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Physical Education Statement

Studies have shown that in the U.S., the overall fitness of youth seems to be in decline

(Carlson, 1999). This calls for a shift in how we have traditionally viewed physical education in

schools as simply being a class a few times a week, or students simply getting their allotment of

physical activity during their recess times. The integration of physical movement activities into

the classroom not only has a positive impact on the amount of activity that students are

participating in, but it also positively impacts their learning experience (Lindt & Miller, 2017).

One example of how I have integrated physical activity into my classroom is this lesson

plan that was used to teach the class a cooperative game. Cooperative games allow students the

opportunity to “play with one another rather than against one another; play to overcome

challenges not to overcome other people” (Carlson, 1999, p. 233). They can even lead to more

cooperative behavior in the classroom setting. In the game that I introduced to the class, students

were not only working on improving their physical fitness, but they were developing problem

solving skills, sharing with others, and thinking of creative solutions. They also had to practice

their communication skills with other classmates.

Cooperative games like this one allow students to participate in an alternative activity to

traditional competitive games. Competitive games can sometimes have a negative effect on how

students view themselves and their participation in physical activity. As Church (2002) stated,

“cooperative movement games eliminate the fear of failure and reaffirm a child’s confidence in

herself as a team player. These are games in which everyone cooperates and wins!” (p. 43).

Students spend the majority of their daily physical activity at school. Traditionally, this

has been spent either in the gym or on the playground at recess. However, the majority of the

students’ day at school is spent in the classroom. Therefore, if we want to significantly impact
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the amount of physical activity that children are participating in, we should be increasing the

amount of physical activity that is integrated into the classroom (Orlowski, Lorson, Lyon, &

Minoughan, 2013).

Movement integration in the classroom can be done throughout different subject areas.

Just as the cooperative game that I used in the classroom touched several different areas of

development and learning for students, movement integration can be used for math, reading,

science, and any other subject area. When this happens regularly in the classroom, studies have

shown that students’ on-task behavior actually increases, creating a more effective learning

environment while also helping students be more active (Goh, Fu, Brusseau, & Hannon, 2018).

Physical education is no longer the sole responsibility of the physical education instructor

at the school. If students’ fitness is truly going to be impacted, the classroom teaching must be

serious about integrating movement and physical activity into the classroom. The cooperative

learning experiences that can be gained from playing games like the example above go far

beyond simply improving fitness, but also impact student learning and development.
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References

Carlson, J.M. (1999). Cooperative games: A pathway to improving health. Professional School

Counseling, 2(3), 230-236. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Church, E. B. (2002). Movement & learning – together. Early Childhood Today, 16(5), 43-44.

Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Goh, T.L., Fu, Y., Brusseau, T., & Hannon, J. (2018). On-task behavior of elementary students

during movement integration. Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 18(1), 103-106.

Retrieved from ProQuest.

Lindt, S.F., & Miller, S.C. (2017). Movement and learning in elementary school. Phi Delta

Kappan, 98(7), 34-37. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Orlowski, M., Lorson, K., Lyon, A., & Minoughan, S. (2013). My classroom physical activity

pyramid: A tool for integrating movement into the classroom. Journal of Physical

Education, Recreation & Dance, 84(9), 47-51. Retrieved from ProQuest.