JOPERD Table of Contents
A Skill Theme Approach to Teaching Fundamental Motor Skills Through Gymnastics-Based Activities
Amanda McMurray, Shelby Ison & Zachary Wahl-Alexander
Gymnastics offers a unique opportunity to facilitate the practice of nonlocomotor skill themes. The fundamental skills of gymnastics stem from static shapes and positions that serve as building blocks for progressions to more complex skills and sequences based on an individual’s specific development. With that said, many educators do not include gymnastics as a content area in their curriculum due to lack of subject-matter knowledge and confidence to instruct the topic (Robinson et al, 2020). Implementing aspects of the STMC pedagogical framework in an elementary PE curriculum can help combat the lack of teacher subject-matter knowledge in gymnastics.
The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it aims to bridge the gap between gymnastics content knowledge and practice opportunities for non-locomotor skills in elementary PE by providing practitioners with a structured approach to teaching and progressing fundamental gymnastics shapes within the STMC framework. Second, this article presents engaging activities using original supplemental task cards to facilitate student advancement in nonlocomotor skill themes.
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