Have a lesson idea you'd like to share with others? Great! Did you know our Lesson Plan/Idea pages are the most commonly "visited" section of PE Central. This tells us that our readers value (and expect to find) ideas which have the greatest potential to make a difference in what youngsters learn in their physical and health education classes. To keep this tradition of quality lesson ideas on-going, we ask that you follow a few guidelines which will help ensure that your submitted lesson idea will be considered for inclusion on PE Central. Before stating the guidelines we first want you to understand what you are agreeing to when you submit an idea to PE Central.

AGREEMENT NOTICE TO SUBMITTERS:

By submitting an idea to PE Central you are:

1. Agreeing to allow PE Central to publish your idea on our Web site and share on our Social Media sites.
2. Agreeing to give PE Central the right to share your idea in other forms as well (e.g., in other print forms, media, CD Rom's, catalogs, social media, etc.).
3. Verifying that the idea is your original idea, not found previously published or duplicated in print or electronic form (e.g., a personal or professional Web or Social Media site). This is done for lesson plans/ideas by checking the "Original idea" box on the submission form. If an idea has been previously published, permission to have it appear on PEC must be sent by the publisher to PE Central, either via electronic or regular mail, before it can be posted.

In all instances we will give you full credit for the idea and will include both your name and school along with the idea. We also want to point out that some publishing companies consider posting ideas on a Web site as having published the idea and will then not accept it for publication in a journal or other written publication.

PEC's Lesson Idea Submission Guidelines

1. Must Be Developmentally and Instructionally Appropriate

The lesson idea must follow Developmentally Appropriate Guidelines for Children's Physical Education (Shape America, 1992). An idea whose description includes practices considered inappropriate (e.g., activities in which students are eliminated from the game; activities in which the majority of students are standing in lines; fitness used as punishment, etc.) or does not meet other DAPE guidelines WILL NOT be posted. For more information on other developmentally inappropriate ideas that will not be posted on PE Central please look at the PE Hall of Shame or read the Hall of Shame articles written by Neil Williams (references listed below).

In keeping with this, PE Central looks for a lesson plans/idea's purpose to be specific and able to be learned by the majority of students in that lesson (i.e., "learnable pieces" [Graham, Teaching Children Physical Education, 1992]). For example, we know that students cannot learn the "overhand throw" in one lesson, but they can learn to "step with the opposite foot". This is a specific, achievable behavior a teacher would be able to easily assess. Similarly, we would not expect a purpose for a game to just say it teaches "eye-hand coordination". How would one know this? How would one assess this? Lesson ideas submitted to PE Central should have a definable, observable purpose.

The purpose should then directly relate to what is written in the assessment section. For example, using the throwing example above, the assessment section might state "teacher uses a checksheet to check off whether students are, or are not, stepping with the opposite foot when they are throwing". Ideas here should be specific, definable, and observable by any teacher looking to use your idea.

In Health education, if the purpose or objective of the lesson is to “demonstrate refusal skills,” the assessment may be in the form of a role play, where a student has an opportunity to clearly demonstrate the skill. A rubric or checklist may also be utilized to assess whether or not the objective of the lesson has been met.

Also, you may wish to set forth any prerequisites for an activity. For example, a game may be used to give students further practice on skills already taught. Those exact skills (again, those "learnable pieces") would be listed as "prerequisites", since they are being practiced, but not introduced, in this lesson idea.

2. Must Meet National Standards

Your lesson idea should be reflective of nationally-agreed upon content standards for physical education, as found in Shape America's National Standards for PE document (available for purchase at Shape America). These statements serve as a basis for what students at the different grade levels should be learning in the physical education curriculum. The document also includes samples of performance-based assessments which help one to determine if students are meeting the standards.

For Health Education lessons, it is suggested that submissions address developmentally appropriate health knowledge and skills as outlined in the National Health Education Standards. “Health knowledge” includes the most important and enduring ideas, issues, and concepts related to achieving good health. “Health Skills” include the ways of communicating, reasoning, and investigating which characterize a health-literate person. The Standards are intended to serve as a framework for organizing health knowledge and skills into curricula at the state and local levels.

3. Must Be Clearly Written

Don't worry if you're not the best writer or speller. The editors at PE Central will help you out with this! However, please be sure to include all relevant information (i.e., purpose, grade level, clear description, assessment ideas, etc.) regarding the activity. It is best to write in such a way that anyone not familiar with your program can easily interpret and replicate your idea.

Once your idea is reviewed by PE Central's Editorial Board, you will receive notice as to whether it is felt your idea meets the above criteria or not. PE Central is dedicated to involving all teachers in the electronic sharing of information, so we hope you'll find the above guidelines and our processes to be helpful rather than restrictive. If you have any comments regarding PE Central's Lesson Plans/Ideas or if you have questions about any of the guidelines, please feel free to contact us at PE Central (pec@pecentral.org).

Submit your lesson Idea

Hall of Shame References:

Williams, N. (1992). The physical education hall of shame. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 63 (6), 57-60.

Williams, N. (1994). The physical education hall of shame, part II. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 65 (2), 17-20.

Williams, N. (1996). The physical education hall of shame, part III. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 67 (8), 45-48.