Classroom Resources

This activity is designed to be taught at the beginning of the year and re-visited throughout the first half of the school year as needed. The goal is to help students learn how to speak and listen to each other. There are 6 posters included with this lesson and you will go over each poster and discuss what an active listener is then practice the different varations of sharing and pairing.

Poster Titles

•  Accountable Talk
•  Active Listening
•  Pair & Square
•  Physical Learner Look Like
•  Think. Pair. Share
•  Turn & Talk

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

This video provides information about the Pacer Test which is part of the Alabama Physical Fitness Test.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

This video shows the V-Sit and Reach part of the Alabama Physical Fitness Test. The V-Sit and Reach tests flexibility.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

Examine the growing debate over childhood vaccines in this video excerpt from FRONTLINE: The Vaccine War. Vaccines have been touted as one of the most successful advances of modern medicine, yet an increasing number of parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children because of possible side effects. Learn about the debate among public health officials, doctors, and parents around vaccine safety, and hear differing perspectives on the benefits and risks of childhood vaccination, in this video segment from FRONTLINE.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

This video highlights Rochelle James, an electrician in New York City with a good salary and a solid benefits package. Rochelle had fallen on hard financial times some years ago, but with the help of a group called Nontraditional Employment for Women, she found her current position and acquired health insurance through the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union. The video explains the importance of health insurance and how it can be acquired through employment. Other types of insurance (e.g., life insurance and renters insurance) are also very important, especially for those with dependents. This video also contains resources that help students engage in learning. 

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

Media can be a powerful force in shaping perceptions about products and our own consumption habits. During the early to mid 20th Century, cigarette advertising was pervasive and the use of it was high. In the 1970s, a wave of anti-smoking advertising was released which ultimately changed the public’s perception and use of tobacco. The media encouraged people to smoke and when scientists proved that smoking was harmful to the media, in turn, encouraged people to stop. In viewing these three clips from Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, students will understand how media can influence the habits and attitudes of an audience.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

Learn about the four stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a brain disease that has been found in autopsies of many former football players, in this interactive from the FRONTLINE: League of Denial website. CTE was discovered in 2002 in the brain of former Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Webster. In its four stages of progression, changes in the brain are manifested by changes in behavior. At first, there are no overt symptoms; however, this gives way to rage, impulsivity, and depression, then to confusion and memory loss, and finally to advanced dementia.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

Overflow is a fun activity that is to be used in conjunction with a Frisbee Skills unit. In this game, the object is to score a goal by throwing the disc into the goal for 2 points from outside a designated quarter line or by “zipping” the disc into the goal for 1 point from inside the quarter line.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

Sudden cardiac arrest is the leading cause of sudden death among youth athletes. It primarily targets athletes whose sport causes an elevated heart rate (football, basketball, soccer, track, etc.). While some exhibit warning signs such as fatigue and shortness of breath, for many people the first indication of a heart problem is cardiac arrest.  This video also contains support resources to help teachers to check for understanding.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

“Hooked Rx: From Prescription to Addiction” is a special investigative project on the destructive epidemic of opioid addiction.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

This activity is great for increasing cardiovascular fitness and basic sport skills. This activity is played as a progressive activity with four different stages.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

This year-long challenge is called the “U.S.A. Run for Fun.” It promotes fitness, healthy living, teamwork, and also helps to support the integration of mathematics and geography into the physical education program.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

Most coaches use dribbling and ball handling interchangeably. Though they are linked, the two skills are definitely separate.

Dribbling and controlling the ball is a skill that can be practiced alone and is separate from the other ball skills on the court. Ball handling, however, involves knowledge of the game and integrates dribbling, passing, and decision-making.

Practicing and improving your dribbling is a simple task. There are innumerable dribbling drills that are in use today that are challenging and effective. The set of drills that have come to be known as "Maravich Drills," (after the late ball-handling wizard Pete Maravich) are widely known. They include drills such as passing the ball around your body, dribble figure 8s, spider dribbling, drop and catch.

This resource provides information about improving these skills with various drills.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

This is a fantastic instant activity for classes to get a quick warm-up or workout in before the main lesson for the class. This activity can be set up for grades 2-12th by simply modifying the exercise cards. You may access the cards and activity plans in a Word or PDF format on the OpenPsyEd.org website in the Instant Activities to make it your own. Words on cards could be replaced with pictures for K-1 to be able to use the same activity.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

Teaching rates of perceived exertion and pacing/adjusting to keep heart rate in the target zone is made possible in one activity. If technology (e.g., pedometer, heart rate monitor) is available to self-monitor aerobic intensity that will add another standard covered on this lesson but is not necessary to complete this activity. 

This activity can be adapted to teach a variety of content for MS and HS in Standards 3 and 4.

You may also access cards and activity plans in a Word or PDF format on the OpenPsyEd.org website in the HS Plug and Play under the heading Module Documents.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit. 

This learning activity requires students to learn to work in groups to create original dances or aerobic routines.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

The purpose of the activity is to have students work together to solve challenges while also incorporating fitness activities.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

“Silent ball” is a fun physical and educational game that can be adapted to review any subject.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

In this lesson, students discuss their online experiences and learn how to minimize the potential risks that may be associated with them. Using a tip sheet, students explore the many tools and strategies that can be used to prevent negative online experiences. Once they have reviewed these strategies and resources, students will extend their knowledge by playing a game in which they compete against other students to match a series of technological "tools" to the "risks" they can help prevent. 

Students will display the ability to:

• recognize the potential security risks and drawbacks of engaging in various online activities

• use a variety of tools and techniques to secure and protect their online experiences

• apply principles of board game design through the creation of a Cyber Security game (Grade 7/8 only)

   

  Note: You will need to create a free account before you can view this resource. 

The internet is full of catchy headlines and outrageous images, all to make us curious and get our attention. But kids don't usually realize: What you click on isn't always what you get. Show your students the best ways to avoid clickbait online.

Students will be able to:

• Define "the curiosity gap."
• Explain how clickbait uses the curiosity gap to get your attention.
• Use strategies for avoiding clickbait.

Note: You will need to create a free account at https://www.commonsense.org/education/user/register?destination=/education before you can view this resource.

This is a video of a dribbling practice game. Players will partner up so there will be pairs spread out in the gym. In each pair, one player will start as the dribbler and have a basketball (or soccer ball, depending on which game you want to play). The other player will place a hula hoop on the floor and stand with at least one foot inside of it. The player inside the hoop will try to knock away the balls of other players who come too near (remember that one foot must always be inside the hoop). If a player’s ball gets knocked away, they simply retrieve it and continue dribbling.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

This video provides information about Fitness Ball Run. This is a fitness warm-up type activity that’s simple to set-up and simple to do! Players start by forming a line. That line will jog throughout the playing area. While they jog, they pass a ball back from person to person, and when it gets to the last person in line, that person sprints up to the front with the ball and becomes the new leader. 

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

Korfball is a Dutch game that is rooted in both netball and basketball. A team game, it is played with eight players on each side, played with four females and four males. Scoring points (goals) is done by putting the ball through the opposition’s raised basket.

Korfball is a co-ed game that teaches cooperation, sportsmanship, and teamwork. This game can be used to enhance basketball skills.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

This activity provides a peer assessment checklist sheet. It can be photocopied and laminated. This resource provides students with a checklist to follow to ensure students know the correct way to throw a discuss as well as a method to provide feedback to fellow students.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

This is a reciprocal teaching aid for badminton. The teaching aid enables self-check and reciprocal teaching fir badminton flick serve. There is a good visual aid poster if enlarged.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

This video explains ten commandments of computer ethics. Students will learn the thou shalt NOTS of computer practices. The wording is more appropriate for high school students, but can easily be used with middle school students, especially with class discussion. 

This site is a case study in which students are invited to share (through writing or discussion) their opinions about how a situation should be handled. This case study is related to the personal safe use of digital devices.

This case study goes as follows:

Peter’s longtime close friend, Bridget, is wrapped up in an online relationship with some older guy on MySpace, a social networking website. Peter senses danger, but Bridget resents his warnings and wants him to butt out. What can he do without risking their friendship?

This website provides a case study for student evaluation, either through writing or discussion. This case study will focus on the safe use of digital devices and ethical sharing. The case study is as follows: David has just joined a Facebook group and he discovers that somebody has posted an offensive and malicious photo of a girl from his class. David feels very uncomfortable about it. What, if anything, should he do?

Students will create a Caesar cipher wheel, explore word patterns, and decrypt a message using a Caesar cipher tool. 

You'll need to create a password to do just about everything on the Web, from checking your email to online banking. And while it's simpler to use a short, easy-to-remember password, this can also pose serious risks to your online security. To protect yourself and your information, you'll want to use passwords that are long, strong, and difficult for someone else to guess while still keeping them relatively easy for you to remember.

Review video and text tips for creating strong passwords to maintain account security.

Do your students have their own online accounts like email or social media? What about login for school computers? If so, they might have to pick passwords. Have you ever had trouble creating (and forgetting) good passwords? This fun lesson plan involves a guessing game that can teach your students how to make their passwords harder to guess. Learn how to keep your accounts safe!

You will need to create a free account to access the material, however, it has direct integration with Google Classroom and even provides Google Classroom resources such as a quiz and student worksheet.

This video shows an entertaining way to introduce Computer Science to students. It also offers an explanation of a public encryption key in a way that students can easily grasp. Students find out things they thought were safe on the internet are not safe.

Most activities that our students do in their day-to-day life use some degree of eye-hand coordination, which is why it's important to ensure that it is as developed as possible. This is a simple activity using balloons and short handled paddles.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

This scooter board learning activity promotes cooperation, teamwork, and safe movement skills. This is also a great activity to reinforce math skills.

This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.

What is Cryptography? A story which takes us from Caesar to Claude Shannon. Created by Brit Cruise.

On the left side of the linked webpage, there are additional resources related to cryptology, including Caesar cipher, polyalphabetic cipher, and the Enigma machine.