3 Effective Tips for Teaching Junior Primary PE: Boost Engagement and …

Those who have taught HPE to junior year levels will understand that a P.E. lesson can very easily turn into chaos. Little people have a magical way of derailing the most simple activities! This could happen at any point in the lesson and a lot of the time these situations are out of your control, it is just a very normal part of teaching physically active young students.

The junior primary health and physical education curriculum superbly takes this into account and thus has many exploratory components, allowing for discovery/play-based learning which allows for a less structured approach.

Although, to make this ‘discovery/exploration’ impactful and grounded in purposeful play and learning, there will be times when students will need to listen and follow structure. Whilst we can’t control all the variables, this article will focus on what we can control and do our best to manage the lesson effectively.

Consistent routines when entering, exiting and listening:

Ensure you have a consistent way that students enter the P.E. learning areas (outdoors, indoors, gymnasium, indoor spaces) every time.

Younger students thrive in environments that integrate consistent approaches for appropriate things. It allows them to not be surprised/ distracted by unforeseen things, understand what everyone them should be doing at that present time and also understand what is expected from them in that moment. It provides students with a sense of calmness and will create the foundations for future expectations.

Whenever I pick up a class and take them to wherever we decide to start the lesson, it is done in the same way. Students line up with me at the front, I pick the best listeners to walk at the ‘front’ and at the ‘back’ of the line (indicating the desired behaviours in a reward-based way rather than punishing those who aren’t listening). We walk to the teaching space and then depending on the year level students start their entry routine.

My JP students all reflect on their emotions by touching a coloured cone (Which I have neatly laid out before the lesson) which represents their emotions. Once they do this, they walk into the ‘sitting space’ (I have already laid this out and colour-coordinated the boundaries with a chosen coloured cone. These cones are only used for the sitting space so students are aware of what this cone area represents. Then they wait for instruction. A similar process is taken when exiting. Now this sounds simple but depending on the context and needs of your students it can be a challenge at the beginning of introducing these boundaries. These routines typically take at least a term or 10-11 weeks of teaching before they are understood and done to an adequate level. It is hard work initially, at times sacrificing lessons just to ensure it is done correctly. What time you spend now will be saved down the track when your students are entering a learning space in a way that is conducive to receiving teaching instructions. It also sets them up for future terms and years of learning in the P.E domain.

It prevents students from running all over the place, grabbing things set up for a lesson or hurting themselves or those around them. If you have a particularly tricky class or a new class, I would take these students straight to the playground for a 5-minute warm up and then we enter the lesson protocol after that. Typically, students are extremely excited to come to P.E., this built-up energy and excitement at times needs to be expelled before instruction is given. This 5-minute warm-up also provides a time for students to grab/ find hats, apply sunscreen, drink/toilet and also for you to check in with certain students if you need to. The term for this warmup procedure is known as a ‘Global Observation’. Whilst students are playing in a structured environment (Playground) you are checking in with them informally, observing the behaviours and emotions of the group as a whole to inform your future decisions on the lesson that’s about to take place. I also use this to practice our lining up, I make a game out of it.

I let students play on the playground and then blow my whistle once really loudly at a distance from the playground. Students notice this and then run as fast as they can to me and line up. It becomes a race and a challenge. Then I let them run back and play until I randomly repeat the process. After a few times students understand the whistle commands and these commands are used later in the P.E. lesson when students are required to either stop or to line up.

Colour Coordinating Everything!

Young students don’t always follow complex instructions well, this can be an issue when directing students on areas of the field, court or active spaces that you wish for them to go to or play in. One way to organise areas and spaces is to colour-coordinate them.

This can be done with the use of coloured cones, having multiple sets of coloured cones in a range of colours is one of the most fundamental pieces of equipment for P.E. lessons. If I had to stock or resource a P.E. shed, or storage area this would be my first purchase every single time.

I have found that this works the best as having different colours for different boundaries allows students to comprehend the rules much easier and reduces the risk of students forgetting details.

Example: Red cones used for boundaries (not allowed outside of the red cones) create consequences if this happens to encourage students to stay within the playing area. For example: if a student steps out of the area, students will need to spend 30 seconds out of the game before they can return.

Key Takeaway:

Whatever colour you use for the boundaries of games, keep it consistent for all future lessons. This consistency will allow students to understand the constraints of the playing space without you having to explain it every time/lesson.
Don’t have similar shades of colours, primary and bold-coloured cones only. 1 set of green, 1 of blue, 1 of red etc…. Don’t use shades of colours… it will make things confusing!
Be creative- little learners love a story- ‘The out-of-bounds area is lava! Stay away from the red lava cones!’
You can even use this for when you are creating groups for games- lay out different colour’s cones in different areas and one at a time ask students to stand behind a specific-coloured cone. I find that this is far more effective than using numbers or any other method of separation as you make assumptions that these young students can count or remember which number they are. Colours are simple and don’t rely on them remembering a number or method of separation to get the lesson started!
You can also colour coordinate equipment if you have the means to do so (i.e. groups who are working on dribbling grab the bouncy green balls and the groups who are working on catching grab the soft yellow balls.)

Visuals…for everything!

Pretty self-explanatory. In a classroom setting, this is a standard approach for most subject areas, all students to some capacities are visual learners and especially at this age students thrive when visual prompts are used to support verbal instructions. HPE is no different. If you can find some resources or diagrams for games and activities, please try to use them in your instruction phase. Of course, providing actual examples and demonstrations is critical, using prompts and visuals that remain throughout the learning area will allow students to re-visit information or how their movement/ game should look even after the instruction component is finished.

It’s also a great way for you to encourage independent learning by directing students to look at the visual prompts first, before asking for help.

What are some examples of visuals to use in HPE?

Images of movements (Jump, throw, catch, hop…)
Images of set up (How a fully set up game should look)
Where to stand and how to stand
Written instruction (Take a small whiteboard or poster with game instructions)
Keywords or symbols that support the game (Red stop sign for out of bounds, Green Go traffic light for areas where students can run etc.…)
If you are teaching stretches or moves similar to Yoga have images of those moves to support your diagram and verbal instruction

Why is teaching P.E to younger year levels so challenging? What does the evidence say?

Shorter Attention Spans: Younger children generally have shorter attention spans than older students. A study by the National Institutes of Health found that attention spans increase significantly with age, making it harder to maintain focus in younger children.
**Developing Motor Skills:** Younger students are still developing their motor skills, which can make it difficult for them to perform certain physical activities. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), children develop these skills at different rates, and younger children often need more guidance and support to master basic movements.
Behaviour Management: Managing the behaviour of younger students can be more challenging. Research from the Journal of School Health indicates that younger children are more likely to exhibit disruptive behaviors, requiring teachers to spend more time on classroom management than on instruction.
Communication Skills: Younger students may have less developed communication skills, which can make it harder for them to understand instructions and for teachers to understand their needs. A study published in the Early Childhood Education Journal highlights that younger children often struggle with listening and following multi-step instructions.
Varied Developmental Stages: There is a wider range of developmental stages among younger students. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children in the same age group can vary significantly in terms of physical, cognitive, and emotional development, making it challenging to design activities that are appropriate for all students.
Safety Concerns: Ensuring safety is more complex with younger children. Younger students are more prone to accidents and may not always understand safety rules. Research from the Journal of Pediatric Psychology shows that younger children have a higher risk of injury during physical activities compared to older children.
Need for More Hands-On Guidance: Younger students require more hands-on guidance and supervision. A study in the International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education found that younger children benefit from more direct interaction and personalised instruction from teachers.

Summary:

Teaching early years is a massive challenge, understanding that there will be chaos at times, will allow you to (hopefully) not overthink what you’re doing or feel that you are doing a bad job. At this age, students have limited prior knowledge, so please be kind with the expectations you put on yourself!

I’m here to help if needed- contact me with any questions you may have.

Helpful Resources:

Sources:

National Institutes of Health. (2015). Attention Span in Children.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Child Development Basics.
Journal of School Health. (2020). Classroom Behavior and Its Impact on Learning.
Early Childhood Education Journal. (2018). Listening and Following Instructions in Early Childhood.
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2021). Understanding Developmental Stages.
Journal of Pediatric Psychology. (2017). Injury Risks in Physical Education.
International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education. (2019). Effective Teaching Strategies for Young Children.

3 Effective Tips for Teaching Junior Primary PE: Boost Engagement and Success

Jan 26, 2024