SIN FRASER UNIVERSITY

Spring Semester 1999

?

EDUC 459 - 4 ?

ft S. Smith

Instructional Activities in Elementary School

Office: MPX 8531

Physical Education ?

Tel: 291-4326

E01.00 ?

E-mail: stephen@sfu.ca

PREREQUISITE

Educ 401/402

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The content focus of the course is on the games, sports, gymnastics and dance components of the elementary school

curriculum. Through selected activities, students will gain practical competence in teaching physical education and an

understanding of the instructional principles involved in assisting children to become physically confident and competent.

CONTENT

Practical sessions in the gymnasium, on the playing field and in park settings will be used to illustrate the kinds of

activities that can be done with elementary children and provide a basis for our deliberations on best curriculum and

instructional practices. The premise of the course is that 'experience is the best teacher' and that one's constructed,

recollected experiences of movement provide the most meaningful guide to organizing and facilitating the movement

experiences of children.

ASSIGNMENTS

1. Significant Physical Experience: Recall a movement situation that had a significant effect upon you, whether positive

or negative. In no more than three pages, describe the actual situation as vividly as possible and draw out the

implications of this situation for teaching children. The significant physical experience may be a recollected one from

your childhood or pertain to a more recent one where you were involved in teaching children.

Due fourth week of class (20%).

2. Activity Log: Find a means of introducing physical activity into your daily routine, or look for ways of extending a

sense of physicality into your other daily pursuits. Present the first and last pages of this activity log, indicating your

resolution, your accomplishment and your reflections on the significance of this physical engagement.

Due final week of class (20%).

3.

Instructional Plan: Develop an eight-lesson teaching unit geared to a particular grade level which incorporates the

instructional principles taught in this course. Consider especially a 'ground up' sequence of movement possibilities, an

'integrative span' of curricular lessons, and a coherent thematization of desired movement experiences.

Due final day of classes (40%).

4.

Peer Teaching: In a group of 4, teach a movement concept that applies to the games, sports, gymnastics and dance

components of the elementary curriculum. A lesson plan of the one-hour peer teaching exercise is to be submitted at the

time of lesson delivery (10%).

5.

Class Participation: Participation in class activities is a vital part of the course and will be assessed (10%).

RECOMMENDED TEXT

Kirchner, G. Physical Education for Elementary School Children, 10th ed. Madison, WI: Brown and Benchmark.

ISBN 0-697-29486-2.