Physical
education is a content area that often gets pushed to the side to make plenty
of time for “more important subjects” such as English and math. As a PE teacher
it is obviously my passion to make sure that PE is recognized as being as
important as it truly is. I try to encourage you as elementary teachers to take
PE seriously and try to make sure our students are getting the education they
need within every content area. Physical education can be a very challenging
subject to teach as it is very different than teaching other classroom oriented
subjects. The goal of this post is to stress the importance of PE being taught
to the best ability, and provide some strategies and tips for being able to do
so.
Some
important questions to ask yourself are:
*
Do
we use grade level PE standards?
*
California
has mandated grade level time provisions for physical education that allow
scheduling flexibility for schools while ensuring the integrity of regular physical
activity to benefit students:
*
200
minutes per 10 school days for grades 1 through 6 (Education Code
Section 51210)
*
Do
we have this 200 minutes planned out or does PE get the leftovers?
*
Is
PE a school subject or an additional recess?
*
Do
our PE lesson plans look like our math lesson plans?
I
truly believe our PE lesson plans should be designed with as much effort and
intention as our math or English lesson plans would. Do we use PE standards to
design our lessons? If the answer is no, would you design a math lesson without
standards? The California State Model Content Standards for Physical Education should
be followed just like the state standards for math or English should.
Do
we provide 200 planned minutes of PE every 10 days of school, or does PE time
just happen whenever we finish our other subjects. We need to make sure that
200 minutes not only gets met, but that it is planned and purposeful minutes of
physical education, not simply moving. PE should be more than just a time to
move and play. While those might be parts of it, a PE lesson should be organized
and structured just like any other lesson. We would never simply hand a student
a calculator and say “Ok, now go do some math”, handing a student a ball and
having them go play is about the same thing. With these questions in mind we can
work towards developing a more beneficial physical education for our students.
While
it may seem like we have so many things to get done in the classroom and
spending the time for PE is challenging, there is a massive amount of research
on the positive effects of physical activity on our students abilities in the classroom.
So while it may take time out of our day to do PE, research says that that time
will be well worth spending when getting the benefits from it.
Some
major points of emphasis from research are listed below:
*
Evidence
suggests that increasing physical activity and physical fitness may improve
academic performance and that time in the school day dedicated to recess,
physical education class, and physical activity in the classroom may also
facilitate academic performance.
*
Available
evidence suggests that mathematics and reading are the academic topics that are
most influenced by physical activity. These topics depend on efficient and
effective executive function, which has been linked to physical activity and
physical fitness.
*
Executive
function and brain health underlie academic performance. Basic cognitive functions
related to attention and memory facilitate learning, and these functions are
enhanced by physical activity and higher aerobic fitness.
*
Single
sessions of and long-term participation in physical activity improve cognitive
performance and brain health. Children who participate in vigorous- or
moderate-intensity physical activity benefit the most.
*
Given
the importance of time on task to learning, students should be provided with
frequent physical activity breaks that are developmentally appropriate.
*
Although
presently understudied, physically active lessons offered in the classroom may
increase time on task and attention to task in the classroom setting.
-
Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment
Educating the student body, (2013). Taking physical activity and physical
education to school, Food and Nutrition
Board; Institute of Medicine.
While
there is much more research out there, these give some recurring themes about
the results seen from students participating in physical activity. Feel free to
perform more research on the results of physical activity and the benefits it can
have. Another good piece of information comes from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/facts.htm.
So
as we hopefully can understand the importance and benefits of PE, we can look
at some ideas towards making it easier to do and more effective for our
students. Here are some tips that I have towards being able to perform effective
PE instruction that will provide the education our students need.
1. Follow the standards
There are state standards for PE
just like any other subject area, and just as math standards are important to
be able to effectively teach math, PE standards are just as important. the
following link is for the PE state standards for grade levels K-12. https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/pestandards.pdf
The five overarching model content standards for
elementary and middle school students are broken down as follows:
*
Standard
1: (Physical)
*
Students
demonstrate the motor skills and movement patterns needed to perform a variety
of physical activities.
*
Standard
2: (cognitive)
*
Students
demonstrate knowledge of movement concepts, principles, and strategies that
apply to the learning and performance of physical activities.
*
Standard
3: (Physical)
*
Students
assess and maintain a level of physical fitness to improve health and
performance.
*
Standard
4: (cognitive)
*
Students
demonstrate knowledge of physical fitness concepts, principles, and strategies
to improve health and performance.
*
Standard
5: (Social)
*
Students
demonstrate and utilize knowledge of psychological and sociological concepts,
principles, and strategies that apply to the learning and performance of
physical activity.
Within each overarching standard consists
specific grade level standards for that area. It is important that these
standards are being met for many reasons, but one major reason is that these
standards build upon each other from Kindergarten to 12th grade. We
all know that if a student didn’t learn any English in K-5, trying to jump in
and meet 6th grade standards would be extremely difficult for them. Similarly,
if a student goes through years of not meeting physical education standards,
and then at some point is expected to be able to be at grade level, it will be
very difficult for them. If we can follow the standards, we can help prepare
our students for the next grade level so that they will have the opportunity to
be successful at that grade level as well. If we do not meet standards for our
grade level, we will send them to the next grade unprepared to be successful. My
recommendation is to spend some time reviewing the standards for your grade
level, and plan specific units and lessons that will provide students with the
tasks necessary to meet those standards.
2. Establish Routines
Similarly to how we have some
established routines for how students line up, take role, grab equipment, perform
specific activities in the classroom, we can establish routines for PE to save
time and allow students with clear expectations and easy instructions to
follow. Some basic routines to establish are how students leave the classroom for
PE, where they go, how they line up. I would suggest starting in a specific
area every time and performing an established set of warm-ups, before then going
wherever you need to go for the activity. Students will be able to follow these
routines and get lined up quickly and ready to go, as long as these routines
are established. My classes know their exact routines for coming to class getting
lined up and starting their warm-ups. After teaching them these routines at the
beginning of the year, I don’t have to do anything during this time because the
students already know how to do and that they are expected to do it. I have a
group of leaders who lead specific stretches and warm-ups. This is even more
work that I don’t have to do every day, outside of the beginning of the year teaching
the leaders how to lead warm-ups. After warm-ups we can get in to the specifics
of the lesson, but having those routines saves massive amounts of time, and a
lot of stress and energy as well. Similarly, have routines set for how to end
PE. How do students clean-up and put away equipment? How do students line up to
head back to class? These are questions we need to answer in order to establish
time and energy saving routines.
3. Focus on Fitness
Fitness is one of many aspects of
PE, but it is an important one. Many of the other standards rely on fitness and
ultimately fitness will follow a student throughout their life. Students
perform stat fitness tests in the 5th, 7th, and 9th
grade and while it is important to prepare them to be successful on those
tests, it is even more important to prepare them to be physically fit and
healthy for the rest of their lives. Establishing healthy fitness routines
while students are young can be very important towards preparing them for the
future. Students don’t need to be overworking anything or pushing their bodies
to extreme limits, but having fitness as part of their education early on is
healthy. Trying to catch up to healthy levels of fitness later in life when you
weren’t given access to it at a younger age is very difficult. Having students
work towards meeting grade level fitness standards in a healthy way can encourage
them to continue to work towards fitness goals in the future. I have my
students view their state standards and track their own results throughout the
year. They make individual goals and compare their results to the state
standards. Students are able to track their progress in a positive way that creates
positive feelings about meeting fitness goals, that hopefully will go with them
in the future.
4. Be creative
Just like we use creative activities
and strategies to get students motivated and engaged in other content areas, it
is equally as important to do in PE. Some students will be excited about PE and
some wont, but the more creative we are, the more students will be likely to
stay engaged. Part of this is being able to spend time lesson planning and researching.
There are a lot of ideas out there if you do enough research to find them. The
more time and energy we spend planning, the more creative we are likely to be
in our curriculum and instruction. Another thing to think about is the age
level we are teaching, typically the younger the students, the less they care
about rules and structure. That doesn’t mean we don’t give them rules and structure,
it just means that we don’t focus as much on it. I can sit down with my 6th-8th
graders and give a lecture on the rules of the game we are going to play, I would
never do that with kindergarteners. With kindergarteners I would be more focused
on safety and participation than on how structured and perfect everything was. As
students get older, our expectations are adjusted. When trying to be creative
for kids, it is often easiest to thin like a kid. I loved PE as a student and
so it is easy for me to think of things that my students are likely to enjoy. If
we put ourselves in their shoes it often allows us to be more creative than our
serious adult-selves are used to.
5. Have fun!
Similar
to number four, students want to have fun. PE isn’t all about having fun, but there
are a lot of opportunities to allow students to enjoy what they are doing. The
more creative we are, likely the more fun our students are going to have.
Design games that meet standards and allow students to increase their skills
and abilities in a fun way. If students are having fun, they are much more
likely to work hard and behave. The mile is something that we have to do
sometimes, I try to make it as positive as possible and encourage students to
meet goals, but there will always be students who just don’t want to work hard
on the mile. However, there are some really fun games that we play where
students are actually running a lot longer than a mile, they just don’t know
it. If we are creative in designing games and activities that are fun for
students we may get them to work hard without realizing how hard they are actually
working. We have the opportunity to teach students that physical activity is
fun, and that is an important mentality and perspective to have as they grow
up. If students find a game, sport, physical activity that they enjoy they are
more likely to pursue that in the future and use it to stay healthy and physically
fit. If we make physical activity and fitness seem difficult, boring, and
tiring students are much less likely to pursue it in the future. Let’s all use
this opportunity to allow our students to have fun and enjoy physical activity.
6. Ask for help
I am here to answer any questions
you may have about PE. Please ask whenever and whatever you may need. Physical education
is my passion and I love to see it taught well and see students benefiting from
it and enjoying it. I have a lot of games, activities, strategies, and ideas
that I would love to share. I have an idea of a lot of things from experience
that don’t work well, and things that do work well. I encourage you to also collaborate
with other elementary teachers. Share ideas and thoughts. Talk to each other
about what works and what doesn’t. Share research and activities that you find.
If we all work together we will be much more able to build a PE program that
benefits our students. There are many websites that provide lesson plans, activities,
and ideas; these are a few:
As with all lesson plans found
online, they can be a great resource, but it is important to adjust them to fit
the specific needs of your students.
Again,
I hope that these tips helped to be able to give you some ideas for teaching PE
with your students. If you need any assistance or have any questions, please don’t
hesitate to ask. Thank you for taking the time to read this and good luck!
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