Research has shown that regular physical activity helps to prevent major health problems, such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. However, little research has been conducted on classroom-based physical activity programs for students with disabilities. In North Carolina, the Healthy Active Children Policy was implemented in 2006, requiring…

Pedometers are a popular tool among physical educators and recreation and fitness professionals for promoting and monitoring the physical activity of youths. Pedometers are particularly useful because they are reliable, inexpensive, and simple for youths to use and understand. However, pedometers also have some limitations, the greatest one being…

This article addresses postural awareness and efficiency as a fundamental but often overlooked aspect of movement training that falls naturally into the domain of HPERD pedagogical practice. Beginning with a brief overview and discussion on the anatomical "cost" of poor organization, the body of the article describes activities that can be…

This article describes a fitness curriculum grounded in the sport education model. The curriculum consists of 18 lessons that were taught to fifth-grade students at a rural school in the South. All features of sport education--team affiliation, season, formal competition, culminating events, record keeping, and festivity--were preserved. The…

Fun & Fit is a program designed to create positive physical activity experiences and to promote healthy lifestyle choices among overweight children from low-income African American and Hispanic American families. The program is a collaborative project between Texas Tech University and the Lubbock Independent School District funded through a…

The last several decades have witnessed a large increase in the number of girls who participate in sports in the United States. Today an estimated 8 million third- through 12th-grade girls and 12 million boys participate in organized and team sports. While much progress has been made toward achieving gender equity in youth sports, too many girls…

In August and September 2005, two violent hurricanes--Katrina and Rita--hit Louisiana. Hundreds of thousands of residents were relocated to temporary living communities, where most of the economically poor remain today. This state's largest trailer community, "Renaissance Village," was erected almost overnight in a cow pasture in Baker,…

This article illustrates a lesson idea used by a real teacher, in a real class setting with fourth-and fifth-grade students in the United States. The teacher created this lesson idea as she struggled to answer the question, "How can I help my students use transitions to create flow in their gymnastics routines?" Together with the author, the…

This article provides an overview of medicine ball training. Specifically, it describes "Medicine Ball for All," a physical activity program designed to provide children and teenagers with a meaningful learning experience that is consistent with their developmental needs. The article focuses on developing a safe, successful, and inexpensive…

This article features the Ultimate PE Challenge. The idea had been born when the fifth-grade teachers complained that teaching physical geography was boring, and the technology instructor simultaneously noticed a climbing wall in the gym. "Could physical education simulate the geographic characteristics and obstacles of North America?"…