ERIC Number: ED465732
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 2002-Apr
Special Olympics Get into It.
This outline of a presentation describes a resource curriculum kit for involving youth in Special Olympics. The kit being described contains a fully scripted, four-lesson curriculum unit for grade levels K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. The themes of the four lessons are awareness (e.g., avoiding stereotypes and increasing knowledge); understanding (e.g., what it is like to have a cognitive disability); inspiration (e.g., why Special Olympics athletes succeed at what they do); and action (e.g., making connections in the school and community with Special Olympics). The kit offers tools for involving children and youth with and without mental retardation in Special Olympics. The curriculum helps schools and teachers meet a variety of requirements and needs such as academic achievement standards, understanding and acceptance of individual differences, and youth development and character education. It involves service learning projects in the school and community, and it promotes and supports physical activity, physical fitness, and sports participation. At the elementary and middle school levels, lessons fit into the activities of social studies, language arts, history, and other core curriculum programs. At the high school level, lessons fit into activities of the physical education program. (SM)
Descriptors: Athletics, Consciousness Raising, Elementary Secondary Education, Mental Retardation, Physical Education, Physical Fitness, Service Learning, Special Olympics, Stereotypes, Student Participation
Special Olympics, 1325 G Street, N.W., Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005. Tel: 202-824-0275; Tel: 800-700-8585 (Toll Free); e-mail: Rvederman@specialolympics.org.
Publication Type: Guides - Non-Classroom; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Authoring Institution: Special Olympics, Inc., Washington, DC.
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (San Diego, CA, April 9-13, 2002).