Students are not getting enough Exercise during the day

Carolyn Menges

P.S. 11 Queens

Introduction

Research has noted that in today’s schools. Students are not getting enough physical activity. This is a problem because it negatively affects their school performance as well as leading to other physical and mental health problems.

Today you will examine (using the Public Policy Analyst) the problem of student inactivity during the school day and develop a new policy to address it. Then it will be your job to convince our principal for your proposed policy.

Task

● Conduct research using the links provided below.

● Record facts you may want to use in your persuasive letter in your writer’s notebook.

● Draft a persuasive letter to the principal describing the benefits of your proposed policy.

Process

We will be using the 6 Steps of the Public Policy Analyst (PPA) to conduct our research today:

1. Define the Problem

2. Gather the Evidence

3. Identify the Causes

4. Evaluate an Existing Policy

5. Develop Solutions

6. Select the Best Solution  (Feasibility vs. Effectiveness)

Resources

Check out these online articles and videos to gather evidence describing our problem and possible solutions:

Problem: Students are not getting enough exercise during the school day.

Gathering Evidence: (Remember to take notes)

❏ Kids not getting enough exercise

❏ Students not getting enough exercise at school

Identify the Causes: (Remember to take notes)

§ Causes for why kids don’t get enough exercise

Existing Public Policies: (Remember to take notes)

§ Current New York State Physical Education requirements

Develop Solutions:

❏ 5 Reasons Recess Helps Learning

❏ Students' speak up to increase recess minutes.

❏ Recess important or a waste of time?

❏ The benefits of recess are clear. Why are so many schools cutting back?

❏ Recess now mandatory in New Jersey

❏ Longer Recess Periods in Texas

Write a letter to the principal that will convince them to choose and implement your preferred policy. Remember to include facts you gathered to show how your policy will lead to better health, social skills and performance in the classroom.

Select Best Solution:

After reading your letters, our principal will decide if your policy can be enacted. They will determine if your recommendations are feasible and effective solutions and let us know their solutions.

Evaluation

Your persuasive letter to our principal will be graded using this rubric:

Conclusion

There is a need for students to get more exercise during the school day. Using the PPA steps, you will have analyzed the problem and proposed new solutions.

Standards

W.3.1 Write an opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons.

W.3.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge of a topic.

W.3.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from print or digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.