In this brief article, the author suggests some tips that can help teachers promote class activities by keeping parents informed on what is going on in class. Letters to the parents, monthly newsletters, and web pages are some of the methods described.

This part of the "Street Wise" series incorporates essential bicycle safety skills into a one week bike unit, designed for 3rd through 6th graders. These skills require much repetition and practice but can help children develop safe traffic behaviors that save lives, such as stopping, scanning, signaling, street crossing, and avoiding hazards.…

This article describes an approach to teaching square dance that is advantageous for both the teacher and students. Lessons in dance become more meaningful to students when the music and vocabulary is consistent with experiences in their own lives. When students create their own squaring to the rap, lessons become more student-centered,…

The number of overweight and obese youth has been increasing dramatically in recent decades, and there is no sign the trend is ending (Ogden, Legal, Carroll, & Johnson, 2002). Many factors have been suggested as causes, including decreased physical activity, more television viewing, and larger portion sizes. Exercise behaviors and attitudes…

Over the past 10 years a number of articles pertaining to teaching tennis to elementary and middle school students have appeared (see Resources at the end of this article). These articles have focused on topics such as tactical play, basic skill instruction and drill, teaching progressions, organizational methods, and fitness development. While…

It's become commonplace for concerned physical educators and parents to reminisce about the good old days when children played outside. What receives less attention is that for many children, there is too little physical activity outside of physical education class. Too few schools provide daily physical education, and those that do, don't always…

Autism is a developmental disorder affecting the lives of thousands of children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 34 in 10,000 children ages 3 to 10 years of age have autism (CDC, 2004). The Autism Society of America (ASA) reports that 1 in 166 babies born today will develop autism spectrum disorder…

This paper describes how a second grade science unit on penguins became the ideal content to integrate with the physical education curriculum. The movement experiences reinforced the information students learned about penguins and helped students to gain a deeper understanding of penguin behaviors. Together, the physical education teacher and the…

As an elementary physical education specialist teaching 740 students in a diverse public school, the author is constantly looking for classroom management strategies that are age appropriate, build relationships, and allow students to take responsibility in solving their own problems beyond that of the author's basic behavior management plan.…

Integrated learning is an exciting adventure for both teachers and students. It is not uncommon to observe the integration of academic subjects such as math, science, and language arts. However, educators need to recognize that movement experiences in physical education also can be linked to academic curricula and, may even lead the…

This paper discusses the implementation of a project in which a writer-respondent intervention was used to develop the academic literacy practices of students. Writer-respondent projects are based on the idea that detailed developmental comments and questions on students' draft writing can assist them in acquiring the peculiar norms of academic…

This paper argues that the widespread approach to enhancing student learning through separate study skills courses is ineffective, and that the term "study skills" itself has misleading implications, which are counterproductive to learning. The main argument is that learning how to study effectively at university cannot be separated from subject…

In responding to The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA [now the Disability and Discrimination Act, Part 4]), UK universities have made significant efforts to address issues of access and inclusivity via structural changes to campus environments and developments in student support. However, little attention has been given to…

Assessment theorists and academics alike espouse the importance of feedback on performance assessment tasks for supporting improvement and progress in student learning achievement. Despite these espoused ideals, students claim a lack of adequate, timely feedback and their teachers claim that students fail to heed the advice given. This paper…

This paper focuses on one approach to making research students more reflexive in their writing. It is argued that the development of the ability to be reflexive in regard to their own qualitative research does not come easily to a significant number of students. A range of possibilities which supervisors might present to their research students as…