Generic Core PE Sample Plenary Questions

Below are some sample plenary questions to assess aspects of the Meaningful PE research (Fletcher, Beni, Ni Chroinin and Gleddie. 2021).

Considering student-student and teacher-student relationships to create a sense of community and opportunities to be developed.

How did you contribute towards a shared goal today?
Who helped you in today’s lesson? How?
How did you support others in today’s lesson?
How did you contribute towards your team today?
How did it feel working with others in the lesson today?
How might today’s activities have been different if you were working alone?
How did your teacher support your learning in today’s lesson?
Name 3 positive qualities, important in PE that a peer demonstrated today.
What are you grateful to your teacher for following today’s lesson?
How effectively did you communicate with others today?
Who are you thankful for from today’s lesson? Why?
How did this lesson support you making/developing a friendship?
If you could provide a peer with some constructive feedback from today’s lesson, what would you say?
Do you feel valued within your team?
What is the best thing you saw someone else in the class do today?
How effective was your communication today? How do you know?
Who listened to you today and how did it feel to be heard?
If you could re-do that activity, how might you change your role?
If you could describe the role you played in your team today, what would it be?
How would you describe the unity that existed between your team?
Who did you work well with today? Why?
How did you create an inclusive environment today?
How did your teacher ensure everyone was included in the lesson?

Motor Competence

Questions considering student perception of ability in physical, social and cognitive domains.

What were the teaching points from today’s lesson?
What did you learn today?
Do you feel you achieved the learning objectives from the lesson? How?
What do you know now that you didn’t before the lesson?
What can you show now that you couldn’t before the lesson?
What improvements have you made to your performance in this lesson?
What skills have you developed in the lesson today?
How might you look to build on the skills developed in this lesson?
How confident do you feel in this activity as a result of this lesson?
How would you rate your performance in this lesson?
How could you improve your performance in the future?
Is there anything you still do not understand?
If you could explain the teaching points of this lesson to a beginner, how might you do it?
Using no words, demonstrate the teaching points to a partner.
How confident do you feel performing the learning in a conditioned game/performance?
What did you find difficult about the learning today?
How did working with others improve/impact your performance?
If you were the coach, how would you teach the skill?
What did you find hardest about the learning today? Why?
Can you explain how the skills might be used in a game/performance?
What was the most important thing you learnt today? Why?
Thinking about your assessment, where would you place yourself now? Why?
Thinking about your assessment, what might you do next time to progress further?
If you could rate your competence levels in this activity out of 10, what would you give yourself? Why?

Fun

Questions considering levels of enjoyment in the lesson.

What did you enjoy most about this lesson? Why?
What did you enjoy least about this lesson? Why?
If you could change the tasks to make them more enjoyable, how might you change them?
If you could rate this lesson out of 10 for how much fun you had, what rating would you give it and why?
What did you enjoy about working on your own today?
How did working with others impact your enjoyment?
How did your confidence levels in this activity impact your enjoyment?
If you could advertise why and how this lesson was fun to others, what would you say?
How did you contribute to the enjoyment of others?
Who did you enjoy working with today? Why?
How important is fun within PE for you? Why?
What did you enjoy about the game/performance?
How did you show you were having fun in the lesson today?
Who had the most fun in the lesson today? How do you know?
What different ways was fun demonstrated by different members of the class today?
How might others know when you are enjoying the lesson?
How did your enjoyment of the lesson impact your learning?
How did your enjoyment of the lesson impact your engagement and behaviour today?
If you change your role in the lesson today to make it more enjoyable, what might you do differently?
Based on this lesson, how excited are you for the next PE lesson?
How might you improve your own enjoyment in PE?
What did you find most interesting/engaging in this lesson? Why?
What feedback might you give your teacher to do to make the lesson enjoyable in the future?
What made you smile in the lesson today?
What will you remember about the lesson today?

‘Just Right’ Challenge

Questions considering how easy or hard the students found the learning/activities.

What did you find easiest in this lesson? Why?
What did you find challenging in this lesson? Why?
If you could change one activity to make it easier, what would you do?
If you could change one activity to make it harder, what would you do?
How did the level of challenge impact your enjoyment?
How did the level of challenge impact your engagement/behaviour?
How confident do you feel now following this lesson?
Who found this lesson the easiest? Why?
What rules could you add to make the lesson harder?
What is your greatest achievement from the lesson?
Is there anything you struggled to understand at first?
Is there something you still don’t understand?
How would others describe your performance today?
Describe a time in the lesson that you felt most confident.
Describe a moment in the lesson that you felt least confident.
What were you best at today?
What helped you perform to your best?
Provide a peer with feedback on how they might challenge you further.
Provide a peer with feedback on how they might support you more in the future.
What was the best decision you made today? Why?
What moment in the lesson would you make a different decision? Why? What new decision would you make?
How would you rate the level of challenge in this lesson? Too Easy, Easy, Just right, Challenging, Too Challenging. Why?
Where did you require more support in this lesson?
What different roles did you perform in today’s lesson?

Personally Relevant Learning

Questions considering if students understood the importance of why the learning was important and how it might benefit their wider lives.

How can you take the learning from this lesson into future lessons?
Describe how the learning gained in this lesson might help you outside of school?
What have you learnt about yourself in this lesson?
What have you learnt about others in this lesson?
When did you feel outside your comfort zone in this lesson?
Why is the learning from the lesson so important in PE?
Why is the learning from the lesson so important to your wider life?
What is the most important thing you will take away from this lesson?
Where else could you apply your learning from today’s lesson?
Where might the learning from today’s lesson help you elsewhere in school?
How did you apply the skills previously learnt to this lesson?
How did you grow as a person because of this lesson?
What other sports might today’s learning be applied to?
How did the learning from today’s lesson improve your performance?
If you could change the lesson to make it more relevant to your interests, what would you change?
What learning did you bring from other activities to support you in this lesson?
What knowledge did you find useful to know in this lesson?
What skills did you find most beneficial to your progress in this lesson?
Would you consider this a successful lesson? Why?
What skills did you observe in others that you would like to learn yourself? Who? What? Where?
What is the connection between the learning from today’s lesson to something you have learnt previously in PE?
What learning from this lesson can you apply to another subject?
Where are you on your learning journey in PE?
What is a non-example (the opposite) of the learning gained today in PE?

Delight

Questions considering long lasting intrinsic satisfaction leading to habit formation.

How do you feel following this lesson?
How has this lesson impacted your mood?
Where might you look to engage in this activity outside of PE?
What could you do to improve your competence in this activity outside of PE?
What could you do to improve your confidence in this activity outside of PE?
How has this lesson (and PE) supported you in your wider life?
How active were you in this lesson?
How active would you be without your PE lessons?
How has this lesson impacted your physical health?
How has this lesson impacted your mental health?
How has this lesson impacted your social health?
What habits might you take from this lesson (and PE) and apply to your wider life?
What was your main motivation in this lesson?
How might this lesson impact your motivation to be physically active outside of PE?
What are your attitudes towards PE?
What are your reasons for engaging with physical activity?
Did anything put you off being physically active in the lesson today?
What did you enjoy more, moving on your own or with others? Why?
What parts of this activity could you apply to the activity you enjoy doing outside of PE most?
How much ownership did you take towards your learning in today’s lesson?
How might you take more ownership of your learning in future?
What other opportunities are there to engage with this activity outside of PE?
Where in your local community could you engage in this activity?
Who is your role model in the class? Why?
When are you at your best in PE? When were you at your best today?