Teaching Body and Spatial Awareness in Elementary Physical Education Using Integration of Core Content Subjects.

Studies have found that movement can have a positive effect on the linguistic and intellectual capabilities of the brain, proving that physical fitness is related to academic performance. By allowing elementary students to move around and be involved in physical activity at school, the brain is able to make stronger connections with the material learned in the classroom. By integrating general subjects into physical education lessons in elementary school, students are able to improve their cognitive, psychomotor and affective learning domains, as well as develop body and spatial awareness skills. With an increased collaboration between teachers, physical educators can teach through activity, rather than via a textbook, whiteboard or lecture. The purpose of this article is to show ways to integrate other subjects into elementary physical education lessons that can improve body and spatial awareness.