Designing an effective phys ed lesson plan is one of the most difficult tasks I’ve encountered as a teacher. Believe it or not, creating a phys ed lesson is more difficult than an AP Bio lesson IMO (yes, I taught AP Biology for a dozen years before making the transition to physical education).
When teaching science there are a number of supports in place to help guide lesson design. Unfortunately, those same supports don’t readily exist for physical education. And when you take into account all of the other variables that physical education teachers encounter, it further complicates effective lesson planning. Here are three essential questions I prefer to ask when designing lessons for phys ed that will be a success.
Is My Phys Ed Lesson Plan Relevant?
When mapping out my units for physical education and writing out my lesson plans I try to stop for a minute and think if what I want to teach my class is even relevant. I’m sure we can all justify pretty much everything as “relevant”, but for me the term centers around the lesson being both standards based and age appropriate.
Living in California I have had to refer to the state standards for physical education as my guide for what is to be taught in the different physical education classes (be sure to refernce the standindrds and framewors for physical education in your state). For example, the curriculum for Course 1 (freshman phys ed) is different from the curriculum for Course 2 (sophomore phys ed). Just like the curriculum for biology is different from the curriculum for chemistry. The difference is that while the teacher knows the differences, all phys ed looks the same to the outside observer. So my recommendation is to know the standards and match your units and lessons to where they fit.
The other component of designing a relevant phys ed lesson plan is to make sure that the activities are age appropriate. I have seen this go both ways where teachers have introduced lessons that are both above and below the skill level of their students. In both individual and team activities I’ve senn phys ed teachers who aren’t focusing on the biomechanics of the skills that they want their students to master. They simply go through the motions and hope that one size fits all.
Teaching students to squat with good form is a perfect example of this. Many teachers assume that students have the prerequisite skills on core stability, joint mobility, and proper technique and will rush kids into a barbell back squat. Teaching the biomechanics of a high plank and bird dog are both needed for core stability before putting a weight on a student’s back. Likewise, teaching a goblet squat and front squat will help build the movement pattern. In teaching physical education, designing relevant lessons will lead into quite a bit of checking for student ability and scaffolding to help them succeed in your class.
Is My Phys Ed Lesson Plan Practical?
From talking with phys ed teachers across the country, I have found that no two schools are alike. And when designing a phys ed lesson plan, you need to take into account your teaching space, what equipment you have available to use, and how many students are in your class.
What spaces are available for your lessons? Are you expected to teach aquatics you don’t have access to a pool? Do you have enough gym space? Does the weather prevent you from being outside for large portions of the school year? These are all important questions you need to think about when designing lesson plans that are practical. Your lesson plan may look good on paper, but you may run into some issues with what spaces you have available on your campus.
Likewise, what equipment do you have access to? With the rapid rise in popularity of pickleball you may want to teach a pickleball unit. But do you have paddles and balls? Or is that something you need to discuss with your department when you are looking at budgets and what items you are looking to purchase. Maybe you have some equipment, but not enough? Flag football is growing at an exponential speed in California as a new girls sport, but do you have enough flags for your entire class if you wanted to teach it as part of a team sports unit? After you narrow down what units you want to teach, take an inventory of what equipment you have available and how you can make modifications versus giving up on your lesson plans.
The final question in regards to designing practical phys ed lessons I like to ask is if my lesson can be scalable for the size of your class. In my district the class size for physical education is 51 students. I have heard from other teachers that they have over 70 students in a class. Maybe your numbers are closer to 35-40. This also needs to be taken into account. There is only one of you and you need to be able to both instruct and supervise your class based on what you decided for your lesson. Some lessons work really well with 30 students, but become unmanageable when you get more than 40 students. My recommendation is trial and error (just like if I was teaching a new lesson in my biology classes) and then take note and make revisions for the future. Not every lesson is going to be great, but it’s worth trying as long as you are able to keep your kids safe.
Is My Phys Ed Lesson Plan Engaging?
The final question I ask myself when designing a phys ed lesson plan is “will my students be engaged with this activity?” With all the potential distractions of teaching a class in a non-traditional setting, having students not interested in the lesson just makes instruction more difficult.
Again, I recommend doing some reflection on what is going to inspire your students to be engaged through the unit and lesson. As I mentioned above, are you teaching a sport that is growing in popularity (like flag football and pickleball) or are you working through a unit that may lead into new opportunities (we teach our combatives unit at my high school about a month before the start of wrestling season and bring in the wrestling coaches and some athletes to help with demonstrations) for your students.
Another factor to think about is the flow of the lesson. Are kids doing the exact same thing for 30-50 minutes, or are they changing stations or skills multiple times during the class period. Just like if you were in a classroom, spending too much time on one thing is a good way to lose your students’ attention and focus. I like to keep my overview and direct instruction to 3-5 minutes and lead into the activity. From there I like to use 10-15 blocks of time for the main activities of the day followed by a 3-5 minute closing talk and cool down stretch. By keeping things moving I have found my students less likely to get bored with the lesson.
Final Thoughts….
As a phys ed teacher you have an incredible opportunity to make a lasting positive impact on the lives of your students. You only have one body and the ability to stay active and healthy will pay dividends for the decades to come. If you are looking for ideas for new units to teach in your phys ed class that step away from the traditional court and ball sports, yoga and strength training are two of my favorites. Here is an article I wrote describing the benefits of teaching yoga to your students. And here is a bundle of my favorite strength training workouts for students (instructional videos are included from when I taught this unit during Covid).
