As more and more schools move to distance learning due to COVID-19, health and physical education teachers are looking for ways to keep students healthy and physically active at home.
SHAPE America is working with health and physical educators to create a collection of resources to help you continue to provide high-quality, standards-based lessons despite the circumstances.
New content is added regularly, and the resources can be adapted and repurposed as you see fit to best meet the unique needs of your students.
Here is a glimpse at some of the available resources to help students stay healthy and physically active at home:
Physical Education Resources
- APE Lesson Ideas for Distance and Online Learning — Suggestions, ideas and tips for teaching students with disabilities at home or online. Thank you, Megan McCollom for these great ideas!
- Physical Activity Tracker — Share this Google form with students and parents. It gives students the ability to select, track, and share their physical activity for the week. Teachers can use the collected data as needed.
- Sample Lesson Plan — Learn how to create normalcy and communicate your routines by creating your own video messaging to students and parents. Special thanks to Mark Housel at Beeler Elementary in New Jersey for sharing!
- Coronavirus Shutdown Curriculum — An outline for secondary students that focuses on physical and mental/emotional health. Can be done with or without WiFi. Thank you, Allisha Blanchette, 2020 Midwest District Health Education Teacher of the Year!
- Adventure Ed Summer Bucket List Project — A simple project template for high school students. No materials or equipment required. Thanks Jo Bailey, 2013 Midwest District High School PE Teacher of the Year, for sharing!
- Follow Along Dances for PE — This resource from DANCEPL3Y is great for PE teachers who are still teaching face-to-face or to share out for students to do at home. Thanks, Melanie Levenberg for sharing with us!
- Collection of Elementary PE Resources — A collection of resources from around the country. Thanks to all the teachers who have helped create or share their resources to help others. Special shout out to Megaera Regan, 2020 Eastern District Teacher of the Year, for leading the collection of these resources!
- Collection of Secondary PE Resources — An array of online assignments shared by teachers around the country. Use either online or as printouts to send home with students. Special thank you to Brian Hull, 2020 Central District High School PE Teacher of the Year, for helping lead this charge!
- Make Your Own Exercise Dice Game — Students can create their own exercise dice game. Thanks, Jim Hambel for the idea!
- Mind & Body Activity Calendars: These calendars encourage students to stay physically active while working on aspects of mental wellness. Send them home with your students or share the link with parents. Available for both elementary and secondary … in English and Spanish.
Health Education Resources
- Prepping for Extended Home #HealthEd Webinar — Six health education teacher leaders share tips, strategies and assignments they use for online and at-home learning. Thank you to Amy Lauren Smith, Cassie Brooks, Kimberly Ohara-Borowski, Jeff Bartlett, Maria Schneider and Melanie Lynch for taking the time to record this webinar!
- Coronavirus Shutdown Curriculum — An outline for secondary students that focuses on physical and mental/emotional health. Can be done with or without WiFi. Thank you, Allisha Blanchette, 2020 Midwest District Health Education Teacher of the Year!
- Health Education Menu — A list of health lessons organized by grade-level, skill and content with direct links to the lessons. Thanks to Melanie Lynch, 2016 National Health Education Teacher of the Year!
- Skills-Based, At-Home Learning: Creating SMART Goals — Three-day lesson plan for middle or high school students to create SMART goals. Thanks Cassie Brooks, 2018 Midwest District Health Education Teacher of the Year!
- Dimensions of Wellness Photo Journal Project — Over the course of six weeks, high school students will create a photo/voice journal highlighting six of the eight dimensions of wellness. Teachers can save the Google Slides presentation and edit it or use as is. Thanks to Shelly Ellis, 2015 National Middle School PE Teacher of the Year, for sharing!
Higher Education Resources
Many thanks to our friends at the University of Canberra in Australia for sharing the following resources:
- Models of Instruction: Sports Education Model (video)
- Models of Instruction: Inquiry Model – Primary School (video)
- Models of Instruction: Cooperative Learning Model (video)
- Models of Instruction: Inquiry Model — High School (video)
- Game Sense and Aboriginal Games to Address Social Justice (podcast)
More Tips and Guidance on Virtual HPE Instruction
In addition to HPE lessons and activities, SHAPE America’s COVID-19 HPE resource page also includes Tips to Teaching in a Remote Environment, Online PE Guidance, Technology Resources Tutorials, At-Home Fitness Ideas, and much, much more!
We are so grateful to our corporate friends at CATCH Global, KIDZ Bop, OPEN, SPARK, and more for contributing content— and to the entire HPE community that has come together to share information using #HPEatHome on Twitter. We encourage you to bookmark the COVID-19 HPE resource page and check back frequently for new content. We’re also sharing new ideas and resources on Twitter @SHAPE_America.
Larissa Brickach
Larissa Brickach is managing editor of the SHAPE America blog, Momentum magazine, and Et Cetera email newsletter. She can be reached at lbrickach@shapeamerica.org.
