What’s up Phys Ed Fam?
With this post I want to cover one of the most common questions I hear teachers discussing which is…
How do you handle grades in Elementary PE Class?
Well, it can definitely get super complicated, but I have a pretty simple system that I use to keep my sanity and I would love to share it with you.
I’ll try to be as specific as I can to make things as clear as possible to you can have some practical takeaways.
Disclaimer:
Before we start, I will give a disclaimer and honestly say that inputting multiple grades for all 600 of my students is hands down one of my least favorite parts of my job. I hate the amount of time that it takes and the sheer amount of students that I’m required to assess, but I also understand that it is necessary, it validates what I do and it can be helpful for students and parents if they understand the purpose of it.
Check out the video below for an overview of my philosophy and system for grades and assessment:
Links from the video:
- How to use Plickers in PE
- Daily Self Assessment
- How to do Jumprope in PE
- Home Base Spots
- Links to Ben’s One Page Roster Sheet (Google Doc)
- Hula Hut Relays
- PE Specialist Membership Program
Grades are Just Communication
First of all, as I always tell the parents of my students, a grade is a form of communication that shows whether a student has met the grade level outcomes. A low grade does not mean that I dislike the students, rather it simply shows that they haven’t met the criteria for the outcomes that are being assessed during that 9 week report card period.
Domains of Learning
Grades are particularly informing the parents on the student’s performance on the domains of learning. In Physical Education, there are three domains. All the activities inside the class are normally based on one of these three domains of learning.
- Physical – skills and physical abilities
- Cognitive – knowledge of the content being assessed
- Affective – social skills and behaviors
Standards Based Report Cards
For Elementary level, students normally have a standard based report card which reflected the students achievements in specific grade level outcomes. Normally elementary students don’t have percentage grades, but instead have simplified grades on a 3 or 4 point scale.
For example, our scale is a 3 point scale and consists of 3 options:
- Unable to meet (U)
- Progressing towards expectations (P)
- Meets grade level expectations (M)
The Teacher will determine what specific standards they are covering during that grading period and what types of assessments they will use to measure whether or not students are meeting those targeted grade level outcomes.
For an example of a Cognitive Assessment (knowledge based) on finding out whether or not students know the correct cues for a basketball dribble check out the post below:
Basketball Cues Knowledge Assessment
Types of Assessments
Different domains of learning can be assessed with different types of assessments. For the Psychomotor Domain, you might use a simple checklist (like the Locomotor License Test).
When assessing the cognitive domain, you can use a tool like Plickers Cards or just ask your students like I did in the Basketball Cues Test.
For Affective Domain, you can play a team building game like Cross the River or Hula Hut Relays and make observation notes on whether or not students are able to cooperate and work on a team.
Another great thing to do is allow your students to complete some self-assessments (here’s how I do a daily self assessment with my students) or partner kids up and have them try some peer assessments.
But First…
Before we even talk about assessment, lets cover a few pre-requisites:
#1 – Management
I want to make sure that my management is on point at all times. I want to have my students organized, my behavior focused on learning and my students using good sportsmanship in class.
If I can’t take care of this first then it won’t matter what my assessments are. Assessments won’t work if I can’t handle my class management.
#2 – Instruction
This is my favorite thing to study, talk about and do. I love planning fun lessons, remixing them and trying to find creative ways to engage students and help them learn new things.
I try to make sure that the things I’m teaching actually lead to students learning the performance outcomes I am focusing on. If I don’t plan engaging and effective lessons then my students will most likely not perform well on any assessment.
Below are a few examples of how I plan my Instruction:
- Jump Rope Unit
- Gymnastics Unit
- Common Phrases I say in P.E. Class
- How to Plan a Year of PE in 15 Minutes
Now that you’ve planned some awesome instruction for your students, it’s time to find out if it actually worked. The only way to do that is with…
#3 – Assessment
There are a ton of different types of assessment, but lets talk about 2 differentiating factors first.
Assessment FOR learning
Assessment FOR learning is informal. It is just to help students understand where they are in relation to the goals or outcomes that they are trying to reach.
Assessment FOR learning is implemented for the purpose of helping kids learn and helping teachers understand where their students stand so they can better help them reach their goals.
Assessment FOR learning does not go on a report card.
Some examples might be an informal version of Self Assessment, Peer Assessment or Teacher Observation.
Assessment OF learning
Assessment OF learning is a formal assessment that would be something like a final skills test, dance routine or cues knowledge test.
Assessment OF learning is normally given at the end of a unit or lesson to determine if students actually learned the content.
Both of these types of assessment can inform your instruction and help you realize if you are actually getting through to your students in the way that you are trying to.
My Attempt at a Simple Grading Process
This is my simple and reliable system for grading my students.
My Roster / Attendance Sheet:
My goal is to have my entire 9 weeks of data on one page for each class.
- A printed roster with all your students
- I print each class on a separate page and organize them by the day that they come to PE Class
- Working pen/pencil
- If you want to copy my rosters click the links below:
- At the bottom of the roster you’ll notice my performance codes:
- NFD (not following direction)
- TWP (talking without permission)
- TO (timeout)
- A (absent)
- FF (wearing flip flops/crocs/sandals)
- NP (not participating)
- NME ( needs more effort).
A Few Notes and Helpful Tips
- Keep a short title for each column to help you remember what you taught that week or any assessments that you gave students
- Use the codes when evaluating the performance or behavior of students.
- When giving assessments I simply use a + or – system and write it in each students box for the week when the assessment was given
Why I like this system?
- At a glance, I can see all the activities we did and how my students faired on one page. The entire 9 weeks can fit on one page, which makes it easier for me when inputing grades.
- It is very handy when talking to parents since I can specifically tell them of the basis of the grade for their students and explain how their student has performed throughout the 9 weeks.
Report Cards
- I always try to write as much feedback as possible in the report card. Since these are communication between the teachers and students and teachers and parents, the more information is better.
- Keep it positive. If I need to give constructive comments, I make sure to give positive remarks too. My goal is I will come off as somebody who is trying to be helpful and who has a student’s best interest in mind, compared to someone who is just trying to tell the parent everything that is wrong with their student.
- Here are a few examples of report card comments:
- Positive:
- Awesome job – Talented student!
- Sets a great example for others!
- So much fun to have in class – keep up the great work!
- Wow – very impressive _(current unit we’re working on)____ Skills!
- Such a great team player and a good sport – It’s very appreciated!
- Constructive:
- Capable student but…
- Frequently struggles to follow class expectations
- Frequently struggles to listen during instructional time
- Sometimes struggles to stay on task and follow directions
- Sometimes chooses not to participate in our daily activities
- Sometimes struggles with failure or losing a game
- Capable student but…
- Positive:
As a teacher, our job is to uplift the kids and help them become those confident movers, to learn to be active and live a healthy lifestyle and I hope we reflect that when giving out grades and report card comments.
Hope that was helpful and good luck in knocking out those grades (I feel your pain)
Mick says
Great stuff, thanks. Sounds similar to my school. I’m curious how teachers are expected to bundle all 3 domains into one score on the report card as we have to do. I can’t see much value in doing that and it potentially creates confusion for parents and students… though in all honesty I rarely hear from parents about the PE grade.
Marcus says
Hey Mick!
Totally understand and we have the same thoughts and concerns.
The Standards Based Report cards discussed in the post is the best way to communicate the progress their student is making.
True we rarely hear from parents but it’s always good to be prepared
Michael Trotta says
Having an opportunity to teach physical education for the past 10 years, I can relate a lot to your post. The least enjoyable element of the profession is grading. You gave some great tips on how to streamline the process. I never thought about grading as a form of communication, but it makes so much sense now that I think about it in that wat. I will be using that rationale moving forward as I communicate with my students and their families about their progress in my class.
Marcus says
Hey Michael!
Glad the resources are helping! Communicating with parents help to show them that what you do is important!
Have a great day!
Jennifer Hernandez says
I am trying to open the daily self assessment but I cannot thanks
Marcus Nellems says
Hey Jennifer,
Are you referring to the self assessment posters?
If so, it’s a Zip file, you’ll need to extract it to access the files.
A walkthrough of how to do that can be found at the link below:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Help/File-Types-26/What-is-a-ZIP-file
Let us know if you have any other issues!
Brad Jenkins says
Thank you for this post. I am currently in a credential/master’s program and hope to be a PE teacher soon. I like how simple your method is here and it helps give me an idea how it can be done. One question in regards to your system: how do you convert your letter performance codes into grades (A-F)?
Thanks!
Marcus Nellems says
Hey Brad,
Thanks for reaching out. Ben and I only teach elementary school so our grades our like he described in the video. I would say doing some research and finding out what other PE teachers use to convert their performance codes to traditional grading.