Today, teachers complain about the lack of physical education time and the lack of physical education programming. In addition, a great deal of time is spent advocating the relationship between "healthy mind-healthy body." Today's drive to show a relationship between physical fitness/activity and academic achievement is really not different than…

GRADES OR AGES: Kindergarten through grade six. SUBJECT MATTER: Physical education. ORGANIZATION AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: The guide contains one set of lesson plans for grades kindergarten through two and another for grades three through six, each of which is broken down into four activity parts: (1) introductory activities, (2) fitness…

Assessment and evaluation of children's physical fitness should be an educational process. This process is described as the "personalized self-testing" approach. This approach is a form of self-assessment that teaches children to assess their personal level of health-related physical fitness, interpret the results, and use the information (with…

An elementary school physical education teacher's approach to public relations with parents and with the school community is outlined. Public relations efforts include: (1) the ability and desire to communicate; (2) organization of special demonstrations where students can display their skills; and (3) a physical fitness program for children. (PP)

Analyzed the amount of activity, intensity of activity, and attitudes of participants in Czech high school physical education classes taught using different teaching styles and dance forms. Measurements of heart rate and dance intensity and student surveys indicated that teaching style and dance form significantly impacted the intensity and volume…

In Japan, pedometers are so popular that most households there now have several. While pedometers have not yet reached this level of popularity in the United States, the media commonly discuss monitoring physical activity with pedometers. This discussion has focused both on its use as a monitoring device and as a means of physical activity…

National School Population Fitness Survey data were reexamined to assess fitness in U.S. children and youth, comparing numbers meeting norm-referenced standards and criterion-referenced health (CRH) standards. Using CRH standards to view fitness had advantages over norm-referenced standards. Results did not indicate a decline in fitness levels.…

The first chapter of this manual discusses the impact physical activity has on the growth and development of youngsters. It offers a rationale for including physical education in the school curriculum. Guidelines for exercising children safely are offered, including a section on weight training for children. Chapter 2 includes the Physical Best…

This handbook is a compendium of activities for developing physical fitness in children. The text is divided into five sections: (1) children and physical activity; (2) implementing physical fitness programs in school; (3) fitness for special populations; (4) teaching fitness for a lifetime; and (5) fitness activities and routines. These five…

These lesson plans are designed to be used with the textbook of the same title. Each lesson plan is broken into four activity parts. The four parts and their major purposes in the scheme of the lesson are as follows: (1) introductory activity; (2) fitness development activity; (3) lesson focus activities; and (4) game activity. The material and…

A study investigated changes in children's physical fitness during summer vacation. Children's cardiorespiratory fitness decreased, as did their body weight, especially for boys. Fall curriculum offerings should be designed to accommodate detrained students. (PP)

This guide offers a functional, child-tested physical education program for elementary students. Chapters in the book discuss the following topics: (a) current educational and sociological trends; (b) rationale for the program; (c) guidelines for program planning; (d) organization for effective teaching; (e) basis of movement learning and…

Physical education means many things to many people. Physical education professionals often describe it as essential subject matter dedicated to learning in the psychomotor domain and committed to developing lifetime physical activity patterns. However, some individuals mistakenly consider physical education to be the same as athletics or…

This paper defines a variety of fitness components, using a simple multidimensional hierarchical model that is consistent with recent definitions in the literature. It groups the definitions into two broad categories: product and process. Products refer to states of being such as physical fitness, health, and wellness. They are commonly referred…

New developments in the field of elementary school physical education are included in this up-dated text book. The following major topics are covered: (1) organizing, developing, and implementing a physical education program and curriculum; (2) the learning process and teaching techniques; (3) implementing a physical fitness program with attention…