May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, but kids need physical education all year. Education World offers a full roster of stories, lessons, resources, and activities focused on PE. So take a look at the ideas here for including sports and physical education in the curriculum and helping your students be physically fit.
Students Pumped Up Over Fitness Rooms
Stairmasters and bicep curls are not just for adults anymore. Some schools have opened fitness rooms where students exercise and track their progress. Students enthusiasm is drawing in parents and community members as well. Included: Fitness rooms in action.
PE Curriculum Jumpstarts an Active Lifestyle
Fishing, cycling, and ping pong may not be expected aspects of the physical education curriculum, but they are up-and-comers. PE is getting a redo, with an eye toward exposing students to the kinds of active games that can be enjoyed throughout life.
Fantastic Field Days!
May is the month when many schools hold their annual field days. So, Ed World's editors decided to jump in with great activities to make this year's field day the best one ever! Included: Fun activities, relays, and games that all students can excel in.
Fitness Fun Times Five
Celebrate Physical Fitness Month with five new lessons that combine fitness fun with other subjects.
Let's Get Physical
Celebrate National Physical Fitness and Sports Month with Education World's tour of physical fitness Web sites. Get your students moving with hundreds of active-ities -- with the emphasis on active!
Sports4Kids: Reforming Recess by Teaching the Rules of Play
Is recess the most harried time of your day? A time when fights and visits to the nurse's office skyrocket? Before you eliminate recess, consider these principals’ thoughts about Sports4Kids, a program that has reformed their playgrounds and restored order to recess.
These Shoes Were Made for Running/Walking
A runner for many years, Principal Kim Pavlovich has created a run/walk program that each week attracts teachers, parents, and more than half the student body to the school track. Included: Tips for starting this simple and inexpensive program in your school.
Frisbee® Horseshoes
Molly Schock, who teaches at Casa Grande (Arizona) Middle School, submitted this lesson in which students play a fun game of Frisbee Horseshoes. (Grades 3-12)
Family Fitness Night a Popular School-Wide Event
Reaching students with the message about the importance of fitness isn't enough. Schools are going for the gold with events designed to bring in kids and their families too. Included: Four teachers share different Family Fitness Night approaches.
Teacher-Submitted Lessons: Physical Education
Teachers submitted these PE lessons to Education World -- lessons for games, movement, and team sports.
Schools Where Wellness Is a Way of Life
The need for students to eat more healthful foods and get more exercise is getting a lot of attention in schools these days, but some school leaders are going a step further, developing wellness policies and health alliances with their communities.
Venable School Builds "Able" Bodies
At Venable Elementary in Charlottesville, Virginia, students are encouraged to adopt healthy habits of physical fitness and nutrition through exciting programs that begin in phys ed class. Included: A guide to Venable's fitness and nutrition programs.
Kickball, Calisthenics, and Composition?: Writing Fits in with Phys Ed
Writing assignments are starting to turn up in all kinds of courses -- but in physical education classes? For sure! While kids get fit, their instructors are using writing to help them focus on the goal of overall fitness. See how students in your school can exercise their bodies and their writing skills in phys ed!
Sports Math Scores Points With Students AND Teachers!
Looking for math activities to connect with this week's big game? Teachers can grab students' interest with a site that teams math with sports -- and everyone comes out a winner!
Sites to See
Sports and Fitness sites offer lesson plans, fitness information, tips about playing sports safely, and answers to questions about health. The resources are appropriate for physical education teachers, students, and health-conscious adults.
Computers and Phys Ed Do Mix!
Students and teachers in Hood River, Oregon, use a spreadsheet program to track progress in physical fitness. Included: Teachers share their reactions and the reactions of students and parents.
The Web Puts 'Fizz' Into Phys-ical Fitness!
May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, the perfect time to reinforce the value of exercise and physical activity for better health. The Web can help you with games, ideas, and lessons that will make your students jump for joy!
Great Sites for Teaching Physical Fitness
Here are Web sites that are among the best for teaching about physical fitness.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Girls and Sports -- A Winning Combination!
Husband-and-wife team Gil Reavill and Jean Zimmerman, authors of Raising Our Athletic Daughters: How Sports Can Build Self-Esteem and Save Girls Lives, respond to questions about how educators can encourage girls to embrace sports.
Emphasizing Sportsmanship in Youth Sports
Coaches, Teachers, and parents serve as role models for sportsmanlike behaviors in children. This story from the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports examines the latest research on the topic of developing sportsmanship.
"Be Fit for Life," Says P.E. Teacher of the Year
Named best high school physical education teacher for 2000 by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, Dale Kephart -- a former Olympic gymnast -- uses fun and music to help kids get fit for life.
For additional lesson ideas, see these Education World resources... Education World's PE and Health Center Lesson Plan of the Day: Physical Education Teacher-Submitted Lessons: Phys Ed
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