Planning Physical Education Units
A K-12 Road Map for Physical Education
The Diamond Conceptual Framework helps illustrate the progression of skills and concepts taught in physical education, which are guided by national and state standards and research on physical activity and physical education. While we believe this is a useful framework, we acknowledge that there are other philosophies that can also achieve quality physical education.
SHAPE America Appropriate Practices
- 2.3.2 Stretching, if included in the lesson, occurs only after an appropriate general warmup activity and is appropriate and beneficial for maintaining and improving flexibility.
- 2.6.3 The physical educator emphasizes critical-thinking and problem-solving tactics and strategies by using higher-order questions.
- 3.1.1 The physical education curriculum has an obvious scope and sequence, based on goals and objectives that are appropriate for all students and that are derived from national or state standards.
- 3.1.2 The physical educator includes motor skill development, physiological and biomechanical concepts, health-enhancing physical activities that lead to a physically active lifestyle, and opportunities to develop appropriate social behaviors.
- 3.1.3 Instruction follows a scope and sequence that is designed to scaffold prior learning and develop mature forms of skills and strategies.
- 3.1.4 Teachers design progressions that allow students to build on previously learned content and skills, by focusing on lifetime activities.
- 4.2.1 Physical educators systematically teach and assess all domains, using a variety of assessment techniques.
Additional Appropriate Practices:
- Revisit content throughout the year.
Designing Standard Based Physical Education Units
Select standards/outcomes based on the developmental level of your students, which may differ from their grade level, and include additional learning objectives to meet the needs of your students and community.
Unpacking Physical Education Standards
Standards and student learning outcomes are often comprehensive. After reading each Standard and/or Learning Outcome, ask yourself “What do my students need to know and be able to do to meet this Standard or Outcome?” The table below shows how many student learning outcomes can be created from one Psychomotor Standard. Find more information in this article Unpacking The National Standards: Backwards Design In #PhysEd.
Example of Unpacking Standards
Different Ways to Unpack Standards
Domains of Learning and Grade Level Outcomes
Below are examples of grade level outcomes for the psychomotor, cognitive, and affective domains of learning. The purpose of the taxonomies below are to make it easier to sequence learning tasks in a logical order of difficulty. See our Domains of Learning page for more information.
Designing Standard Based Lessons in Physical Education
How to Design Standards Based Lessons
Breakdown of a Standards Based Lesson
Key Questions for Lesson Planning in Physical Education
(3rd edition Instructional Models for Physical Education, Metzler, M., 2011; Exhibit 6.7, p. 147)
Lesson Plan Templates for Physical Education
Additional Planning Resources
- #PhysEd Curriculum Mapping
- 5 Strategies for Using the National Physical Education Standards
- Layering Elementary Physical Education Instruction (video)
- Making Sense of Student Learning Targets
- My Planning Process
- PE Scope and Sequence: How To Fit It All In
- Physical Education Lesson Plan Template: The VIP Plan
- SHAPE America Podcast – Curriculum Development Part 1
- SHAPE America Podcast – Curriculum Development Part 2
- Standards-Based Physical Education
- Times When You Wont Hit a 50% Physical Activity Target in a PE Class