The idea of providing student's choice over curricular offerings in physical education has gained a considerable amount of attention in recent years. The purpose of this study was to determine which physical education activities middle school students would like to have included in the yearly curriculum and if there were differences in responses…

Assessment in Adapted Physical Education is no longer the exception, but the rule under the guidelines of Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. Regular physical educators are currently becoming involved in assessment processes and joining school multidisciplinary teams for total profile development of school aged…

Explains the importance of performance assessment in physical education, addressing two questions that physical educators must consider. The first, what to assess, involves locating and identifying student achievement targets. The second, how to describe performance, includes identifying and describing a vision of success. Two examples from the…

It is doubtful that any teacher would question the value of rhythmic movement in a physical education program. The benefits of being able to move rhythmically and to keep a beat are numerous. First, children with rhythm have an increased kinesthetic awareness of their body in motion and stillness. As most physical activities have an inherent…

Objective: To investigate New Zealand children's understandings of "health". Design: Secondary analysis of student responses to a task called "Being Healthy" in New Zealand's National Education Monitoring Project. Setting: Year 4 (8-9 year-old) and Year 8 (12-13 year-old) students who took part in New Zealand's National…

The optimal place to accentuate a sound physical fitness program for children at the elementary level is within a well-designed playground. The playground can offer natural fitness development and within this setting the physical education teacher can be the most influential with all children, not just with those who are physically active and…

This study investigated observational strategies that were used by six experienced physical education teachers when viewing a videotape of motor skills (standing vertical jump, overarm throw, tennis serve, basketball jump shot and dance sequence). Four observational frameworks were proposed as being representative of subdisciplinary knowledge…

The I CAN-Achievement Based Curriculum (ABC) program was designed to improve teaching and the quality of basic motor skill instruction in the subject area of physical education, the instructional levels of elementary through secondary, and for all children (handicapped and nonhandicapped) in mainstream and/or special education settings. The…

This study examined the relationship between the total number of practice trials, trials using correct techniques, and successful trials in a soccer kick-up skill. Eight preservice physical education teachers taught two lessons to 10 fourth-grade students, who were pre- and posttested. Findings are presented. (Author/MT)

Most educators agree that concepts derived from the discipline areas of physical education are important. Selecting which concepts to teach is perhaps one of the most difficult decisions that teachers with reduced program time have to make. Once teachers select the concepts, they need to plan how to teach them over a curriculum, not just over the…

In this article, the authors reveal that tennis has been increasingly taught with a tactical model or game-based approach, which emphasizes learning through practice in match-like drills and actual play, rather than in practicing strokes for exact technical execution. Its goal is to facilitate the player's understanding of the tactical, physical…

Physical educators struggle with the challenges of assessing student performance, providing feedback about motor skills, and creating opportunities for all students to engage in game-play on a daily basis. The integration of technology in the gymnasium can address some of these challenges by improving teacher efficiency and increasing student…

Background: Comprehensive school-based physical activity programs consist of physical education and other physical activity opportunities including recess and other physical activity breaks, intramurals, interscholastic sports, and walk and bike to school initiatives. This article describes the characteristics of school physical education and…

This study explored the relationship between articulator movement and prosody in children at different developmental ages. Jaw, lower lip, and upper lip kinematics were examined in 4-, 7-, and 11-year-old children as they produced the declarative and interrogative forms of utterances "Show Bob a bot" and "Show Pop a pot." Articulator movement…

Physical education teachers must ensure that students make the connection between skill development and the use of those skills to enhance their personal physical fitness. The article explains how to incorporate fitness concepts and movement activities throughout the lesson plan to develop students' fundamental skills. (SM)