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"Get up. Get out," urges the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Each May, the council sponsors National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. The goal is to make people aware of the benefits of a lifelong program of regular moderate physical activity. You don't need to join an "Olympic" endeavor to promote physical fitness. Jog to the Web when you need fitness facts and ideas that will get your students up and moving!

PE Central is probably the best physical education resource on the Internet. This site has a wealth of information, links, and ideas. It is also exceptionally current! Also see the excellent suggestions for ways you can adapt lessons for students with special needs. This site can help you find other instructional resources on the Web as well! Examine Classroom Teacher/Integrated Lesson Ideas for wonderful activities to share, and you may even submit one of your own.

Are you interested in incorporating gymnastics into your curriculum but concerned about following the rigid, prescribed movements of a traditional experience? Perhaps nontraditional gymnastics is your answer! John Williams created Non-Traditional Gymnastics to help teachers make well-informed decisions about gymnastics teaching methods. Check out his comparison of traditional and nontraditional gymnastics and the fun lesson plans he provides for all educators to try.

Let Funfit Kids be your guide to marking this special occasion in May. These documents from the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports include suggestions for promoting fitness among kids of all ages, even the vary young.

PHYSICALLY FIT

Focus on fitness with these informative sites!

Sports Media is a great place to begin your search for Internet physical fitness resources. This site has an abundance of links to all types of sports, lesson plans, and listservs. In addition, the site offers its own mailing list, and membership is free. You'll be amazed by the number of leads you will find to activities and information of benefit in teaching physical fitness in the classroom.

Great articles about fitness and health can be found at The Fitness Jumpsite! Improve your own health as you investigate ways of getting your students moving. You'll learn about good nutrition, exercise equipment, and how to help children avoid eating disorders. One unique aspect of this site is its Activity Calorie Calculator. Your students may enter their weight and discover how many calories they burn each day doing various activities.

Motivate yourself and your students with The Fitness Files. Here you will encounter facts and advice about fitness and tools to help you identify your physical strengths and weaknesses. Students can discover their target heart rate, measure their flexibility, and test their strength as well as demonstrate their knowledge of the fundamentals of fitness with the Fitness Quiz. Students will also learn about avoiding injury and treating minor injuries when they occur. If you are looking for some stretches and exercises to use as quick fitness breaks in your classroom, try a few from Get Active!

BEEFING UP THE CURRICULUM

Build up your physical education curriculum with these fabulous fitness favorites!

An online magazine for physical educators, the Physical Education Digest is full of great ideas for classroom teachers too! This Web site provides articles, sports links, and a list of story titles from past issues. Be sure to make use of the free handouts you can print and share with your class.

Check out this integrated resource package from British Columbia! Physical Education K to 7 sets forth expectations for the physical education curriculum of elementary-school students in a simple, organized manner. You will find suggestions for activities that meet the objectives of the physical education program and ways of assessing student performance. An exceptional, detailed explanation is presented in the introduction. Physical Education 8 to 10 and Physical Education 11 and 12 are equally informative and cover the upper grades.

Few physical fitness organizations are as widely recognized and effective as the Special Olympics. This program offers students with special needs the opportunity to compete in sports activities. Visit this Web site to find out more about the program and to get information about scheduled events in your area. This group is always looking for volunteers like you and your students! Meet participating athletes through their on-line biographies, and find out how your class can help support the association. Invite a Special Olympics "Global Messenger," an athlete who has competed and has been trained to speak publicly for the organization, to visit your classroom.

'IT'S ALL IN THE GAME' - - GAME RESOURCES ON THE NET

• Camping Games
  More than 250 games with directions are included in this listing. The games are in alphabetical order, which makes locating your favorites a snap!
• Games Kids Play
  Looking for kids games? How about rules for playground games, verses for jump-rope rhymes, and much more??? You have come to the right place!
• The Great Game List
  Another great game resource, this site has directions that explain about 50 indoor and outdoor games you can play with your students! Some require a few materials.
• Games
  This page offers instructions for a few cooperative games to play with groups of students. It also suggests ways of selecting teams and leaders without causing friction or disappointment among the players.

Related Articles from Education World Let's Get Physical! Sports Math Scores Points with Students AND Teachers! Take Them Out to the Ball Game! Emphasizing Sportsmanship in Youth Sports

Article by Cara Bafile
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