Physical Education and Health at St. Thomas More School

Curriculum Overview

Primary Gym - Grades Kindergarten through Two

In primary gym, instruction concentrates heavily on the basic locomotor skills (walk, run, skip, jump, gallop, and leap), and the proper technique for catching and throwing, and kicking (hand/eye and eye/foot coordination) is also emphasized.  Many simple and creative games are used to reinforce these skills while students are encouraged to have fun and learn teamwork. Also, in the spring, students participate in FMC (Frequent Miler Challenge) which is a walking program held during lunch recess.

 

Physical Education - Grades Three through Eight

Grades Three and Four

  The physical education program includes a variety of content areas:

  • Locomotor skills
  • Eye hand coordination and eye foot coordination
  • Chase and flee games
  • Fitness, team challenges, and problem solving
  • Fourth grade students learn the basic skills of flag football, volleyball, and floor hockey
  • Fourth grade students learn the rules of the following games:  4 square, kickball, flag football, volleyball, and floor hockey
  • Fourth grade students also participate in the PEC Challenge which are challenges from PECentral.org

 

Grade Five through Eight

The physical education program includes the following:

  • Team oriented activities
  • Team challenges and problem solving
  • Fitness
  • How to use a pedometer
  • Basic skills of volleyball and floor hockey
  • Strategies for offense and defense 



Health - Grades Five through Eight

Health topics include:

Grade Five:

  • Focus on YOU where students learn about themselves, self–esteem, and getting along with others
  • Memory
  • Review of the systems of the body
  • Skeletal and muscular systems in more detail

Grade Six:

  • Unit on the muscular system- function, types, names and locations
  • Smoking and spit tobacco (prevention, education, cost, consequences, and advertising)

Grade Seven:

  • Drug education
  • Drugs as medicine
  • OTC – legal and illegal drugs
  • Alcohol and steroids

Grade Eight:

  • Stress and anger
  • Basic information on STDs and HIV/AIDS