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Movement Skills

Fundamental movement skills are a core component of physical literacy. They provide the foundation—or building blocks—of more complex skills used in games, activities, sports and leisure pursuits. Fundamental movement skills are not static over a lifetime but are always evolving. They are one of the most important factors that contribute to physical activity participation because, without a certain level of proficiency, a person is much less likely to enjoy participating. In other words, if educators improve fundamental movement skills through appropriate instruction and practice, there is increased likelihood that participants will engage in activities that require those skills. 

In the Movement Skills component of Passport for Life, running (locomotion), throwing and catching (object control) and kicking (object manipulation) will be assessed as key features of physical literacy.

Please follow the Printable Guides tab at the top of this page for a downloadable and printable PDF version of the assessment instructions.

Custom recording forms pre-populated with your students’ names can be downloaded and printed by selecting Recording Forms in the class section of the Teacher Dashboard.

Instructional Guidelines  

  • The educational goal of fitness assessment is to provide useful, motivating and confidential information to each student about his or her fitness status and how it relates to various indicators of health and well-being (like physical activity habits). 
  • Emphasize that the assessments are tools to affirm student‘s awareness of personal achievement, progress and potential areas of their fitness that might need more attention (improvement). 
  • Wherever possible, minimize social (peer) comparisons and student anxiety. 
  • Be student-centred and developmentally appropriate.
  • Promote learning and a positive attitude toward being physically active.
  • Create a positive and meaningful experience.
  • Implement protocols that ensure the physical and emotional safety of all students.
  • Ensure that your students are wearing appropriate footwear and attire. 
  • Ensure a safe environment (e.g., remove clutter, stray balls and other potentially unsafe environmental features). 
  • Ideally, conduct these activities in a flat open space, such as a gymnasium or multi-purpose room. It is also possible to do these activities outside. 
  • Once the class is in the gymnasium, remind students about the purpose of the assessment, then give a quick demonstration of the task. 
  • Each of the skills to be assessed must be performed by each student individually. Therefore, while you conduct the assessments, it is recommended that you have the other students in the class engaged in other appropriate physical activity. Depending on your class, it may be necessary to get supervision help from other staff or a responsible volunteer to ensure safety.
  • Try to make sure that the student being assessed is not watched by the other students. Being watched tends to increase social comparisons and anxiety in the participants.
  • Interpret scores accurately and sensitively.
  • Base success criteria on Assessment Rubrics.
  • Provide individualized scores and feedback for improvement.

Video Demonstrations

The video clips and descriptions of the Movement Skills assessments will help ensure proper set-up of each task. Click on the different videos to view short demonstrations of each of the three assessments.

Locomotion

Object Control

Object Manipulation