This article describes an approach to teaching the basic skills of tennis to students in grades 4 and 5. It relates a five-lesson unit suitable to a near-weekly class schedule. The author found it effective when seeing his students as infrequently as once every four days for fifty minutes.

It is essential for physical education teachers to utilize a foundation of physiological principles to design and monitor appropriate, safe, and effective exercise for their students. Adult training programs are not appropriate for children. Teachers should consider individual levels of maturation, motor skill ability, and affective needs when…

Physical Education for Progress grants, otherwise known as PEP grants, are part of the Carol M. White Physical Education Program administered by the federal government. PEP grants are available to local educational agencies and community-based organizations to initiate, expand, or improve physical education programs, including after-school…

The author of this paper teaches grades 6-8 Health and Physical Education at a rural middle school in Howland, Maine (Hichborn Middle School). In 1996, the state legislature approved "The Maine Learning Results" as the document identifying the knowledge and skills essential to prepare Maine students for work, higher education, citizenship, and…

Enthusiastic elementary physical educators continually investigate effective ways to encourage students to engage in more physical activity. The most effective teachers look for interesting strategies and innovations that engage learners of all ability levels. A new innovation, the "Virtual Gym," addresses physical educators' concerns about…

Heart monitors, pedometers, and now virtual reality-based equipment (e.g., Cyberbikes, "Dance Dance Revolution") have been embraced by physical educators as technologies worth using in the physical education program; however, the use of computers (be it a desktop, notebook, or handheld) in the physical education instructional program, has not been…

Sedentary lifestyles are often to blame for overweight and obesity, which is the second leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S. (USDHHS, 2001). While video games have historically been identified as the culprit of inactivity, new interactive video games make participants break a sweat. Some physical educators have begun integrating this…

Because a mounting number of personnel, both young and old, continuously retrieve, seek out, communicate, assemble, and distribute information by way of the World Wide Web (WWW), it is vital for physical education teachers and other health/wellness promoters to tap into this source to advocate for their quality programs (Shiffett et al., 2001).…

It is doubtful that any teacher would question the value of rhythmic movement in a physical education program. The benefits of being able to move rhythmically and to keep a beat are numerous. First, children with rhythm have an increased kinesthetic awareness of their body in motion and stillness. As most physical activities have an inherent…

Journaling is a specific assessment tool teachers can use to examine student learning in the affective and cognitive domains. It also provides a nonthreatening venue for students to communicate their knowledge and feelings about physical education. This article examines the use of student journals as an assessment tool in physical education. The…

The Margie R. Hanson Distinguished Service Award recognizes established professionals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of physical education for children. The 2005 recipient was Steve Sanders, former Senior Editor of "TEPE." This article contains the text of the speech Dr. Sanders made following an official NASPE awards…

Designing developmentally appropriate learning experiences requires an understanding of an instructional strategy known as simplification. Simplification, as the term implies, reduces the level of difficulty of a task, or some aspect of a task, for the learner. This article presents ideas regarding implementation of this strategy to accommodate a…

An active learning environment is one in which students are able to "seek" out new experiences, "interpret" them, and "relate" them to previous experiences. This approach allows students to engage in independent thinking, problem solving, and guided discovery as they explore broad movement concepts. An active learning means that students are…

In 2004, the Wake County Public School System (North Carolina) received $1.3 million as one of 237 national winners of the $70 million federal Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) Grant competition. The PEP Grant program is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and provides monies to school districts able to demonstrate the…

Most physical educators became teachers because they were skilled movers and enjoyed the content of physical education. Although the content is important, there are other things to consider when attempting to accomplishing goals to meet the needs of all students. Teachers need to consider the whole person (motor, cognitive, affective domains) to…