Grades 2 to 3: Active Living

This sub-organizer contains the following sections:
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Suggested Instructional Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
Recommended Learning Resources

Prescribed Learning Outcomes

It is expected that students will:

participate regularly in vigorous physical activities
demonstrate behaviours that indicate interest in and enjoyment of physical activity
describe the benefits of physical activity
identify changes in personal growth and development
describe the changes that take place in the body during physical activity
participate in warm-up and cool-down activities
identify good nutritional habits
participate in physical activities performed in a natural setting

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Active Living
in other grades click on an icon below.

Suggested Instructional Strategies

By participating in a variety of activities throughout the year and from all movement categories, students gain an appreciation for and value active living. In grades 2 to 3, children identify the changes that take place in their bodies and begin to take responsibility for planning physical activity goals. They continue to learn through their activity.

Strategies:

Using charts, models, or pictures, have students examine how muscles and joints move during physical activity.
Explore the range of movement of the joints (e.g., rotation, up and down), and record this information on a chart.
With students, design exercises that warm-up and cool-down the muscles safely.
Have students keep a growth chart over the year, and record changes in a journal.
Have students maintain a fitness log, set fitness goals, and plan ways to increase fitness levels (e.g., increasing running distance, repetition of a specific exercise).
Use the Guide to Healthy Living (Canada Food Guide) to identify the role of food in building a healthy body and supplying energy for physical activity.
Instruct students in taking their heart rate and recording rates at different points (e.g., at rest, after moderate and vigorous exercise).
Discuss the physical changes that occur in the body when exercising (e.g., red face, raised temperature, faster breathing).
Plan a cross-country run, hike, walk, or bike trip in a park or appropriate natural setting. Discuss the importance of preserving the environment and of activities that do not disturb the natural environment
Have students participate in a daily 15--20-minute walking, jogging, or skipping program.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

At the beginning of the year take a photo of each child participating in a favourite physical activity. Attach the photo to a growth chart, and have students regularly record changes in their growth and development throughout the year. Take another photo during the year, and ask students:
- What are the similarities and differences between the two photos?
- What were some of the things you found out by observing the measurements over the year?
- What is something you know that has contributed to or impeded your growth and development?
- What questions do you have?
Notice the extent to which the student is able to analyse and evaluate personal growth and development.
Using work from student portfolios, review a series of work samples to assess progress. Look for evidence that students are able to:
- label body parts (e.g., lungs, major muscles, heart)
- describe how body parts move (e.g., joints, muscles)
- explain how the body uses food to produced energy when exercising
- list good nutritional habits, and name examples of food from the food groups
Work with students to develop individual action plans for physical fitness that include personal fitness goals. Using a fitness log, have students record their heart rates before and after exercises, and list activities that support them in achieving their goals.

Recommended Learning Resources

Print Material

Video

Multimedia

Moving to Inclusion

Table of Contents

Maintained by: Physical Education Coordinator

Revised: March 1996

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