Teaching Fundamental Motor Skills

The early elementary years are a critical time for children to acquire physical skills. While many books detail the motor skills children need to learn, few focus on how to teach those skills.

That’s where Teaching Fundamental Motor Skills, Fourth Edition, comes in.

This practical text, formerly titled Teaching the Nuts and Bolts of Physical Education, does just that, because motor skills are the nuts and bolts of physical education.

“We believe that instruction can be motivating and enjoyable,” says lead author Vonnie Colvin. “Although fun is not the goal of education, it can be a very motivating by-product. When children are motivated and they receive sound instruction, they focus more on learning.”

Through Teaching Fundamental Motor Skills, elementary physical educators will guide their students in mastering the critical elements of 8 locomotor and 17 manipulative skills. “The approach offers a perfect balance between sound pedagogy and fun activities that will engage your students and keep them learning,” Colvin says.

Value-Packed Resource
The text offers teachers a multitude of tools and ideas to foster student learning:

• Sequenced illustrations of four to six critical elements necessary for the skill to be correctly performed
• Cue words to help students remember each critical element
• Partner skill check assessments that help partners evaluate each other’s progress
• Success builders to reinforce correct performance
• Activities for practicing the entire skill
• Troubleshooting charts to address problem areas and help students learn and improve
• Scripted lesson plans that guide teachers through the instruction sequence

• Video clips of each skill, performed at regular speed and in slow motion to show correct execution and to further enhance understanding
• Video clips showing one or more incorrect critical elements so PETE students and teachers can learn to detect errors and provide cues and corrections
• Sidebars on promoting social and emotional health within the skill lessons to foster student well-being
• Sidebars on how to adapt lessons to meet the needs of children with different abilities (These don’t take the place of an adapted physical education book, individualized education program, or 504 plan, but they do help ensure all children can be included in the lesson.)
• Sidebars for at-home modifications to help remote learners and homeschoolers, with lists of typical home items that can be used in place of typical physical education equipment. For example, a balled-up pair of socks can become a ball, and many plastic bags can combine to become a soccer ball.