PE teachers could then use those words in a relay race: students would run, pick up a word and then spell it or define it before handing off to the next child in line. Likely changes at the elementary level will include consultations with classroom teachers to determine which vocabulary words are being emphasized, Fitzgerald said. “We can do a lot of that with physical education.” “By the time a student is a senior, we want them to be that well-rounded critical thinker,” he said. “There’s a lot of research that shows that physical activity and memory and understanding go hand-in-hand.”įitzgerald said the district’s physical education and health teachers are preparing to implement so-called instructional “shifts” to support Common Core priorities: critical thinking, communication and language skills, collaboration, deeper understanding of complex or abstract ideas and more. “I like the Common Core idea of making competent, confident critical thinkers,” Fitzgerald said in an interview with On Board.
#SPEAK UNIT TEACHING COMMON CORE PROFESSIONAL#
White Physical Education Program grant has paid for curriculum writing, lesson planning and professional development related to the Common Core infusion efforts during the last two summers.
In South Glens Falls, efforts have been helped by a $2.1 million federal grant awarded in 2011. It was called ‘interdisciplinary-type activities,’” said Sharon Phillips, an assistant professor of health studies and kinesiology at Hofstra University. “I think it’s fair to say that a majority of physical education teachers have already been trained in this, but it wasn’t called Common Core. While the Common Core emphasis is relatively new, the goal of preparing physical education teachers to incorporate ideas and content from other academic areas into their lessons and activities is not, according to college professors who spoke with On Board. “Instead of asking ‘How do you kick a soccer ball?’ a better question is: ‘What muscles are involved in kicking a soccer ball?’” Fitzgerald explained.įitzgerald exemplifies a growing number of educators who see PE as an opportunity to hone students’ analytical skills and boost their mastery of the Common Core learning standards for math and literacy.Īt least a half-dozen sessions at last fall’s annual conference of the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance offered content related to the Common Core, and Fitzgerald will be speaking on the subject at a gathering of the School Administrators Association of New York State this fall. Sometimes, Nick Fitzgerald has found, infusing Common Core content into an elementary physical education class can be as simple as a hop, skip and a spelling word added to the relay race routine.īy the time students reach junior high or high school, the South Glens Falls athletic director says, the effort could require more thoughtful teaching adjustments to help reinforce material and concepts taught in math, physics or biology class.
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