Book it, 1st Grade! Keeping the “Physical” in Physical Education while Integrating Children's Literature

Physical activity (PA) has been shown to increase cognitive function, with higher test scores being reported for students engaged in higher levels PA. Additionally, the integration of the Common Core content into physical education allows for more Common Core content practice while students meet physical education objectives. Integration can be defined as the teaching of two or more subject areas simultaneously to enhance students’ learning and understanding. This novel shift to integration is underpinned by Fullan’s Change Theory where students may learn content in new and meaningful ways that meet the goals of multiple realms in education. The purpose of this crossover, replication design study was to investigate first-grade students’ enjoyment levels (enjoyment exit slips), attitudes (pre- & post-surveys), step counts (accelerometers), reading and listening comprehension (Accelerated Reader testing), as well as students’ and teachers’ perceptions (interviews & field notes) when integrating children’s literature into the fitness segment of physical education. Twenty-one first-grade students, two first-grade classroom teachers, and two physical education teachers from two different schools (Private and Public) in Southwestern, US participated in this study for six weeks each (12 weeks across the two schools). At each school, one first grade class participated as both the control and intervention groups. Overall, the results from integrating children’s literature into the physical education fitness segment were positive. Students’ enjoyment levels were high, their attitudes remained positive, they maintained similar step counts throughout the intervention periods, and the students scored similarly on the Accelerated Reader assessments from content taught in the classroom versus content presented in physical education. Additionally, students’ and teachers’ perceptions were positive, underpinned by Fullan’s Change Theory and resulted in the following three themes for students: (a) Motivation and engagement, (b) learning as perceived by students, and (c) home environment, as well as the following two themes for teachers: (a) Motivation and resources, and (b) stay the course. To my knowledge, this is the first experimental investigation of the integration of children’s literature into physical education which provides necessary evidence and an invaluable start to this important line of inquiry.