CONFERENCE/WORKSHOP CALENDAR

Yi ha to all PE folk across the globe! This is the greeting I picked up recently during my summer stint at Virginia Tech. I brought the expression home to my country Malta, and shared it with my pupils. They liked it so much that they "adopted" it and it ended becoming part of the repertoire of positive PE lesson greetings we use this year. Already several weeks of school have flown by and the kids are now well warmed (hopefully) into following the protocols and routines developed during the first weeks of school. At PELINKS we too have well warmed up! To putting together a resource that possibly assists you in your teaching whilst also being a focal point for sharing of information across the globe and enabled the linking between PE professionals who are seeking to reach a similar goal - that of developing a quality physical education program that keeps the child in focus. There is always something to learn from every single issue of PELINKS4U. Technology is able to bring current "PE revolution" to the doors of so many professionals whilst creating a network of communication and friendships. We take this opportunity to thank the many readers who assist us develop this site by sending in information. Please do continue to share your ideas- this is your site too and you too can contribute to it. Feel free to contact me or any of the section editors below. Marina Bonello Elementary Section Editor

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Featured Article

Health Canada and Transport Canada advise Canadians about scooter safety. Scooters are becoming more and more popular and the number of related injuries is also on the rise. In Canada the need to promote keeping active in a safe way is on the go! Read about the Ottawa's Transport authority's guidelines here.

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PE-News

PE-News is a biweekly digest bringing you the latest news and reminding you to view the current PELINKS4U web site. If you are not already receiving the digest please e-mail us with your name and type "Subscribe" in the Subject line of the message. Please send the addresses of colleagues who might also be interested in PELINKS4U so that we can inform them about the site.

THE LIGHTER SIDE OF EDUCATION AND KIDS

If you need a break, check out these actual excuse notes sent in to teachers by parents. Click on this link : Lighter Side to Education and Kids

Featured Web Site

Wellness town This is a British interactive online resource for Key Stage 1, which appeals to children, teachers and parents alike ! It is structured around various health issues and provides games and online activities that motivate and involve young pupils in exploring wellness concepts.

Songs 4 Teachers Are you a Preschool or Early elementary PE teacher? Do you need songs and poems for your Program? Stop!  Look no further At Songs4Teachers.com, you have access to several songs and poems for Fun and Praise. There are more than a 100 songs and poems to download for free. The songs and poems are arranged around themes and the vocabulary used provides rhyme and rhythm experiences that can reach cross-curricular objectives.

 

Questions to Ask, or Thoughts to Share?

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Assessment Ideas from PE Central

Jefferies, Jefferies and Mustain provide a glimpse into the role assessment has to play in quality physical education practices. New tools such as portfolios are being developed so as to develop a profile of pupil achievement in Physical Education. PE Central offers many sample assessment ideas that can assist you in developing your assessment tasks that could be used to put together a portfolio of pupil achievement in PE. Why re-invent the wheel? Check out what educators have developed and adapt/integrate them into your own unique local context and program goals. You can use the Paper and Pencil Assessment search system here.

Featured Teaching Resource

Kidsdomain This is THE website to bookmark this week! It is replete with so many useful graphics that can be used to enhance your webpage, bulletin boards, awards, posters or handouts. Teacher tools, Work sheet Creation and free downloads are also available at this site. Check out also the icon index here. Sports icons can located here.

Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence. Abigail Adams What is the greatest sign of success for a teacher...? It is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist". Maria Montessori It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge. Albert Einstein To stimulate life, leaving it then free to develop, to unfold, herein lies the first task of the teacher. Maria Montessori "A Good teacher Explains ... A Superior teacher Demonstrates ... A GREAT teacher Inspires". Unknown

PE Archives

Welcome to this new elementary edition of PELINKS4U. Please let your colleagues know about PELINKS4U and remember you can catch up on a year's worth of news in our Archives.

Miscellaneous

Contributors Wanted!!  PELINKS4U welcomes articles, letters, ideas, conference dates and reports, suggestions for links and any suggestions for site improvements. Help to support quality physical education by contributing to this site If you have ideas, comments, letters to share, or questions about particular topics, please e-mail one of the following Elementary PE Section Editors:

	John Williams
	Tom Winiecki
	Marina Bonello

I have been attempting to develop portfolios into my PE program during recent years. It is proving to be a never ending learning journey which has involved both my pupils and myself. The portfolios I have been attempting to implement in my school have stemmed from my personal definitions of teaching, learning and assessment. I have discovered that there are certain important things to keep in mind regarding developing portfolios in elementary PE. These include the literacy abilities and preferred learning modalities of the the children. As PE teachers our aim is to assess PE content not literacy abilities. We need to ensure that our portfolio task sheets are in a format that allow the pupils to demonstrate their understanding of PE. If a child finds it difficult to draw, then perhaps sticking pictures, writing or explaining to you might be a way to address the same assessment criteria. One might want to consider developing a series of different formats of the task sheet which address the same content and same assessment criteria, but that allow it to be sensitive to the pupils' needs. Age of the pupils and developmental levels. The younger the students the simpler in concept the task sheet needs to be. Fluency of expression - especially in a multicultural environment or bilingual situation. Perhaps the preferred language can be used as a mode of expression and examples from pupils' own culture could be encouraged. Start slow. Children will need to first learn the protocols involved in taking the task sheet. Portfolio task sheets need not be conduced solely at the end of a unit - but can be explored throughout the unit and provide a trigger for becoming both a learning tool and assessment tool. As Grant Wiggan claims, the the purpose of educative assessment is "not solely to audit performance", but "primarily to educate and improve student performance". p7 Group work situations can be designed around portfolio tasks sheets which are shared among a small number of pupils. This not only enhances social skills but also has potential for pupils to actively collaborate and balance out their skills/learning modalities whilst promoting higher order thinking processes.. Group work on portfolio task sheets can also be set up in a way that encourages pupils to explore and create their own understanding of the PE concepts being explored through discourse. This promotes active and self-responsible learning.   " Assessment is designed to be designed to be educative, it is no longer separate from instruction; it is a major, essential and integrated part of teaching and learning".    Grant Wiggins Educative Assessment, 1998, p.8 Jossey Bass Publishers. I include a sample portfolio task sheet aimed at developing social skills in PE. This is journey I am still following and I value feedback. I also include sample "PE Awards" that can be used throughout the unit here.