem
        to enjoy that if you need to add something extra to wk.#2.

Week #3
        Review falling, getting up, stopping and pushing.
            Try to get them to skate longer pushes. Some will be
            ready and some won't.

        Introduce skating backwards:  Posture with chin up and hands
        on their hips. Turn toes inward towards each other. Take
        small marching steps with pressure towards the big toes.
        
Week #4
        Review falling, getting up, pushing and backward
        skating.  

Week #5  Review briefly all of the above then play games.


Games:   

If music is not available you can use a whistle for any of these games.

If you have music available you can have them skate forward until the music stops, then they have to turn around and skate in the opposite direction.

Again if music is available:  Have paper plates that you can place around the floor.  Make sure there are less plates than the number of kids.  When the music stops, the kids have to find a paper plate, sit on the floor and put the paper plate on top of their head. The ones that do not have a plate go off to the side and wait till the game is over.  Do this as many times as you want removing a few plates each time you repeat it.  It's like the musical chair game.  

Girls vs boys:  When the music stops or you blow the whistle, they all drop to the floor then you see who was the last to sit down, a boy or girl.  Keep score to see if the boys or girls win.

Keep it light and fun and they will learn quickly.  If you have any that are afraid and won't skate, hook them up with a friend as a partner.  They will be more likely to join in then.

Have fun with the kids.

Pat