Objective: To improve swimming skills and increase physical activity for 5th grade APE students.

Benchmarks: - Students will be able to swim freestyle for 25 yards without stopping. - Students will be able to swim backstroke for 25 yards without stopping. - Students will be able to tread water for 1 minute. - Students will be able to dive into the pool and retrieve an object from the bottom.

Verbal cues: - Keep your head down and your arms straight when swimming freestyle. - Keep your arms straight and your legs kicking when swimming backstroke. - Move your arms and legs in a circular motion to tread water. - Take a deep breath and hold it when diving into the pool.

Rubric: - 4: Student can perform skill with ease and accuracy. - 3: Student can perform skill with some difficulty and minor errors. - 2: Student can perform skill with significant difficulty and major errors. - 1: Student cannot perform skill.

Assessment: - Students will be assessed on their ability to swim freestyle, backstroke, tread water, and dive. - Students will also be assessed on their participation and effort during the lesson.

Check for understanding questions: - What is the correct arm and leg movement for freestyle? - What is the correct arm and leg movement for backstroke? - How do you tread water? - What do you do before diving into the pool?

Modifications: - Students who are not comfortable swimming can use a kickboard or noodle for support. - Students who have physical disabilities can use adaptive equipment such as a flotation device or swim fins.

Adaptions for activity: - Students can work in pairs or small groups to practice skills. - Students can take breaks as needed to rest and hydrate.

Materials for activity: - Pool - Kickboards - Noodles - Flotation devices - Swim fins - Diving rings or other objects for retrieval.

Lesson Plan:

Introduction (5 minutes): - Review safety rules for swimming. - Explain the objectives and benchmarks for the lesson. - Demonstrate the correct technique for freestyle, backstroke, treading water, and diving.

Warm-up (10 minutes): - Have students swim one lap of freestyle and one lap of backstroke to warm up their muscles. - Have students practice treading water for 1 minute.

Skill practice (30 minutes): - Have students practice swimming freestyle and backstroke with verbal cues and feedback. - Have students practice treading water with verbal cues and feedback. - Have students practice diving and retrieving objects from the bottom of the pool.

Cool-down (10 minutes): - Have students swim one lap of freestyle and one lap of backstroke at a slower pace to cool down their muscles. - Review the objectives and benchmarks for the lesson. - Assess students on their performance and participation during the lesson.

Closure (5 minutes): - Ask students to reflect on their progress and identify areas for improvement. - Remind students to practice their swimming skills outside of class to continue improving.