PYP PE: The New Scope & Sequence- PSPE Strands

A couple of weeks ago, I discussed the need to look at enduring concepts when creating our units, the learning experiences that our students will engage in, the formative and summative assessment tasks that we, as teachers, will use to monitor each student's performance in class. The new (not so new really!-published November 2009) PYP Scope & Sequence is vastly different from the one used in the past. It is referred to as the Personal, Social, and Physical Education Scope & Sequence with the driving question being:

What do we want students to know?

When considering the enduring concepts and what is worth teaching our students in PE,  I have highlighted what I personally believe to be the essential skills/concepts that our students can carry forward with them into the future and transfer through and across all the learning disciplines. You can find these concepts within the three strands of the PSPE Scope & Sequence on pg 117 of 'Making the PYP Happen'. Over the past year, I have truly begun to re-evaluate the way I plan and deliver my PE lessons to ensure that I am better meeting the needs of my students based on the understanding that enduring concepts play as important a part of PE as teaching the motor skills necessary to play sport. Re-evaluating the way I teach has also made me reflect on the assessment strategies that I use and how I differentiate these assessment strategies to target each and every learner in the classes that I teach. I enjoy the challenge of applying these concepts and understandings through sport, teamwork, and how best to solve problems.

The three strands and the enduring concepts that I have focused on recently are:

Identity
Identifying strengths and limitations
Adapting to change and adversity
Interactions with others
Assessing one's own feelings of self-worth

Active Living
Promoting a balanced healthy lifestyle
Enjoyment of physical exercise
Understanding how to improve upon one's own personal results/contribution in sport
Movement, expression and creativity
Assessing safety and evaluating consequences

Interactions
Opportunities for sharing ideas and communicating
Personal responsibilities and taking initiative
Being able to make comparisons and identify how things are different
Understanding the importance of maintaining a positive social network

Important Considerations

When considering the enduring concepts above, we must evaluate how best to apply these to physical education. It may seem difficult, but the more I practice putting these concepts into action within my lessons, I am seeing results.

I hope that you can consider the above concepts and how they may apply to your teaching style, the content of your lessons, and your assessment strategies. Please share any ideas that you may have or can contribute to this discussion.