The PE Literacy Playbook

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of catching up with a former student who had moved away from our school. They stopped by while in town and, after a few laughs and memories, shared something that really stuck with me.

They told me how disappointed they were in their new PE class.

To quote them as honestly as possible: “We don’t really learn anything anymore.”

I’ll be honest—that hit hard. I wrestled with it for days. I was frustrated, disappointed, and honestly, a little heartbroken. This was a student who had grown so much—someone who had pushed past insecurities, developed patience with their skill development, and learned to see their own progress through reflection and understanding. And now they felt like that learning was gone.

That conversation reminded me of something simple but powerful: the “P” in PE might stand for physical, but the “E” still matters.

PE teachers love to remind people that the “P” stands for physical.

And they’re right—it does. Movement is what we do. It’s our heartbeat, our home base, and the part of our day that keeps us sane.

But sometimes we hold onto that word so tightly that we forget about the other half of our job: education.

If every ounce of learning that happens in PE is purely physical, we’re missing something. The magic of PE isn’t just in how students move—it’s in how they think about movement. How they plan, communicate, reflect, and grow.

That’s why so many of my units include a literacy-rich assessment built in—a way for students to show what they’ve learned not just through movement, but through reflection and communication.

A literacy-rich assessment asks students to show what they know not just through performance, but through language—whether spoken, written, or visual. It’s an assessment where movement and communication work together.

In PE, that might look like explaining a teammate’s defensive rotation, describing how force and balance connect in a lift, or reflecting on a decision made during a game—but it can also mean exploring movement through a different lens: describing focus, perseverance, or teamwork in ways that reveal both the physical and personal sides of performance.

It’s literacy that’s anchored in action, but expressed through reflection.

The goal isn’t to add writing to PE—it’s to uncover the literacy that’s already there. Every cue, strategy, and coaching conversation is a literacy moment waiting to be recognized.

When we build assessments around that idea, something shifts. Students start to understand their own learning. They can explain why something worked—or didn’t—and connect it to bigger ideas about teamwork, mindset, and growth.

That’s what makes an assessment literacy-rich: it bridges performance and understanding. It turns movement into meaning.

So yes, the “P” still stands for physical.

But maybe it’s time we truly give the “E” the attention it deserves…