Making Meaningful Physical Education Elementary Friendly

I am on the Meaningful Physical Education (MPE) Framework bandwagon. There are lots of reasons for that, but I only have 500 words so to make it short I want students “Moved to Move”. To me, the best way to do that is through meaningful connection. As more people discuss it with me, quite a few feel like they are not sure where to start. That’s what I hope to help with in this blog. I believe a big part is how you present it to kids. Here’s how I do that.

We have 2 big question prompts we go through as we learn through movement:

Critical Question 1	Critical Question 2
What Was: Hard? Fun? Easy? What Made You Proud?	What Did You Connect With? Life Success Challenge Classmates

I use these because I think they are simple for students to understand, and allow students to reflect deeply for the elementary level. I have been pleasantly surprised at how students realize how interconnected these ideas can be. Also when you take a glance at these, even if the MPE Framework is new to you, you can see how these fit with the features:

Fun
Delight
Personal Relevance
Motor Competence
Challenge
Social Interaction

One big part we unpack at the beginning of each year is challenge. Understanding that when we talk about challenge it’s like “Goldilocks”. That spot where sometimes we fail, and sometimes we succeed. I’ve also found significance in saying “classmates” not friends. Kids can see that as “Well I’m not with my friends today so how am I supposed to connect with friends?”

How do I know if students are on the right track with these connections? We talk about it at the end of every class. My students know they need to be prepared to answer. Students will go to multiple choice closure corners. I see what they connected with, and write down a handful of names I’ll “cold call” to get our MPE conversations rolling. I do quite a bit of cold calling in our closure. When it’s done right, it’s not as anxiety-inducing as we’re led to believe. In the past I’ve used sticky notes(Figure 1), rubber band drop boxes (Figures 2 & 3), but neither of those provide the rich answers students provide in actual discussion.

How do I use this? At multiple times in the year, I check with my students on what are the most important or best connections for them. From there, along with the district required things I have to assess, I can share with parents what movement connections matter to their kids. Hopefully, opening the door on how they can help their children find those connections outside of class too.

I’ll end this with a quote from one of my 2nd graders, “I connected with life because sometimes you made mistakes or failed. In life failing’s okay, but you want to learn so you don’t make the same mistakes. That’s what this game made you do.”

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Pair this post with the following:

Meaningful Physical Education by Tim Fletcher, Déirdre Ní Chróinín, Doug Gleddie, and Stephanie Benni

Supporting Meaningful PE in Health Education by Allisha Blanchette

How to Facilitate Deeper Connections to Physical Activity by Jordan Manley

Teaching Physical Education with Purpose: Embracing the Meaningful PE Approach by Andy Milne