PE visual schedule and gym class communication board

Students who need PE to make sense

Students who don’t speak or don’t speak much, autistic students, students who find noise and crowds hard, and any child who gets upset when the game changes without warning. It also helps a student who uses a wheelchair or a walker to say which moves they’ll do their own way. PE teachers, aides and parents can all use it, and the sports board works for after-school teams and for watching a game together.

Using the schedule in the gym

1. Ask the PE teacher what today’s lesson is, and if it isn’t a game, put a card or a sticky note over step 6.
2. Go through the steps in the classroom, before the walk to the gym.
3. Put the schedule on the gym wall, or on a clipboard the aide carries, and point to each step as it starts.
4. Show water break and cool down early on, so the student can see the end coming.
5. Keep page 2 at the side of the gym, where the student can reach it between turns.

Moves, turns and breaks

The moves on page 2 are the ones PE lessons ask for most: run, jump, hop, skip, throw, catch, kick and roll, plus climb, balance, bounce and dance. Point to the move as you show it: “Hop, like a bunny.” The talk words are for the moments that go wrong in a busy gym: my turn when the ball never comes, too loud when the whistle blows, I got hurt after a fall, and a break before it all gets too much. A break asked for is better than a break taken by running out of the gym, so say yes to it when you can. A student who already uses a break card can bring it along.

On a team, or in the stands

The sports board on page 3 is for after school too: choosing a sport, cheering on a brother or sister, or saying how a game went. Go, team!, nice try! and good game let a player join in with teammates, and that’s okay after we lost is worth practicing before a game, not just after one. For a child on a team, the coach can keep a copy on the bench.

Classmates can learn the board too: help classmates talk with the student has ideas that work as well in the gym as at a desk.

Make it match your gym

PE is also a routine in the free visual schedule maker. Open “PE class” in the schedule maker to put in today’s game, a photo of your own gym, or a step like changing clothes.

What’s on the three pages

PE class

• gym shoes on
• line up
• walk to the gym
• warm up
• listen to the coach
• play the game
• water break
• cool down

Moves

• run
• jump
• hop
• skip
• throw
• catch
• kick
• roll
• climb
• balance
• bounce
• dance

Things we use

• ball
• hoop
• jump rope
• cone
• bean bag
• parachute

Talk

• my turn
• your turn
• help
• wait
• again
• stop
• I’m tired
• a drink
• I got hurt
• too loud
• a break
• I did it!

Sports

• soccer
• basketball
• baseball
• football
• tennis
• volleyball
• hockey
• swimming
• bike riding
• gymnastics
• bowling
• dancing

Cheer and talk

• go, team!
• nice shot!
• nice try!
• good game
• pass it to me
• I’m open!
• we scored!
• we won!
• we lost
• that’s okay
• I want to play
• I want to watch

I feel

• excited
• happy
• proud
• nervous
• mad
• tired

Printing for the gym

• Print page 1 on card stock and laminate it: gym walls are hard on paper.
• Tape page 2 to a clipboard, so it can come along to the field or the track.
• The playground communication board covers recess, and the swimming communication board the pool.
• To make sure the talker comes to PE too: keep AAC with the student, all day.