For many years people thought of Physical Education as "controlled recess." As a Physical Education teacher this offends me because we are here to teach the students about the science of how and why their bodies work they way they do. Also, we teach the students socialization skills, cooperative play, respect, and teamwork. The whole area of Physical Education is changing rapidly; many teachers are integrating more and more regular classroom materials into the Physical Education classroom. The curriculum that I developed integrates the craft of writing into Physical Education. The curriculum was designed in alignment with the New Haven Public Schools' Physical Education standards. The activities included in the curriculum draw heavily on aspects associated with Physical Education class. These aspects include teamwork, cooperation, and communication. The writing aspect is introduced through a variety of activities including journal writing, acrostic poems, and short story compositions. The final culminating activity is in an interview conducted by the students that would take place, during either the morning or afternoon announcements. The style of the interview imitates the interviews seen on ESPN's Sportcenter. The students will be the ones using the catchy one-liners as well as quality questioning techniques. The whole curriculum is designed to be fun for the students, while at the same time integrating some writing skills.
(Developed for Language Arts and Physical Education, grade 5; recommended for Elementary School Language Arts and Physical Education, grade 5)
