In the Danbury Public Schools, physical education classes aren’t just about climbing rope and playing basketball. The Trandisciplinary Opportunities Program for Personal Excellence (TOPPE) is an elective approach to physical education that combines developing those traditional skills with developing reading and writing competencies. TOPPE aims to “demonstrate the mind/body/spirit connection and encourages students to strive for their personal best in all areas of wellness.”

By embedding physical education in context of more global tasks like reading and writing, the curriculum connects students’ in-school learning with their out-of-school experiences. The double-period course is taught to a heterogeneous group of various grade levels and the variety of activities and lessons is appropriate for all students, reinforcing the concept of lifelong learners.

The language arts goals include communicating effectively in written and oral forms; enjoying reading and writing; read and interpreting fiction and nonfiction pertaining to wellness, decision making and role models; interpret themes from literature, films, guest speakers and applying those themes in their own lives; following the complete writing process from pre-writing to publishing; and analyzing research for such projects as personal trainer portfolios, fitness friends programs, smoking cessation series, and panel discussions.

Contact:

Karen Rezendes

Transdisciplinary Opportunities Program for Danbury Public Schools
Danbury Public Schools
Alternative Center for Education
Phone: (203) 797-4762
Fax: (203) 830-6544

E-mail: rezenk@danbury.k12.ct.us

http://www.csde.state.ct.us/public/der/promisingpractices/curriculumdevelopment/danbrype.pdf