Physical Education Methods for Elementary Teachers

Children face many serious health concerns, including obesity and type 2 diabetes. Teachers can use Physical Education Methods for Elementary Teachers, Third Edition, to help children avoid these and other health issues and steer them to better health.

Many new guidelines and mandates have arisen in recent years, including new dietary guidelines for Americans, an updated food guide pyramid system, a federally mandated school wellness policy, and coordinated school health legislation. This text is thoroughly revised to keep in step with these guidelines and mandates, and it will help preservice and in-service classroom teachers and physical education specialists provide best practices in physical education, physical activity, and healthy eating.

This third edition extends existing information on integrating academics and physical activity. New material includes sections on character development and the positive youth development model as well as more practical tools for developing teaching skills. In addition, the authors place more emphasis on goal orientation and motivational climate, two factors associated with maintaining physical activity. They outline strategies for creating an environment where students choose to participate in physical activity with confidence, enthusiasm, and a desire to learn.

Teachers who are not accustomed to teaching in the gym environment will find the video clips on the DVD-ROM especially useful, and they can use the lesson plans also provided on the DVD-ROM in concert with the video clips to apply the concepts in their own teaching. Teachers can use these lesson plans as is or as models for writing their own lesson plans. Each plan illustrates a key concept or method in the book, thus reinforcing and extending readers' understanding and enhancing their teaching practice.

Written in an engaging, informal style, the text helps teachers learn what they need to know without having to decipher jargon or being overloaded with excessive information. Accessible, interesting, current, and practical, Physical Education Methods for Elementary Teachers, Third Edition, will help beginning teachers to create healthier schools and to feel confident in presenting essential information and creating exciting learning activities for their students.

Katherine T. Thomas, PhD, is an associate professor of health and human performance at Iowa State University, where she teaches a variety of teacher education and motor development courses. Dr. Thomas also has taught at Arizona State University, Southeastern Louisiana University, and Southern University at Baton Rouge. Her research and numerous publications focus on skill acquisition in sport and exercise and the relation of physical activity to health. She has external grant funding in excess of $1,000,000 to study physical activity and is the physical activity consultant for the USDA's Team Nutrition. However, Dr. Thomas says that the most relevant experiences to the writing of this book were her early positions as a graduate assistant and as an instructor in elementary schools and a college teaching laboratory. Those experiences enabled her to find out firsthand what does and does not work in a physical education class.

Dr. Thomas is a member of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) and the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA). She received her doctorate in physical education from Louisiana State University in 1981.

Amelia M. Lee, PhD, is a professor and chair of the department of kinesiology at Louisiana State University. In addition to her 30 years as a teacher educator, Dr. Lee has 10 years of experience as a physical educator at elementary schools in Louisiana and Texas. She has published many articles on children's learning and motivation in physical education and has served as a physical education consultant to more than 20 school districts. Dr. Lee is a member of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and she has received the Scholar Lecture Award from the AERA's Special Interest Group on Learning and Instruction in Physical Education. She is a member of AAHPERD, received an Honor Award from AAHPERD's Curriculum and Instruction Academy, was selected to present the Research Consortium McCloy Lecture, and was named the 2003-04 Alliance Scholar. Dr. Lee earned her doctorate in physical education from Texas Woman's University in 1972.

Jerry R. Thomas, EdD, has taught elementary physical education methods and children's motor development for more than 30 years. He is a professor and chair of the department of health and human performance at Iowa State University. Dr. Thomas also has been a professor at Florida State, Louisiana State, and Arizona State Universities. He has written more than 125 published papers, including many on children's motor skills. Dr. Thomas is former president of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education and NASPSPA. In addition, his scholarly work in physical activity has earned him the titles of C.H. McCloy Lecturer for children's control, learning, and performance of motor skills; Alliance Scholar for AAHPERD; and Southern District AHPERD Scholar.