A Recap: PE Modules on Balance and Basic Movements

Our education bureau is developing modules on PE lessons for teachers to learn to teach PE. I think this is a great idea. Simple and effective in terms of in-service teacher training. I actually benefited it a lot when I first started in 2017. Attending the second time this year, it feels that the model is more clear and easier to execute for novice PE teachers. Having the opportunity to learn from the experienced and the best is a blessing.


The model is GBODY. I don’t know where they got this acronym but it’s easy to remember.
G stands for warm up and preparation.
B stands for skills building.
O refers to communication and modification with the students.
D means differentiation.
Y is the final wrap up and cleaning up.
Easy to remember now, but it took me a long time to figure out the teaching process in 2017.


For lower graders, the lessons were contextualized with their world experience, such as animals imitation and road safety. I think the idea of road safety is fun to play with. Kids love the game of 紅綠燈 - red light and green light. For CLIL lessons, it’s also easier to develop chants and interaction when introducing this idea. Here is an example.


Red light, stop.
Green light, go.
Yellow, yellow, keep an eye out.


The lesson can then incorporate various animal walks and skips. Here is a screenshot of the differentiated stage (D) of GBODY.

1. Children either walk on the rod or on the flower lines depending on their ability.
2. Children pick an animal walk or skip (previously taught) to avoid the obstacles.
3. Children balance their boy on 4/3/2/1 point for 5-10 seconds depending on their ability.
4. Improvised jump.

The same process can also be used to teach gymnastic rolling, like how the panda rolls in the video clip.

​Teaching lower grade PE is just too much fun!