Physical Education Unit Plans for Grades 5-6: Learning Experiences in Games, Gymnastics and Dance

Spend less time planning and more time personalizing lessons with these practical guides. Previously compiled in a two-book set titled Physical Education Teaching Units for Program Development, these highly acclaimed unit plans provide a detailed scope and sequence for an early childhood movement program and an elementary physical education program. The 135 units in these four books integrate movement concepts and skills into games, gymnastics, and dance experiences that children really enjoy. They contain clear objectives, sample assessments, and fitness activities that reflect the National Standards for Physical Education and the National Standards for Arts Education (Dance). New and experienced teachers alike can adopt the ready-to-use units as a complete instructional program or select specific units to enhance their existing curriculum. Successfully used in public and private schools in suburban, inner city, and rural areas, the units are logically arranged to build on the motor skills acquired at each student's unique stage of development. Each unit contains a progression of learning experiences, and each learning experience, in turn, is broken down into tasks that help students perform movement skills or understand movement concepts. To increase communication, learning, and motivation, the learning experiences are written in conversational, developmentally appropriate language and can be used as models for effective teaching. Written by five specialists in physical education and dance, who together have more than 100 years of teaching experience, Physical Education Unit Plans will dramatically reduce time spent in day-to-day planning and preparation and challenge students to reach their full movement potential.

About the Author :
Bette J. Logsdon, PhD, has 37 years of physical education experience--5 years in public schools and 32 years at the university level, preparing teachers with special interest in elementary school physical education. She spent the last 15 years of her career at Bowling Green State University (Ohio). During this time, she taught regularly scheduled elementary physical education classes to learn more about children, test theories, and stay abreast of the challenges facing elementary school teachers. Bette lives in Toledo, Ohio. Luann M. Alleman, MEd, has 25 years' teaching experience in public and private schools. She has worked with children, including physically challenged students, at the elementary and high school levels, and with college students in university teacher-preparation courses. She was the first intern consultant for physical education in the Toledo School System and provided in-service training for Toledo public school elementary physical education teachers. Retired after 17 years as department chair of elementary school physical education for the Toledo School System, Luann resides in Holland, Ohio. Sue Ann Straits, PhD, has been a lecturer in the Department of Education at The Catholic University of America (Washington, DC) since 1993. Since beginning her career in physical education in 1972, she has gained extensive practical experience teaching physical education and dance in early childhood and elementary education settings both overseas and in the United States. She also has conducted workshops around the world on movement education. Sue Ann makes her home in Reston, Virginia. David E. Belka, PhD, has taught physical education classes to elementary school students and pedagogy and elementary content courses at the college level. An expert in developing and teaching games, David is the author of Teaching Children Games, a practical guide that explains the why and how of teaching children to become skilled games players. For more than two decades, he has analyzed, critiqued, and reviewed elementary physical education texts. David lives in Oxford, Ohio, where he is a professor at Miami University. Dawn Clark, EdD, is an associate professor and the coordinator of dance education at East Carolina University, where she teaches dance pedagogy. She taught physical education and dance at the elementary level for five years. In 1987 Dawn earned a certificate in Laban studies; this background has been especially helpful for the Physical Education Unit Plans books, whose units are organized around Laban's movement themes and movement framework. Dawn is a resident of Greenville, North Carolina.