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

New Content
This latest edition also includes new content and teaching aids:

• 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.

Ancillaries
On HK's delivery and learning platform, HKPropel, teachers can access the aforementioned video clips as well as reproducible forms, troubleshooting charts, illustrations of critical elements, and animations of critical elements for the 17 manipulative and 8 locomotor skills.

Teaching Foundational Skills
This new edition of Teaching Fundamental Motor Skills, written by authors with a combined 140 years of teaching experience, will help children learn fundamental motor skills that provide the foundation for acquiring future sports skills.

"The skills covered in this book represent the fundamentals of building a successful physical education curriculum for children," says Colvin. "This book is a collection of teaching strategies and ideas that are kid tested, and they have been very successful in our elementary schools."

Note: A code for accessing HKPropel is included with all new print books.

Vonnie Colvin, EdD, retired from full-time teaching in Longwood University's department of health, athletic training, recreation, and kinesiology in 2016. Prior to retirement, she was the program coordinator for health and physical education teacher education. Colvin worked with student teachers in the schools in addition to enjoying her passion, teaching.

Prior to coming to Longwood, Colvin taught in the University of Kentucky' department of kinesiology and health promotion for nine years. During her tenure in Kentucky, she was very involved with the Kentucky Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (KAHPERD). She helped coordinate two state conventions and served as the vice president of the physical education division. She received KAHPERD's Outstanding University Physical Educator Award and an Outstanding Service Award. She was later president of the Virginia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (VAHPERD). That organization recognized her as the Outstanding University Physical Educator in 2013.

Before moving to higher education in 1995, Colvin taught physical education in Louisa County, Virginia, for 21 years: 8 years at the elementary level, 2 at the middle school level, and 11 at the high school level. During that time, she also worked with student teachers from Norfolk State University and Virginia Tech.

Since retirement, Colvin continues to serve as an adjunct professor and teaches two online graduate physical education courses for Longwood University. She is a member of both SHAPE America and VAHPERD. In addition, Colvin continues to serve as a reviewer for Strategies, a publication whose editorial board she served on from 1999 to 2002, chairing it in 2001.

Colvin lives in Farmville, Virginia, and enjoys walking, reading, and traveling.

Nancy Markos, MEd, was named the 2002 National Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and was selected as the 2003 Outstanding Elementary School Teacher by the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. In 2011, Markos received the Golden Apple Award from Albemarle County Public Schools.

Markos was an elementary physical education and health specialist for the Albemarle County school system in Charlottesville, Virginia, from 1984 until her retirement in 2011. At that time, Markos became the facilitator of health, physical education, and family life for Albemarle County Public Schools, a position she continued in until June 2014. Before coming to Virginia, Markos taught physical education at the middle school level for five years in Maryland and Rhode Island while coaching track, volleyball, and gymnastics.

She was a clinical instructor for the University of Virginia from 1985 until her retirement in 2011. She mentored students in the physical education and adapted physical education programs. While teaching in Maryland, Markos mentored students from the University of Maryland.

Markos was a member of the NASPE publications committee from 2010 to 2013. She was a member of the editorial board for Strategies from 1999 to 2001, chaired the board in 2000, and was a reviewer for Strategies from 1991 to 2016. She was the chairperson for the National Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year selection committee for 2008 and 2009. Markos was also a member of the writing and revision committees for the Virginia Department of Education's Standards of Learning for Physical Education and Physical Education Resource Guide. Markos consulted for Move, Live, Learn and was a presenter for US Games from 2012 to 2017.

Markos is a member of SHAPE America and the Virginia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (VAHPERD).

Markos lives in Earlysville, Virginia, and enjoys spending time with her family as well as playing golf, pickleball, and working out.

Pam Walker, MEd, was an elementary physical education and health specialist in the Albemarle County school system in Charlottesville, Virginia, for 30 years, until her retirement in 2008. She taught for 25 years at Red Hill Elementary in North Garden, Virginia. Walker was a clinical educator at the University of Virginia, where she worked with practicum students and student teachers for 18 years.

The Virginia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (VAHPERD) named her the 1995 Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year, and in 2004 she received the Golden Apple Award from Albemarle County Public Schools.

Walker is embracing retirement. She currently spends her time with family in addition to swimming, golfing, hiking, camping, and traveling. She lives in Schuyler, Virginia.