Abstract
Research has discovered a link between physical activity and learning, where students who are more physically active and fit perform better in the classroom. Since most classroom settings are sedentary in nature, physical education is an ideal environment to connect physical activity and classroom content (i.e. math, English language arts, science, social studies). Despite these points, physical education often represents a marginalized position compared to other subject areas as a result of the emphasis on standardized testing. Integration of physical education and classroom content has been done successfully in the past, and this article intends to describe additional examples of integration. Specifically, the authors have developed four integrated activity templates. These templates were intentionally designed to allow teachers to connect any physical education content with any classroom content. The four templates have been named (1) If – Then, (2) Knowledge Tag, (3) Out and Back, and (4) Dice Roll and Solve. Descriptions of each activity template along with examples are included. Through meaningful integration, students can improve their performance across all school subjects while physical education teachers can improve their status within the school.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Brenna Cosgrove
Brenna Cosgrove ([email protected]) is a PhD Candidate in the School of Kinesiology and Jessica Richards is a PhD Candidate in the School of Kinesiology at Auburn University in Auburn, AL.
Jessica Richards
Brenna Cosgrove ([email protected]) is a PhD Candidate in the School of Kinesiology and Jessica Richards is a PhD Candidate in the School of Kinesiology at Auburn University in Auburn, AL.