Get Fit! With Math and Lit: Pedagogical Implications for a Newly Developed Physical Activity Program

Abstract

This article details the development of a physical activity curriculum used in an after-school program for youths. The program, Get Fit! With Math & Lit, employed culturally relevant pedagogies as its guiding framework and the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Model to structure its content. This multifaceted framework of the curriculum elevates holistic health considerations of youths to include social, emotional, mental, and physical needs, especially in relation to academic achievement. Particularly, positively engaging youths in physical activity and academics necessitates an integrated approach to instruction. The program utilized multimodal literacies to engage participants in collaborative games, physical exercises, mathematical problems, literacy practices, and reflective discussions. These multimodal literacies can be incorporated into various settings such as middle school classrooms, after-school programs, and physical education contexts. The purpose of this article is to share the curriculum's objectives, content, learning activities, materials, processes, evaluation, and implications.