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In this section, we provide information about and links to other excellent lesson plans and activities for teaching orienteering. As you develop as an orienteering teacher, you may want to pull in ideas from these awesome places!
Below is a list of online resources for use in planning activities, finding materials, or learning more about orienteering. If you are searching for something specific and are unable to find it using the list below, feel free to contact us, and we'll be happy to do our best in locating the information you need. Navigate to subpages for details!
Why O is Amazing
Why O is Amazing
Scientific American article: "Why your brain needs exercise"
"Cognitively challenging exercise may benefit the brain more than physical activity that makes fewer cognitive demands."
From Here to There: The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way by Michael Bond
Orienteering Curricula
Orienteering Curricula
All Ages
All Ages
Discovering Orienteering: Skills, Techniques and Activities by Ferguson and Turbyfill (book)
USA Orienteering; resources include lesson plans.
K-12
K-12
Canada
Orienteering Ottawa - Rorry Harding runs the school programs.
Kids Run Wild, Overlanders Orienteering Club - Dorothy Penner runs this program.
Orienteering for Schools. Rex and Jim developed a progressive skills-based curriculum for primary schools (Key Stages 1 to 2 in the athlete development model from British Orienteering). They made sure to design a format that would be teacher-friendly. Later they developed a similar scheme for Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9). They work with schools and typically provide a ull package of maps, a permenante course, a portable course, lesson plans, and a training session for staff. You can email the at enquiries@orienteeringforschools.co.uk. Example materials: Skills taught; Curriculum Example, Lesson Example. Their approach is very similar to Navigation Games.
British Schools Orienteering Association (BSOA)
Tri-O Unit Plan for Elementary and Middle School
Unit Plan for Middle and High school
Additional Orienteering Lesson Plans -- including Challenge Sheets
Guidelines for Orienteering in Physical Education in Schools
Norway has a great database of activities, and an amazing website where all school maps are available, and teachers can draw courses on the maps using tools on the website.
sCool (Switzerland) - slide deck about sCOOL
Czech Republic - Materials for their schools program is available here. 250 activities.
Australia - Australia has a school program in which orienteering coaches work with schools to develop their programs. It's well researched and aligned to standards.
Primary school activities include simple grid layouts, basketball court maps, Line-O, and simple courses on school maps.
Secondary school activities include sports court maps, Line-O, star relay, Scatter/Score-O and regular courses on school maps.
International Orienteering Federation
Orienteering in simple English E-Book (28 pages)
Orienteering at school for ages 6-12 E-Book (52 pages) - Elementary and Middle School
Orienteering at school for ages 13-15 E-Book (60 pages) - High school
Various sources
Teacher Toolkit from Orienteering Cincinnati
South African Orienteering Federation - great resources for schools
Orienteering Coaches Handbook from Washington Interscholastic Orienteering League
College and University
College and University
Finland - A PE class from the University of Jyväskylä
Portugal - A PE class from the University of Coimbra
USA - University Connected Learning Class from the University of Utah
USA - Outdoor Learning Center University of Wisconsin-Madison
USA - Youth Development Curriculum Library University of Minnesota Extension
Turkiye - A PE Class from the University of Marmara
Turkiye - A PE Class from the University of Bursa Uludag
Coaching and Youth Development
Coaching and Youth Development
US Olympic Committee
How to Coach Kids - a great resource with an awesome online training
Fundamental Skills
Fundamental Skills
New York Road Runners Rising
Fundamental Skills from New Zealand
Switzerland
More PE games and teaching: PE Games, PhysicalEducator videos, P.E. with Mr. G, KIWIDEX manual, NZ teaching resources, Fit Kids Health Kids (Canada), KinderSport (Switzerland), Games for kids under 6, MobileSport for Teachers (SU), MobileSport for Coaches (SU)
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