Student-Centered Physical Education presents over 100 fun physical activities that not only promote student fitness and skill development but also build the foundation for a physically active life. The authors' modular approach allows teachers to mix and match activities in order to achieve specific goals, creating multiple opportunities within each class period for students to succeed. Authors Timothy Smith and Nicholas Cestaro, who together have more than 50 years of teaching experience, have developed a student-centered approach to physical education to replace the outdated, subject-driven approach. By focusing on the needs of the preadolescent student rather than on sports or calisthenics, this proven program challenges exclusivity, boredom, and gender bias. Their strategies and activities make physical education relevant to your students and motivate them to participate in physical activity, both in the gym and after school. Part I, "A Student-Centered Modular Approach," helps you develop and organize your classes. You'll learn how to assemble modular lesson plans and how to increase their effectiveness using the teaching strategies presented. You'll also find a chapter on authentic assessment, which discusses the use of rubrics, portfolios, and portfolio cards. Next, Part II, "Teaching Modules," provides you with easy-to-follow, step-by-step directions for more than 100 fitness-related activities, including -warm-ups, -skill development activities, -team-oriented activities, and -individual and paired activities. Each activity is ready to be inserted into the modular lesson format presented in Part I. In addition, you'll find 10 detailed health-fitness modules-one for each month of the school year-that will help you present and reinforce key lifestyle concepts in addition to the "physical" components of physical education.

This timely and diverse collection offers perspectives on engaging people in physical activity utilizing the Activist Approach. This approach facilitates interest, motivation, and learning in physical education by focusing on student-centered pedagogy, embodiment, inquiry-based education, and listening and responding to students over time. The resource collates experts and beginners who have used the Activist Approach to incorporate participants’ interests, motivation, and learning needs and maintain student voices in physical activity environments. Chapters center around three broad areas of the Activist Approach: 1) physical education settings, 2) physical activity settings, and 3) teachers’ experiences of learning to use an Activist Approach in physical education and physical activity. Contributors from around the world discuss challenges and benefits experienced, issues of equity and justice and what people gained and gave up by using the approach. Focusing on key areas in physical education settings, dance, sport, and physical activity settings, and PE teacher education and professional development, this book offers crucial, critical perspectives on how to meet people’s physical activity needs.

When kids take part in the activities that come from Maximum Middle School Physical Education, they won't be able to wait for their next physical education class! Written and piloted by the 2003 NASPE National Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year, the lessons and activities provided in this comprehensive book and CD-ROM package will keep middle school students interested and help you meet your daily challenges as a physical education teacher. Maximum Middle School Physical Education offers a mix of student-centered activities and lesson plans that foster affective growth, physical skills, and knowledge development. It's called maximum physical education because the book and CD-ROM provide much more than just lesson plans, assessment sheets, and activities--it's a detailed guide to a joyful experience in physical education. The authors base their content on current best practices and the National Standards for Physical Education. They help you capture and keep middle schoolers' attention with activities that encompass fitness exercises, social skills, and physical skill development. With this package, you'll be able to -use a wealth of fresh ideas that address the whole middle school student at this vital time of development; -broaden your program's impact with the social, emotional, and personal responsibility threads woven through each lesson; and -use over 150 worksheets, assessments, and other reproducibles to help you minimize prep time and stay organized. The CD-ROM also contains handouts, task cards, posters, and station instructions. The book includes thumbnails of the CD-ROM items so that you know when to include them in your teaching. The text also provides practical information and tested-and-true suggestions on promoting your program and making physical education a maximum learning experience for all involved. Maximum Middle School Physical Education will help you empower students to take responsibility for their own activity and fitness. And it will help you create an environment where your students experience maximum success, joy, and love for movement.

Physical inactivity is a key determinant of health across the lifespan. A lack of activity increases the risk of heart disease, colon and breast cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoporosis, anxiety and depression and others diseases. Emerging literature has suggested that in terms of mortality, the global population health burden of physical inactivity approaches that of cigarette smoking. The prevalence and substantial disease risk associated with physical inactivity has been described as a pandemic. The prevalence, health impact, and evidence of changeability all have resulted in calls for action to increase physical activity across the lifespan. In response to the need to find ways to make physical activity a health priority for youth, the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment was formed. Its purpose was to review the current status of physical activity and physical education in the school environment, including before, during, and after school, and examine the influences of physical activity and physical education on the short and long term physical, cognitive and brain, and psychosocial health and development of children and adolescents. Educating the Student Body makes recommendations about approaches for strengthening and improving programs and policies for physical activity and physical education in the school environment. This report lays out a set of guiding principles to guide its work on these tasks. These included: recognizing the benefits of instilling life-long physical activity habits in children; the value of using systems thinking in improving physical activity and physical education in the school environment; the recognition of current disparities in opportunities and the need to achieve equity in physical activity and physical education; the importance of considering all types of school environments; the need to take into consideration the diversity of students as recommendations are developed. This report will be of interest to local and national policymakers, school officials, teachers, and the education community, researchers, professional organizations, and parents interested in physical activity, physical education, and health for school-aged children and adolescents.

Physically active children experience healthier growth and development. They are less likely to be overweight. They learn more effectively and manage their behavior better. Yet many classroom teachers offer little or no time for physical activity because they feel pressed for time, space, and equipment. That’s where Promoting Elementary School Physical Activity: Ideas for Enjoyable Active Learning comes in. This text provides K-5 classroom teachers and physical educators with simple, creative strategies and activities that have proven successful in schools and that are suitable for all children. The ideas are practical, accessible, and backed by research that supports the benefits of physical activity in the classroom. They are also flexible—meaning the authors present guidance and options for modifying activities, so teachers can choose what works best for their students. Most activities can be carried out in small spaces or within an existing classroom setup. Promoting Elementary School Physical Activity offers a total of 50 ready-to-use activities in four categories: Classroom physical activity breaks Physically active instruction Recess Enhanced physical education The games and activities afford schools the opportunity to emphasize physical activity throughout the day. The activities are easy to fit into the curriculum at any and all points, including before and after school. Little or no equipment is needed; for the few activities that require equipment, suggestions are provided to make simple equipment from everyday materials. In addition, most chapters offer quick tips to help teachers overcome any challenges that might come up with the activities in that section, and many chapters come with an infographic that shows or describes the benefits of the activity for the topic being discussed. Promoting Elementary School Physical Activity is organized into three parts: Part I, Classroom Physical Activity, offers ideas for integrating classroom physical activity breaks, incorporating physical activity into academic instruction, taking advantage of recess, and creating a physically active classroom. Part II, Physical Education, is written specifically for the physical education teacher. It provides simple strategies for getting students moving throughout physical education class, connecting them to physical activity resources in the school and community, and facilitating lifelong physical activity. Part III, The Physically Active School, presents more options for student physical activity, including ideas for before- and after-school programs and physically active transport to and from school. It also focuses on the importance of the physical environment, physical activity policies, physical activity practices, and social environment. The comprehensive school physical activity program is explored as a tool to organize and coordinate the physical activity opportunities presented throughout this book. This practical guide makes it easy for teachers to bring the fun of physical activity—along with its academic, social, and health benefits—to their K-5 students.

Using Physical Activity and Sport to Teach Personal and Social Responsibility shows you how to implement a character education program in your school or community organization. Authors Watson and Clocksin offer an ideal companion text to Don Hellison's classic Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Through Physical Activity. In this text, Watson and Clocksin provide the practical tools for applying Hellison’s Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model to sport and fitness activities. You’ll find samples of units, lessons, and assessments incorporating the TPSR model in teaching basketball, golf, soccer, volleyball, team handball, tennis, yoga, fitness, and adventure education. An excellent text for the novice teacher, Using Physical Activity and Sport to Teach Personal and Social Responsibility also offers information and techniques on facilitating youth development in a variety of movement settings and with diverse populations. This text begins with an introduction to the TPSR model that prepares you for practical applications to follow. Part I of the text presents the history and evolution of the TPSR model. It also discusses how TPSR meets current National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) standards for physical education instruction. Next you’ll find an examination of current research on motivating students in a physical activity context, creating positive learning climates, and facilitating student-centered learning. Part I concludes with a look at current literature demonstrating the effect of the TPSR model in the sport and physical activity setting. Part II centers on methods for teaching life skills and values through nine sports and physical activities. Each of the nine chapters is organized using the TPSR lesson plan format (awareness talk, lesson focus, group meeting, and reflection) in connection to each developmental stage (1, 2, and 3). It includes a summary and recommendations for additional readings. For each sport or physical activity, you’ll find suggested activities for teaching sport skills and TPSR skills in tandem, examples of guided questions, and information on skill assessments. Each chapter includes easy-to-reference tables examining possible instructional strategies to use (such as command, reciprocal, inclusion, and self-check), teaching considerations for each strategy, and how each strategy can guide your students in accomplishing TPSR goals at their developmental level. Part III of this resource includes a chapter featuring profiles of teachers and youth workers who are using the TPSR model effectively. The book concludes with a look at how teaching personal and social responsibility through sport can support the creation of young leaders in school and community settings. Using Physical Activity and Sport to Teach Personal and Social Responsibility offers undergraduates, teachers, and youth workers a bridge to connect Hellison’s TPSR model to their own practices. More than a text on physical education or sport instruction, this book can help you turn sport and physical activity into opportunities to create deeper, more positive connections with students and nuture their personal and social growth.

In this much needed resource, Maryellen Weimer-one of the nation's most highly regarded authorities on effective college teaching-offers a comprehensive work on the topic of learner-centered teaching in the college and university classroom. As the author explains, learner-centered teaching focuses attention on what the student is learning, how the student is learning, the conditions under which the student is learning, whether the student is retaining and applying the learning, and how current learning positions the student for future learning. To help educators accomplish the goals of learner-centered teaching, this important book presents the meaning, practice, and ramifications of the learner-centered approach, and how this approach transforms the college classroom environment. Learner-Centered Teaching shows how to tie teaching and curriculum to the process and objectives of learning rather than to the content delivery alone.