Signature Assignment

Signature Assignment
Rough Draft
Physical Activity and Mental Health
Aurora Sauceda
Arizona State University
PPE 310

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Introduction

Mental health is a big issue that many students may struggle with throughout their
education. There is one way to reduce the negatives of mental health just by adding more
chances for physical activity throughout the school day. When children get the
opportunity to be more active there is a good chance they will decrease their risks of
depression and anxiety; and can reduce the need for Ritalin with some students. Physical
activity is defined as body movements that require energy. Many schools only offer
Physical Education once or twice a week to students, which doesnt meet the
recommended 60 minutes a day of physical activity kids need.
In order to give students a chance to have more opportunities for physical activity
there will be a Daily 20 Club at the school. The club will meet 30 minutes before school
starts everyday. It will be opened to grades k-6 but split up by grade level. This way
students have the time to start the day in a fun and active environment. Each day will be a
different activity so they dont get stuck in a routine. The activities will range from yoga,
dance, to sports like baseball and soccer; and anything in between that can be done in 20
minutes to get the students moving. Accommodations will also need to be made for
students who cannot do the activities because of physical limitations.
This will be a school effort to give students a good start to their day. Teachers who
lead the groups will be in charge of creating active plans to start the day. There will also
be a monthly assembly to give students information on what has been happening and
what those who are not involved are missing out on. At the beginning of each week a
newsletter will go home with the students to keep the parents informed of the activities at
school and give them the option of joining in for the Daily 20 Club with their child.

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The hopes of this program are to increase mental health in the students with
support from the parents and school staff. The studies show that there is a connection
between physical activity and mental health and hopefully it shows in the students
outcome.
Review of Current Literature
The article, The Relation of Physical Activity and Exercise to Mental Health , by Taylor,
Sallis, and Needle, states that physical activity has had positive effects on mental health
in both clinical and nonclinical populations. The authors looked at multiple pieces of data
from various studies connecting physical activity with mental health to come to their
conclusion. They mainly focus on depression and anxiety mental health benefits of
physical activity. Some studies have found that outside of a clinical setting people who
exercise often have decreased depression. The article explains how exercise and physical
activity can improve mental health and my even prevent disorders. Physical activity can
do this by improving self-esteem, self-concept, or other psychological variables.
In the article, Relationship between physical activity and general mental health,
by Kim and Park, they discuss physical activity as a preventive measure of mental health.
Similar to the findings of, Taylor, Sallis and Needle, they found that physical activity can
reduce symptoms of depression. There is no scientific formula to find the perfect amount
of physical activity to improve mental health. In the study there are many variable such as
location, gender, job status, and level of education. They concluded that regular physical
activity may lead to prevention of mental health disorders but there need to be further
studies to confirm their findings.

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In the article, Specific associations between types of physical activity and

components of mental health, by Asztalos and WiJnadaele, they identify 5 physical
activity domains. The five physical activity domains are; housework, leisure active
transportation, biking to/from work, walking to/from work, and sports participation. They
examine the idea that different physical activities can have different effects on mental
health based on age, gender, and occupational category. Women tend to find housework
activities more stressful whereas blue-collar men found biking to/from work more
stressful. Their end findings were that sports participation and no other type of physical
activity was consistently associated with less stress levels. They think this may be
because it is a leisure activity that many people do for fun and enjoy.
In the article, Association of multiple physical activity domains with mental wee
being, by Cerin, Leslie, Sugiyama, and Owen, they discuss four domains of physical
activity. Similar to the domains previously mentioned but they take both work domains
and call it transport. The four physical activity domains they talk about are; leisure,
household, occupational, and transport. Again similar to the previous article findings they
report that leisure time activity has the most positive psychological outcomes. After
leisure comes travel then work and the least amount of positive outcome is household. In
this article they mention that physical ability may change the effects of physical activity.
A person who is normal weight will have better mental health results from physical
activity compared to a person who is obese. In general higher levels of leisure activity
provided greater mental health benefits. They also identified that women had negative
reactions to household physical activity where men had no association with that domain.
Occupational physical activity did not seem to have any effect on mental health either

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positive or negative. In conclusion their findings showed that each domain can have
different results based on variables but for the most part leisure time activity had positive
outcomes on mental health.
In the article, Ways of unraveling how and why physical activity influences mental
health through statistical mediation analysis, by Cerin focuses on the idea that there are
many studies about physical activity and mental health with different outcomes. Of the
studies that are talked about it says that they are inconclusive because it was unclear the
effects physical activity has on mental health. There are many limitations to the research
that is going on with physical activity and it is difficult to create a controlled group to
compare results with.
The final article is, What is the relationship between students physical activity
and mental health, by UCLA school mental health project. There is a short report in this
article about a school that began everyday with 20 minutes of physical activity noticed
that students did not need to depend on Ritalin to stay focused throughout the day. There
are findings that school kids had a positive academic growth when they had the
opportunity to have an increased amount of physical activity. Physical activity increased
the students concentration on academic materials. It is recommended that people aged 617 get at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day. Many schools only give students
the chance to go to P.E. once or twice a week. There are things schools can do to increase
activity by having brain breaks, making an effort to push walking or biking to school, and
encouraging students to do physical activities during recess.

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Synthesis of Information

The main theme that all the articles had in common was the positive effects
leisure activity had on overall mental health. In the articles, Association of multiple
physical activity domains with mental wee being and Specific associations between types
of physical activity and components of mental health, they both discuss domains of
physical activity. They identify that leisure activity is the domain that produces the most
positive outcomes of mental health. I think I can use that information to make sure that
students just dont do physical activity for the sake of doing it but to make it something
that interest them and they will enjoy doing.
In the articles The Relation of Physical Activity and Exercise to Mental Health
and Relationship between physical activity and general mental health, both articles bring
up physical activity and the effects it has on depression. They concluded that symptoms
of depression can be reduced by increased physical activity. In contrast the article,
Association of multiple physical activity domains with mental wee being, mentioned that
people who are obese did not have positive effects from physical activity.
I got the idea of my plan from the article, What is the relationship between
students physical activity and mental health, because they talk about the difference 20
minutes of physical activity in the morning can have. I think it is important that schools
inform families and students about the benefits of physical activity can have on their
overall mental health. There are academic benefits along with mental health ones,
students will be able to concentrate for longer periods of time and be more present in the
classroom.

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Practical Implications

Proposal
The proposal for this Daily 20 Cub is that students and parents get informed about
the importance of physical activity on mental health. There will be monthly staff
meetings to discuss if the program is working and what can be improved. Teachers will
be given a class led by the physiologist to introduce the importance of giving students the
opportunity to have chances for physical activity. Teachers will be asked to encourage
their students to join the club.
Weekly Newsletter
In order to keep the parents in the loop of what their children are doing there will
be a weekly newsletter (Appendix A) sent home to inform the parents of the activities.
Parents will know about the daily schedule and be given the opportunity to join in the
activity. The newsletter will show what activity each grade is doing and at which location
in the school they will be.
Family and community Activity Night T-shirt
Family and the local community will be invited to join in our Activity night.
There will ben an activity night once a month. There will be flyers (Appendix C) around
the school and sent home with each student the week before the Activity Night. Students
who participate in the Activity Night will be given a free Daily 20 Club t-shirt (Appendix
B). This can be used to promote the club because if other students see the shirt they may
become interested in joining. All of those who come to participate will be asked to join in
discussions and the physical activity. The purpose of this night is to inform families of the

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community the importance of physical activity and the positive effect it can have on the
students.
Teaching about the benefits of Physical Activity in the Classroom
Teachers need to make sure they are talking with their students about the
importance of physical activity. They should mention the mental health benefits for the
students if they get more active. Many students at my site have ADD or ADHD this club
is a chance to get them focused from the beginning of the day to increase academic
success. Each teacher should let students know that studies show they will see
improvements in behavior and academic performance if they join the Daily 20 club.
Even on their own in their classrooms teachers should find ways to incorporate
physical activities. Either in brain breaks or incorporates them with the content to get
students more involved and focused. Teachers should know the benefits of physical
activity in the classroom and use it as often as possible to get better learning outcomes
from their students.
Marketing
Marketing for this club will start with just the school setting. There will be posters
(Appendix D) made and hung around the school along with made into a flyer for students
to take home. This way anyone who walks into the school will be able to read what the
Daily 20 Club is about and hopefully spark interest. There will also be reminders about it
on the daily announcements each morning. With continuous promotion there should be a
large turn out for the club. Students can sign up to join at anytime but the earlier the
better.

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Assembly
At the first school assembly of the year there will be information about Daily 20
Club to get students interested. The leading teacher of the club will have 10 volunteers go
to the middle and they will do a 3minute mini physical activity to show what to look
forward to if they join the club. This way it sparks student interest. The lead teacher will
talk about the beneficial outcomes the students can expect from this 20 minutes of
physical activity in the morning. They should expect to be able to concentrate better and
not have the need to fidget throughout the day as often.
Conclusion
In conclusion by implementing the Daily 20 Club at the school teachers and
parents should notice an improvement in their students. By giving students the
opportunity to release energy before going to school they can have a better academic
success in the classroom. The studies showed that physical activity helped with
depression and some of the students may not be coming to school from a good situation
at home so giving them the time to have that physical activity they may have a better
attitude when they enter the classroom.
By getting staff and family involved they are the ones who will notice if the Daily
20 club is making a difference with the students or not. During the first year of the club it
is important to have deep discussions at the monthly Activity night to assess student
progress with the program. If some families notice a difference they will want to let other
families know the positive effects the club has and that becomes advertisement for the
importance of physical activity. The goal with this program is to produce a positive
outcome for students and their families to improve mental health.

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References
Asztalos, m., & Wijndaele, K. (2009). Specific associations between
types of physical activity and componenets of mental health. Science
Direct , 468-474.
Cerin, E. (2010). Ways of unraveling how and why physical activity
influences mental health through statistical mediation analyses. Mental
Health and Physical Activity , 51-60.
Cerin, E., Leslie, E., Sugiyama, T., & Owen, N. (2009). Associations of
multiple physical activity domains with mental well-being. Mental
Health and Physical Activity , 55-64.
kim, y. S., Park, Y. S., & Allegrante, J. P. (2012). Relationship between
physical activity and general health. Preventive Medicine , 458-463.
School Mental Health Project. (2016). Center for Mental Heath in
Schools. Retrieved APril 1, 2015, from Mental Health in Schools:
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/
Taylor, C. B., Sallis, J. F., & Needle, R. (1985). The Relation of Physical
Activity and Mental Health. Public Health Reports , 100 (2), 195-200.

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Appendix A

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Sunset Elementary School weekly Newsletter

Week of April 25- 29

Dai l y 20 Cl u b
Come join the FUN!
Parent participation strongly encouraged.

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Appendix B

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Appendix C

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Fa mily a nd Community
A c tiv ity Nig ht
When:
Tuesday
April 26, 2016
@ 5pm 7pm

Wher e:
Sunset Elementary
Cafeteria

Pur pose:
v To have a community
discussion with staff
and parents about the

A genda :
5:00pm
Get into groups based on grade level and talk
about the benefits of the Daily 20 Club.
Improvements in student performance.
5:30pm
Share with the whole group thoughts on how the
Club is going. What can be improved?
5:45pm
Review Mental Health benefits of daily Physical
activity
6:00pm
Physical Activity!

effects of the

Stretching (10minutes)

Daily 20 Club.

Zumba (20minutes)

v Have fun promoting

the importance of

Yoga (15minutes)
6:45pm
Closing statements

Physical Activity in

Questions

the community

Comments

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Appendix D

Dai l y 20 Cl ub

Ac t i v i t i es I nc l ud e:
Zumba
Baseball
Yoga

Basketball
Soccer
Dance

Titanic
Kickball
Relay Races Dodge ball
GoNoodle
AND MORE!

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Criteria with
Professional Standards
Referenced
Outline
Outline Turned
In(Already submitted
for points)

Introduction
Introduction to the
topic and overview (In
your purpose
statement also
introduce all
subtopics)
InTASC 1c,k; 5k; 9f;
10h
NAEYC 6b
NETS-T 3a,d; 4a,c
CEC EC2S1; CC7K1;
EC7K1;CC9K4;CC9S
8
Literature Review
Adequacy of
Knowledge
(includes 5 peer
reviewed original
research articles
references)
InTASC 1c,k; 5k; 9f;
10h
NAEYC 6b
NETS-T 3a,d; 4a,c
CEC EC2S1; CC7K1;
EC7K1;CC9K4;CC9S
8

5
Exemplary
(97 100%)
10 Points
Logical, detailed
outline with at least 5
original peer reviewed
references written in
APA format is
submitted with a
technology choice
selected to embed the
assignment.
5 x 2=10 points
10 Points
Introduction is fully
developed, well
organized, introduces
all topics, created a
plan for the paper and
invites the reader to
read further.

4
Highly Proficient
(93 96%)

3
Proficient
(83 92%)

2
Approaching
Proficient
(73 82%)

1
Unsatisfactory
(72%
and below)

Brief outline with

at least 5 original
peer reviewed
references written
in APA format is
submitted.

Brief outline with

some references but
not 5 original peer
reviewed references
written in APA
format are submitted.

Brief outline with

one or no references
submitted.

No outline was
submitted.

Introduction is
fully developed
with all topics
introduced.

Introduction is
addressed well,
somewhat organized
and created a plan for
the paper

Introduction is
addressed adequately.

Introduction is
omitted or was
disorganized and did
not create a plan for
the paper.

1. Literature
review addresses
major issues in the
area.
2. Thorough use of
a range of
references to
support key issues.

1. Literature review
may address major
issues, but issues
may not be supported
with expert
knowledge.

1. Literature review
does not address the
major issues in the
area; the level of
support for the issues
is not adequate.

1. Literature review
does not have the
depth of knowledge
appropriate to this
upper level course.

5 x 2=10 points

15 Points
1. Literature review
highlights major issues
in the area.
2. Through use of a
range of references to
support key issues.
3. Description of
important studies
establishes context for
the reader.
4. Includes more than
5 informative
references.
5 x 3=15 points

Synthesis of
Information
Synthesis of
Information (what did
the articles collectively
say about the topic?
Which authors had
similar and different
findings?)
InTASC 1c,k; 5k; 9f;
10h
NAEYC 6b
NETS-T 3a,d; 4a,c
CEC EC2S1; CC7K1;
EC7K1;CC9K4;CC9S

17

3. Includes
descriptions of
important studies
to provide context
for the reader.
4. Includes 5 or
more references.

2. Good use of
references, but
additional references
may have
strengthened the
paper.

2. Includes 3
references.

2. Includes less than

2 references.

3. Includes 4
references.

15 Points
1. Studies covering the
same topic synthesize
related research.
2. Described similar or
differing and detailed
themes throughout the
articles
3. Demonstrate
thoroughly how your
research and the data
collected supports

Studies covering
the same topic are
summarized and
integrated
level work.

Information is
presented study-bystudy rather than
summarized by topic.
2. Described similar
or differing themes
throughout the
articles which were
not detailed
3. Somewhat
emonstrated how

The literature review

is a mixed set of
ideas without a
particular focus.

The literature review

does not demonstrate
a particular focus and
lacks ideas based on
the subject chosen.
2. Described similar
or differing themes
throughout the
articles, however
they were not
detailed

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8

18

your stance on why

your healthy and
active school plan is
not only important for
hope and engagement
at your school and in
your community, but
ties to academic
success in your
classroom as well.

your research and the

data collected
supports your stance
on why your healthy
and active school
plan is not only
important for hope
and engagement at
your school and in
your community, but
ties to academic
success in your
classroom as well.

5 x 3=15 points
Practical Implications
and Technology
infusion
Practical Implications
(Discuss how the
findings can or will
later be applied to
your teaching setting)
InTASC 1c,k; 5k; 9f;
10h
NAEYC 6b
NETS-T 3a,d; 4a,c
CEC EC2S1; CC7K1;
EC7K1;CC9K4;CC9S
8

3. Did not
demonstrate how
your research and the
data collected
supports your stance
on why your healthy
and active school
plan is not only
important for hope
and engagement at
your school and in
your community, but
ties to academic
success in your
classroom as well.

30 Points
1. Practical
implications of your
event details including
your teaching level
and in a particular
setting are discussed
thoroughly. A
minimum of 6 topics
are applied.
2. Contains thorough
discussion on how
each of the 6
program/components
that are in place are
organized, conducted,
and overseen or a
detailed plan about
how each component
can be added.
3. All
programs/components
implemented include
discussion on
modifications for those
with disabilities.
4. Contained a detailed
description of a special
event that promotes a
healthy and active
school environment
5. Contained
discussion on a
specific health
behavior highlighted
by the special event
6. Specific target
grade level was
identified and was
appropriate for
students of that age
7. Contained
discussion on how to
involve the entire
school in the event

1. Pratical
implications are
discussed but not
related to a
particular teaching
setting or topic or
certain details are
missing.

1. Pratical
implications are
discussed but not at a
particularly level or
in a particular setting
and many details of
your event are
missing.
2. Contained at least
4-5 components of a
comprehensive
school program;
however, some of the
needed detail is
missing.
3. Contains thorough
discussion on how
most of the
program/component
that are in place are
organized,
conducted, and
overseen or a detailed
plan about how the
components can be
added.
4. Most
programs/component
s implemented
include discussion on
modifications for
those with
disabilities.
5. Contained a
somewhat detailed
description of a
special event that
promotes a healthy
and active school
environment
6. Contained some
discussion on a
specific health
behavior highlighted
by the event
7. Specific target

1. Practical
implications are not
thoroughly discussed
and only a few
details of the event
are present

1. Practical
implications are not
discussed and no
details of the event
are present.
2. Contained 3 or
fewer components of
a comprehensive
school program
3. Contains little
discussion on which
programs/component
s are currently in
place
4. Contains little
discussion on how
each
program/component
is organized,
conducted, and
overseen and little
detail about how the
components can be
added.
5. Few
programs/component
s implemented
include discussion on
modifications for
those with
disabilities.
6. Contained little
detail on a special
event that promotes a
healthy and active
school environment
7. Contained little
discussion on a
specific health
behavior highlighted
by the special event
8. Specific target
grade level was not
identified and/or not
appropriate for

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8. An approved
technology platform
was used to enhance
your signature
assignment

grade level was

somewhat identified
and was appropriate
for students of that
age

5 x 6=30 points

8. Contained some
discussion on how to
involve the entire
school in the event

students of that age

9. Contained little
discussion on how to
involve the entire
school in the event
9. Technology
infusion was not used
as a platform to
enhance your
signature assignment.

9. Technology
infusion was used but
it did not enhance
your signature
assignment
Conclusion
Conclusion
ITASC 1c,k; 5k; 9f;
10h
NAEYC 6b
NETS-T 3a,d; 4a,c
CEC EC2S1; CC7K1;
EC7K1;CC9K4;CC9S
8
Writing and
Referencing Style
First Draft of all
sections submitted
with changes made
integrating instructor
comments from the
outline

10 Points
Major issues support
and establish
conclusions.

The major issues

are summarized
under conclusions.

The conclusions are

not complete.

Provides opinions,
but not a summary of
findings.

No conclusions are
included.

Detailed draft of all

sections of the paper
with appropriate
content, headers,
writing style, a choice
of technology to
embed the assignment
and references in APA
6.0 style.

Detailed draft of
ALL sections with
some errors in
content covered,
headings, writing
style and/or
refernces in APA
6.0 style.

Detailed draft of
MOST sections with
some errors in
content covered,
headings, writing
style and/or refernces
in APA 6.0 style.

Missing sections or
paper has regular
errors across content
covered, headings,
writing style and/or
refernces in APA 6.0
style.

Incomplete (missing
half of the
requirements) or
completely missing
paper.

Integration of
instructor comments
from first draft

All comments from

instructor integrated
into final version. All
were highlighted in
yellow

Most comments
from instructor
integrated into
final version. All
were highlighted
in yellow

Some comments
from instructor
integrated into final
version. Most were
highlighted in yellow

Very few comments

from instructor
integrated into final
version. Most were
highlighted in yellow

No comments from
instructor integrated
into final version.
The changes were not
highlighted

Writing and
referencing style

1. Cover page
included, proper
spelling and grammar,
all references in APA
6.0 style. Paper was
appropriate length (at
least 5 pages)

1. Cover page
included, few
grammatical errors
and misspellings,
all references in
APA 6.0 style.

1. Cover page
included, some
grammatical errors
and misspellings,
some errors in
referencing style APA
6.0.

1. Cover page not

included, many
grammatical errors
and misspellings,
some errors in
referencing style APA
6.0.

1. Cover page not

included, major
grammatical errors
and misspellings,
many errors in
referencing style APA
6.0.

2. Paper was too

short for the topic (34 pages)

2. Paper was too

short for the topic (12 pages)

2. Paper was too

short for the topic (12 pages)

5 x 2=10 points

10 Points

2. The file document

name contains
Lastname.firstname.as
signment#.course#
3. This rubric was
added to the last page
of the document
submitted
4. All sentences are
clear and well
developed
5. Proposals and
events are appropriate

2. Paper was
appropriate length
(at least 5 pages)

3. The file name

somewhat contains
the
Lastname.firstname.a
ssignment#.course#

3. The file document

name does not
contain the
Lastname.firstname.a
ssignment#.course#

4. This rubric was

added but not at the
end of the document
submitted

4. This rubric was not

added to the
document submitted

5. Most sentences are

clear and well

5. Many sentences
are not clear and

Signature Assignment
length with standard
margins, font, and size
of text

20
developed

underdeveloped

6. Proposals and
events are mostly
appropriate length
with standard
margins, font, and
size of text

6. Proposals and
events are not of
appropriate length
with larger than
standard margins,
font and size of text