Combining Skills (K5)
KNOWLEDGE OBJECTIVE ACTIVITYBefore teaching the physical combination skill, highlight how many skills the students have learned, and discuss how they can be used together to keep them safe. Say something like “Today is the last day, and we have learned so many important skills in the pool. Let's pretend you fell into the water by accident. What skills can you use to get back to safety?”
Encourage students to think of a whole solution, not just one skill. For example if students simply say “swim to the wall” prompt them to think deeper by asking “ok swimming is good, but if you just start swimming where you fell in, how do you know where you will go?” Make sure the discussion incorporates the cognitive skills that students learned through the Knowledge Objectives as well as physical skills. Remind students of the importance of being calm, and looking around before just panicking and trying to swim. Emphasize that knowing where you are, and being able to look around calmly is a skill all by itself. (But even that alone won't help you get to safety.)
Discuss different scenarios and ask students to come up with sets of skills that would help them get back to safety in that situation. Examples might be if students were on a boat that sank and they needed to remain in the water a longer time to wait for rescue, or if a student was fishing and got swept in by a big wave and couldn't get out at that spot because of the rocks. Regardless of the scenario, make sure students understand that the ability to switch to a different stroke, to a different position, or to a different skill, will use different muscles and help them not get as tired.
Finish the discussion by asking students if the first time ever got in the water was it easy to swim (for more experienced students who may not remember what it was like when they first started swimming, possibly emphasize this point by asking if when they first started swimming was it easy to swim all the way across the pool). Remind students that they now can swim because they practiced. It is just as important to practice using multiple skills in a row, so that they can get better at combining skills!
Assessment
The following prompt must be used when assessing students on the Knowledge Objective.
A score of either plus (+) or minus (-) is recorded based on the instructor's judgement of if the student's response was equivalent in meaning and level of detail to the example responses.
Knowledge Objective Prompt:
If you accidentally fall into the water, what are three (3) skills you can use to get to safety? Why those three (3)?
Example Student Responses:
Note: Any combination of three skills is an acceptable answer. Encourage the ‘why those three’ portion of the answer to string together how the skills will be used. For example:
Underwater swim to the surface so you can breathe, tread to look around and find safety, then swim on your front to get to the ladder and climb out.
Note: Students may provide answers in a shorter list format, in this case, ask them to explain why those three skills work together. For Example:
Tread, swim, safe exit.
Tread to get air and look where you want to go. Swim to move to the wall. Safe exit so you can get out.