Planning P.E. Lessons: A Step-by-Step Guide on Where to Start

Feb 12, 2024

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Kas

Planning a full physical education annual overview or even a semester plan of HPE can be a very overwhelming and daunting task! Not only are you trying to integrate a whole year’s worth of curriculum-aligned content into generally 1 or 2 lessons a week but also you are also trying to do this for most if not all year levels in your school!

There are many ways to tackle this task and generally if you are a new teacher to this subject area, it will take more than a year to refine your process and get right. Don’t worry!

In time you will have a solid base of planning to work with, which you have created bit by bit over the course of a few terms/ years of teaching the content. This will allow you to refine your planning over time, rather than constantly having to create content from scratch each year.

When planning a HPE program there are few schools of thought and wider principles to consider- such as overarching ideas, evidence-based pedagogies and even school specific content to incorporate…. The list goes on!

This article will be a general starting point on the overall planning structure for a semester or year. Remember, it is completely normal to feel overwhelmed with what exactly needs to be covered and where to start it- we are here to help.

Here are some first steps to reduce the stress and to start building a great foundation of P.E yearly programming and planning.

The Game Categories | TGFU

I have mentioned the amazing TGFU model of teaching and their ‘Game Categories’ in previous articles but I will also link it for you to read here. One of the many reasons why I love the TGFU model of game categories, is because it provides you with an organised structure of how to teach the games, games that encompass a wide variety of skills needed for students to become competent in sports.

The Categories Are As Follows:

  • Invasion Games
  • Net-Court and Wall Games
  • Striking and Fielding Games
  • Target Games

This is really helpful!

Due to the overwhelming nature of planning for a year in a subject area, a teacher can just pencil in a range of ‘popular’ sports or typical sports into a year’s worth of work, without any foresight or intention- assuming that’s just what should be done. The issue with this aimless approach is that an educator could run the risk of teaching students to the same skills both tactical and technical multiple times whilst risk leaving out other important skills in different sporting areas. It also limits a student’s ability to be successful in P.E as it narrows down the list of skills that they will be assessed on and not give them an opportunity to express their understanding in a variety of movement based activities.

It also pigeon holes students into the ‘popular’ school sports that generally require a similar skill set (Basketball, netball, soccer…) all invasion games. Whilst they have slight differences, the skills in each game are similar, which is why they are categorised together in the TGFU model. We need to ensure we are providing students with not only variety but also opportunity to experience new sports in different contexts. Its great from a learning perspective but its also far more engaging for the students and forces them to be creative and critical in their thinking.

What also makes this a common issue, is that despite popular belief, the curriculum does not actually tell you what sports you need to specifically teach, well at least not up to Year. 10. This is done for many reasons one being (I assume) is that it provides schools with flexibility in order to teach the curriculum in the best way their can given their facilities and resources.

This generalised approach can leave HPE teachers just going with the flow and choosing sports with no sequencing or structure in mind. Do no do this!

What Should Be Done Instead?

Instead of randomly selecting sports, one thing I advise to all those seeking guidance in P.E planning is to understand that every year level in the curriculum covers a wide range of skills, understanding and technical aspects. As an educator, you try and sequence and structure them in a way that covers all aspects of the curriculum but in a way that is beneficial to your students.

One great way to do this (How I still do it): Teach the categories as units!

  • Don’t do a unit of basketball, do a unit of invasion games.
  • Then follow it up with a unit of target games. Continue this pattern until you teach all categories of games and then repeat just with different activities.

No, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t teach popular sports, definitely teach them. I do. First build students up to them with activities and small-sided games that develop technical and tactical skills of that game category before you dedicate a whole unit to that one sport. (To furtherexplain this please read my TGFU article).

Example:

Term 1

Term 2

  • Weeks 1-4: (Striking and fielding games)
  • Weeks 5-8: (Net-court and wall games)
  • Weeks 9-10: (Target Games, indoor games- bowling, darts, corn toss)

This is just a rough example, of course, you would structure this depending on the amount of time you have with each class, available facilities, weather, school events and disruptions and assessment timeline.

*Please note* can you see how we have done 2 units of target games yet covered different games? We are teaching similar skills just in different contexts, increasing the variety of activities for students and providing them with more opportunities for success. Providing different learning opportunities for our students whilst still re-visiting skills will allow more time to students to refine and practice those skills.

Also, the structure of these categories will depend on the age of your learners, age-appropriate activities may mean a different overview for different year levels/ or different activities within the same category of game.

Is It Curriculum-Aligned?  

If you are covering a wide range of sports as discussed above (using game categories to organise them), you will be hitting most of the curriculum areas, especially the practical-based sides of the curriculum. We tend to see this in the ‘Movement and Physical Activity, category of the HPE curriculum, see below.

(ACARA, Health and Physical Education Content Structure R-10- V.9, 2024)

What will take the most time but it will set you up with that good foundation for years to come…. Is to spend time now aligning aspects of the curriculum focus areas into these game categories that you have organised into units or weeks. This will allow you to see what you are covering and what is missing ensuring that you are covering all your bases.

Example: Weeks 1-4 Striking and fielding (Year 4)

AC9HP4M08 (Australian Curriculum Strand Code) Apply rules and scoring systems to promote fair play when participating in or designing physical activities

You could align this strand into your ‘Striking and Fielding’ unit and unpack it when discussing scoring in sports like T-Ball, cricket and baseball. You can assign multiple strands to each unit and this will give you a structure to guide your outcomes, guiding questions and assessments.

This is a bit of a rough run-through of how to go about it, but it is a great starting point for your planning. If you need more clarification or detailed guidance please contact me!!

Sports and Whole School Events | Levelling Up Your Planning A Little More

Once you have the categories organised and aligned to the curriculum, we can start to have some fun. We can start to make our planning more impactful to our site by going deeper in our intentions for our year overviews. This can be done by incorporating whole school events and carnivals into your planning. (Swimming events, Sports Days, NAIDOC Week, National HPE Week ect…)

This section deserves a whole article in itself but I will brush over the benefits of including whole school events in your planning

  • Prepares both staff and students for sports days
  • Ensure a successful sports day
  • Builds confidence in students before whole school events
  • Limits anxiety and reduces the possibility of unforeseen issues
  • Provides your students a break from conventional units of work
  • Integrates the curriculum into more school-specific needs

Your year plan should have sports day activities positioned before your actual Sports Day. This allows students to prepare for the events and also allows you to observe how these events will run with students and give you time to modify and make the needed changes prior to the actual Sports Day. This community sporting event also aligns with many aspects of the curriculum so please make sure you keep your eye out for that and incorporate those specific outcomes into your planning and programming.

Carnivals And Sporting Excursions

The same goes for sporting carnivals and school programs. Include relevant game categories in your planning that relate to these carnivals, as it will provide a great opportunity for success for your students and will allow them to practice skills and gameplay before the events. This will also provide greater involvement from your students in these carnivals as they will be excited and confident to nominate themselves now that they’ve experienced it and have some knowledge about it.

Later down the track, we can talk about how we can involve assessments in this process!

In Summary

We brushed over many key areas, I hope it all makes sense. Ultimately if you are looking for a more personalised and detailed overview please contact me. I will release more articles on this topic eventually as planning and implementation is a huge skills in HPE and something that you learn and develop over time. This comes as you understand the curriculum and your students as well as school needs through your time at your school.

Here are some takeaways

  1. Use the TGFU Model
  2. Don’t make it up, use sequencing (Game Categories)
  3. Read the curriculum and assign outcomes to each unit (This will keep you accountable and provide evidence of learning)
  4. Incorporate your school needs
  5. Keep it fun, change it up – always student-centred

Reach out for help if needed!

3 Evidence Based Reasons Why Planning Is Vital For Learning and Teaching!

  • Structured and Coherent Instruction: Unit plans ensure that instruction is structured and coherent. According to research, a well-organized curriculum helps students build on prior knowledge and connect new concepts logically. This coherence improves student understanding and retention of material. Bransford, Brown, and Cocking (2000) emphasize that structured planning allows for scaffolded learning, where complex ideas are broken down into manageable parts and sequenced appropriately, enhancing cognitive development and mastery of subjects .
  • Alignment with Standards and Objectives: Unit plans help align teaching with educational standards and learning objectives. Marzano (2003) points out that clear alignment with standards ensures that all necessary content is covered and that instructional goals are met. This alignment is crucial for accountability and ensures that students are receiving a comprehensive education that meets mandated benchmarks. Teachers can systematically address and assess the intended learning outcomes, leading to more focused and effective instruction .
  • Differentiated Instruction and Assessment: Unit plans facilitate differentiated instruction and assessment, accommodating diverse learning needs and styles. Tomlinson (2001) highlights the importance of differentiated instruction in addressing the varied abilities, interests, and learning profiles of students. By planning units in advance, teachers can design activities and assessments that cater to different learners, providing multiple entry points to content and varying the ways students can demonstrate their understanding. This leads to a more inclusive classroom environment where all students have the opportunity to succeed.

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