6th Grade Physical Education/Health Course Syllabus

Instructors: Mrs. Drane,Mr. Cooper, Mr. Hargus

Course Description: Students will be taught recreational activities requiring the use of fine and gross motor skills. Our objectives for the course are twofold:

  • Use recreational sports/activities as a means to promote a physically active lifestyle on a year round basis. We advocate a philosophy that encourages students to try their very best with an understanding that mistakes are often a necessary part of learning. Physical education is not a mistake free zone.
  • Provide approximately thirty minutes of exercise at an aerobic level of intensity. We will also teach different concepts that promote short and long term health and well-being.

Major Course Goals:

Each student will be able to:

-apply movement concepts and principles to learning and development of motor skills.

- understand how to develop and achieve a physically active lifestyle featuring FITT principals.

-demonstrate appropriate personal and social behavior in a physical activity setting.

-demonstrate good sportsmanship.

Rules and Expectations: Keep your hands and feet to yourself. Treat others as you want to be treated. No talking while the teacher is talking or once instruction has started. No gum or jewelry allowed for safety reasons. TENNIS SHOES with non-marking soles are required---no crocs, flip flops, sandals, heeled shoes, etc. Shoe laces must be tied at all times. No skirts are to be worn. Cruel comments, bullying, harassment, and other inappropriate actions will not be tolerated in class and will be subject to disciplinary action. Cell phones and other consumer electronic devices are not allowed in class, and will be taken to the office. Teachers will not be responsible for them once they are taken away.

Doctor’s excuse: If your son/daughter is under a doctor’s care for a medical condition, please provide your teacher a note detailing limitationsfor participation and when it is safe to return to activity. We want our students to be physically active as much aspossible; however student safety is paramount in importance. If a student is unable to participate, the student will be required to complete a written assignment related to the lesson for the day. Notes from parents (maximum of 2 per quarter) requesting a child be excused from physical activity will be permitted. Exceptions to this rule will be considered, however a final decision will be at the discretion of the teacher.

Syllabus Continued on Back

PE/Health

Signing and returning indicates parent/s and the student have read the syllabus and understand course requirements.

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Student Printed NameStudent SignaturePE Period

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Parent/Guardian Printed NameParent/Guardian SignatureDate

Grades: Grading will be based on State and NationalPhysical/Health Education Standards for 6th grade students. Improved levels of fitness throughout the school year will be the emphasis for all we do in P.E.

Students will be assessed daily on a schedule of fitness activities designed to improve muscle strength, cardiovascular endurance, and flexibility. Formative skill assessments will be conducted at the beginning of major units to measure student proficiency in targeted fine/gross motor skills. Formative assessment will help students and teachers better understand areas of skill that are in need of improvement, and allow for additional practice before re-testing occurs. Students assessed at a proficient or higher level during formative assessment will be given enrichment activity or assigned peer tutoring opportunities. Summative assessment will end each unit of major activity and will represent a final grade for the standard being assessed.

Human Kinetics (FitnessGram10) will be our resource for fitness testing. Individual fitness tests for strength (push-ups/sit-ups), flexibility (sit and reach), and cardiovascular endurance (PACER) will not receive a letter grade. The emphasis for fitness testing is individual self-improvement and student awareness about the importance fitness has on their health and wellbeing. Instead of a letter grade on fitness assessments, students will be required to create an electronic fitness portfolio that includes personal fitness goal setting and a plan for reaching their goals, performance tracking between fitness testing cycles using graphs, and a personal reflection after completing summative assessment comparing and contrasting their performance with FitnessGram health fitness zones for 6th grade students.

To learn more about fitness testing, please access the “Fitness Testing Parent Information”link on your P.E. teacher’s website. The website for Upper Elementary can be accessed by going to the district website and selecting Upper as the school request. Teacher websites can be found using the like titled link on Upper’s website. We are planning to use our websites more this year as a resource to communicate with parents and recognize student achievement so check periodically for updates.

Parents: If you need to discuss a PE/Health related issue, we request you contact us directly by email or phone: (582-5903 ext. 3012), (582-5903 ext.3015 ), or (582-5903 ext. 3064). Communicating directly with one another will allow us to resolve matters more quickly, and eliminate the need for classroom teachers to be a go between saving everyone time.

We try to get our students outside for activity as much as possible in the fall and spring to enjoy the health benefits of sunny weather. Early in the morning it is not uncommon for a heavy dew to be on the ground. If your son/daughter has PE or PE Tiger Time in the morning we suggest they wear an older pair of shoes outside and bring an extra pair of socks so their feet can be dry if they get wet during PE. For students who are sun sensitive, we suggest they bring sunscreen.

Due to the nature of physical education and the physical demands of our curriculum, those students who may have medical needs, such as asthma or diabetes, need to bring all necessary items with them to physical education class.

Please keep this syllabus information for your reference and return only the signed information. Your son and/or daughter will be required to return the signed portion of the syllabus to their PE/Health teacher no later than August 29th, 2014.

Thank you for the privilege to teach your son/daughter for this school year.