AKLAN STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Hospitality and Rural Resource Management

Ibajay, Aklan

TEACHING PE AND HEALTH IN

ELEMENTARY GRADES
COMPILED BY:
CASSIE MAE S. ORTALLA
Instructor
Name: _
Year and Section:

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 Preface

Physical activity is central to health, and its importance clearly extends beyond its role in

achieving energy balance to prevent and treat obesity and overweight. The elementary school physical

education and health program helps students develop a healthy lifestyle and fitness level with a focus on

movement, skills and physical fitness. This course, through presentation of content knowledge and

practical experiences, is designed to provide the physical education major with the ability to plan and

implement an elementary school physical education/health program that is developmentally and

educationally sound. Students are expected to be eager and enthusiastic participants in the development

of a NEW educational reality for themselves and the students with whom they will work!

The central knowledge is about children’s motor skill development along with the emotional and

social aspects related to physical activity. Teachers will learn the key aspects of a physical education

lesson, which include a warm-up activity, the lesson plan (skill development and game applications), and

closure. The course also addresses classroom management techniques, safety and liability, kinesiology,

and instructional techniques. It incorporates discussions of safety education, multicultural aspects and

special needs populations, and concludes with ideas for integrating physical education with academic

subjects such as mathematics, language, and natural and social sciences.

Students develop physical fitness through a variety of challenging activities that combine

personal effort and teamwork. Students learn the fundamentals of good sportsmanship, self-control and

respect for others. In grades 3, 4, and 5, students are tested quarterly on their fitness level.

CASSIE MAE S. ORTALLA

Instructor
Teacher Education Department
Aklan State University- Ibajay Campus

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CHAPTER II

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 Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment

Creating an inclusive culture for physical education and

physical activity helps every student learn to lead a healthy and
active lifestyle. All students, regardless of ability, should get the
recommended 60 minutes or more of daily physical activity.
Schools can help all students meet this recommendation by
providing equal opportunities for students with disabilities.

Inclusion is about how we structure our schools, our

classrooms and our lessons so that all our students learn and participate together. An inclusive classroom
is one that creates a supportive environment for all learners, including those with learning differences and
one that can also challenge and engage gifted and talented learners by building a more responsive learning
environment.

What is inclusion?

Inclusion means that, “All children, regardless of ability or disability, have the right to be respected
and appreciated as valuable members of the school community, fully participate in all school activities,
and interact with peers of all ability levels with opportunities to develop friendships.”

Inclusive physical education and physical activity:

 Includes students with disabilities in regular physical education classes. Specifically, teaching
strategies, equipment, environments, and assessments have been adapted to meet the needs of
all students.
 Supports students with disabilities who want to participate in other physical activities before,
during, and after school.
 Encourages students with disabilities to have the same roles and experiences as their peers who
do not have a disability during physical education and other physical activities.

In the simplest terms, inclusion in education means

ensuring every child, no matter what their individual needs
or barriers to learning, has equal access to learning and the
same opportunities to achieve.

Inclusion in schools is not just about providing

additional support to children with special educational
needs. It's about creating a learning environment that works
for all pupils, whether they have a disability, speak English
as an additional language, are a member of a minority
community, come from a low-income family – or find it
harder to learn and achieve for other reasons.

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 Inclusivity also means respecting people from all backgrounds and cultures. By teaching our
students the importance of this we can create a much more tolerant and understanding environment, not
just in the classroom and school but also in wider society. An inclusive school or classroom can only be
successful when all students feel they are truly part of the school community. This can only happen
through open, honest discussion about differences and understanding and respecting people from all
abilities and backgrounds. An inclusive environment is one where everyone feels valued.

How to Create an Inclusive Classroom:

But what does inclusion actually mean, in the context

of schools and education? What does inclusion look like in the
classroom? And most importantly, how can teachers create an
inclusive classroom that benefits all students, no matter what
their individual needs?

Why Inclusion Works

Supporting and celebrating diversity and inclusion in

school works because it gives all children the potential to
achieve, and creates an environment where those with
additional needs are not segregated and seen as 'other'; they are part of the same community of learners.
Inclusion addresses negative cultural attitudes and misconceptions about people with disabilities, or those
who are members of minority communities.

With that in mind, here are some of our recommended strategies that help create an inclusive
classroom for all, regardless of specific needs:

Inclusive Classroom Strategies

1. Define clear minimum standards for behavior.

2.Enforce those standards consistently.

3.Deal with children who misbehave in a sensitive way.
4.Create opportunities to listen to all children.
5. Develop a 'scaffolded' approach to learning.

6. Be aware of the specific needs of every child in your class.

7. Provide support for them in ways which benefit ALL children in

your class.
8. Create a calm, purposeful learning environment.

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 9. Clearly display timetables and key information.
10. Use pre-assessment to inform your planning.

11. Let children choose how to show what they have learned.

12. Don't compare the progress of one child to another; personal progress is key.

Let's take a closer look at what these twelve strategies looks like in the classroom…

What Inclusion Looks Like

1 – Define clear minimum standards of behavior.

Every child in your class should be absolutely clear about the minimum, basic acceptable levels of
behavior are. These should be absolutes – rules which, you tell your pupils, are not hard to follow, and
should not ever be broken.

Keep these short and simple, so everyone can understand them. Try to make these rules not about
learning, specifically, but about ensuring everyone feels safe and respected.

Examples of rules for minimum standards of behavior:

 Violence or aggression of any kind is not allowed
 Hateful or foul language is not allowed
 Respect the property of others – don't break it or take it
 Everyone has the right to feel safe and respected
 Everyone has the right to express themselves and be listened to

2 – Enforce those standards consistently.

Just as you must make the basic rules absolutely clear and understood, you must also have
straightforward consequences for breaking those rules.

These consequences must be proportionate (talking over another child once or twice would not
be grounds for detention, for example), and consistently applied. Remember: the rules for behavior are
the minimum of what is acceptable in your classroom, so never let anyone get away with breaking them.

Examples of proportionate, consistent consequences for breaking the basic rule of not calling out
or talking over another person:

1st time: stop what you're doing and give them a stern look!
2nd time: say 'Don't call out.' Point to the rules.
3rd time: mark their name down on a piece of paper, but not on the board for all to see.
4th time: say 'That's four times you've called out. One more time and you'll have to see me after.'
5th time: say 'That's enough. See me after.'

Obviously, there will be occasions when children continue beyond the steps we've outlined here!
Think about the more serious consequences you would have for more serious, repeated rule-breaking,
and apply those consistently, too.

3 – Deal with children who misbehave in a sensitive way.

You know how we said not to write the name of the child who kept calling out on the board? That's
because it is an insensitive way of dealing with an issue, which visibly singles out a child in front of

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everyone. If you write a child's name down on a piece of paper, they know they have misbehaved. They
also have the opportunity to stop, and amend their behavior without further consequence.

If you write the name of a child who misbehaves on the board—visible to everyone—why would
they choose to change their behavior? Their name will remain up there, for all to see, regardless of
whether they start to behave better, or not. It's humiliating – and not inclusive, especially for children who
regularly struggle with some of the basic rules (e.g. those with attention deficit disorders).

4 – Create opportunities to listen to all children.

This is especially important when resolving conflicts between

children in your class. Allow time for the children involved to fully
explain how they believe the incident arose, as well as what has upset
them and why. Create opportunities day-to-day, during normal lessons
and learning, for children to be listened to as well. This helps them
engage with the learning and feel included in it. Listen to all children's
thoughts in the creation of additional classroom rules (beyond the
minimum, basic ones we talked about before).

5 – Develop a 'scaffolded' approach to learning.

What is 'scaffolding' in terms of teaching and learning? We could write an entire book about
scaffolding, but in the simplest terms, scaffolding means giving support so that all pupils can access the
same learning.

Scaffolding is absolutely key to creating an inclusive learning environment. You want all of the
children in your class to be accessing the same information during a lesson (even if you slightly
differentiate your resources and activities). If you set totally different tasks for some children because they
cannot access what you have planned for the rest of the class, you are excluding them.

6 – Be aware of the specific needs of every child in your class.

For a truly inclusive classroom, it's not enough just to know which of your children have Special
Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). You should know which, if any, of your children are on Free
School Meals (FSM), which are caregivers, which are in foster care, which have English as an Additional
Language (EAL) and which children are from the particularly vulnerable Roma or traveler communities.
Knowing this will help you consider every aspect of your classroom, and how you make it inclusive, safe
and purposeful.

7 – Provide support for them in ways which benefit ALL children in your class.

Some inclusion strategies are so universally beneficial for all students, which they are worth doing
in every classroom! For example, many children with dyslexic traits struggle to read pure black text on a
pure white background. Simply changing the colors you use on your slides, avoiding black on white, can
help not only children with a dyslexia diagnosis, but all children.

What if you have children with mild dyslexic traits that are unlikely to be diagnosed? Changing
your slides will help them, too! Changing the colors of your slides to ones which are less high-contrast
makes them less tiring to view and read, too: better for everyone – you included! This is just one example
of an inclusive change which benefits all children, but there are many, many others.

8 – Create a calm, purposeful learning environment.

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 This is another big one which promotes inclusion for all in
your classroom. We all need calm in order to learn. But creating a
calm environment in class is a tricky thing to master, particularly if
you have a class of children who have come up from a previous
class where low-level disruption such as chatter was tolerated.
Ensure you clearly define when group discussion or working is
required and acceptable, and when it is most certainly not. Make it
clear that preventing others from working during independent
learning time is unacceptable (add it to your basic rules). A calm
environment is inclusive for many of your children, regardless of
whether they have a special need for it or not: every child's home
life can be chaotic at times – that's life.

9 – Clearly display timetables and key information.

This is one of those little changes you can make which helps everyone, and makes all children feel
included. Some children with dyslexic and dyspraxia traits struggle with organization, as do some with
Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Clearly displaying timetables (visual timetables are great, especially for
younger learners) helps them, and all your children, feel involved in the school day.

With a clearly displayed timetable, children can look ahead to their favorite or least favorite
activities, and mentally prepare accordingly: they may think to themselves 'How will I show everyone how
good I am at History later on?' or 'How will I cope with PE today?' Sharing the timetable for all to see
includes children and empowers them. The same is true for key vocabulary, facts or concepts relating to
what you're currently learning in class. Stick this information up for all to see on display boards. This helps
remind children of prior learning, and to answer questions or tackle tricky tasks.

10 – Use pre-assessment to inform your planning.

You might be thinking to yourself: 'What has this got to do with inclusion?' Well, again, this is
about engaging children and making them feel like they have a say in their own learning. Don't just assume
what your children already know or don't know when you're planning a new topic; ask them! That way
you'll identify areas which children are curious to learn more about, and avoid going over very familiar
learning. Pre-assessing children's prior knowledge, and interests around a subject, in this way shows them
that they have been listened to, and included in their own learning. It's a powerful tool for inclusion in the
classroom.

11 – Let children choose how to show what they have learned.

Inclusion works by finding the best way to ensure all children can access the learning, and have
the opportunity to achieve. Setting exactly the same task for all children may not help you to achieve that,
particularly when it comes to assessing learning. When you get to the end of the topic, it might be tempting
to assess children's learning with a written test. Don't do this (at least not every time, anyway)!

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 Instead, offer children a choice of ways of presenting what they have learned. For example, at
the end of a topic about the Arctic, give children the choice of showing their learning by:

 Writing a blog
 Creating a poster or info graphic
 Making a slideshow presentation
 Recording a short information film or radio programme

Of course, you'll need to provide sufficient resources and support,

plus encourage children to choose a way of showing their learning which
plays to their own strengths. Giving children a choice empowers them.
It's inclusive, because it creates equal opportunities to show learning
and progress in a way that a standard test (which many children struggle
with) may not.

12 – Don't compare the progress of one child to another; personal progress is key.

And so, our final, and possibly most important strategy for an inclusive environment that benefits
all students: don't compare them to one another!

Learning is not a competition. It is a never-ending process, a journey.

Think about yourself for a moment: If you had recently started learning electric guitar, would it
feel fair if your guitar tutor compared you directly to Eric Clapton?

For some children with additional needs, the comparison between themselves and others in their
class can feel as stark, and as disheartening. Don't do this. What's the point, anyway? How can comparing
the attainment of one learner to another possibly help either of them?

Instead, focus entirely on children's personal progress, and encourage them to do the same. Ask:
'Can you do even better than you did last time?', 'What do you want to focus on that you found tricky the
last time we looked at this?', or 'What's changed from when we started learning about this, to now?'.

Lastly: sometimes children just won't make progress with something. This can be crushing for any
child, but particularly for those with special needs, who are more likely to have experienced
disappointments like this – over and over again. But you can make them feel included in the learning
process, and capable of achieving, even if they haven't this time. How?

Even if a child hasn't made progress, they can identify ways in which they want to. Teach children
that identifying their own shortcomings, or areas for improvement is learning. By doing so, they are still
actively engaging with the learning and including themselves in it.

You've made it to the end of this massive list of inclusive classroom strategies. But that's just the tip of the
iceberg. We know there are TONS of amazing ideas about diversity and inclusion in education which all
you other teachers and educators have. We bet you've got some ideas of your own, too.

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 Inclusive Learning Environment Strategies

The teaching-learning process is an inherently social act,

and as instructors we need to be mindful of the quality of the social
and emotional dynamics in our course, because they impact
learning and performance.
There are a number of strategies instructors can implement
to create a productive and inclusive climate.

Examine your assumptions.

It is very common for instructors to assume that student share their own background, but this is
not necessarily so. Do you find yourself addressing students as if they all share your religion, sexual
orientation, or economic class?

Learn and use students’ names.

Even in large classes, you can start with a few names and build up. At the very least, let students
know you are making an effort to do so.

Model inclusive language.

For instance, avoid using masculine pronouns for both males and females. When you use
American idioms, explain them for the benefit of non-native English speakers.

Use multiple and diverse examples.

Multiple examples increase the likelihood of students relating to at least one of them. Take care
to include examples that speak to both sexes and that work across cultures.

Establish ground rules for interaction.

This will assure that other students are also being inclusive and respectful. In order to generate
maximal buy-in into the ground rules, you can involve the students in the process of establishing them.
You will still need to enforce the ground rules and correct students for the occasional non-inclusive or
disrespectful comment.

Examine your curriculum.

Are certain perspectives systematically not represented in your course materials (e.g., a course
on family focusing only on traditional families, or a course on public policy ignoring race issues)?
Neglecting some issues implies a value judgment (Hooks 1994), which can alienate certain groups of
students.

Strive to be fair.
Especially in courses with multiple sections and TAs, it is crucial to be perceived as fair, both in
grading and in implementing course policies. Perceptions of unfairness can induce feelings of learned
helplessness (Peterson et al., 1995), which are highly demotivating for students.

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Be mindful of low ability cues.
In their efforts to help students, some instructors inadvertently send mixed messages (e.g., “Sure,
I’ll be happy to help you with this, I know girls have trouble with math”). These cues encourage attributions
focused on permanent, uncontrollable causes, which diminish students’ self-efficacy. Instead, it is more
productive to focus on controllable causes, such as effort.

Provide accommodations for students with disabilities.

Instructors are required by law to provide reasonable accommodations to students with
documented disabilities.

Don’t ask people to speak for an entire group.

Students of underrepresented identities often report either feeling invisible in class, or sticking
out like a sore thumb as the token member. This experience is heightened when they are addressed as
spokespeople for their whole group, and can have implications on performance (Lord & Saenz, 1985).

Practice inclusive classroom behaviors.

Of course we as educators are not out to intentionally exclude anybody from the educational
experience. However, many researchers report small unconscious behaviors – “micro aggressions” – that
certain student groups experience repeatedly. For instance, women report that instructors tend to
interrupt them more often than men, ignore them more often, call on them less often, ask them more
recall questions and less analytical questions, acknowledge their contributions less, and build on their
answers less (Hall, 1982). These micro aggressions add up and have a highly discouraging effect on those
students.

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 ** Note: write this on a long bond paper**

Activity No.2

Name: Course:
Yr. & Sec.: Score: Rating:

1. How do you define inclusion personally, and what does it mean to you in the context of education?
2. Teachers often face the challenge of accommodating a wide range of students with diverse needs and learning
barriers. How do you plan to ensure inclusion for all these children?
3. What specific steps or adjustments will you make in your classroom to promote a more inclusive learning
environment?
Here are some questions for reflection:

(4.1) – Reflect upon your own values and approach regarding disability,
gender, race, and other aspects of diversity. Does your teaching
methodology acknowledge and respect the unique experiences of
students from diverse backgrounds? Is your approach free from
stereotypes and biases? Do you actively promote the inclusion of
alternative perspectives, foster healthy debate, and cultivate an open
environment that embraces the representation of diverse viewpoints?
_ _
_ _ _
_ _
_ _
_ _
_ _
_ _
_ _
_ _
_ .

– In a racially diverse classroom, have you reflected on your own conscious or unconscious
biases towards individuals from various cultures? Do you find that you have varying expectations for
students based on their racial or ethnic backgrounds, gender, or membership in the LGBTQ community?

_ _ _
_ _
_ _
_ _
_ _
_ _
_ _
_ _.

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