B. Active Living / C. Movement Competence · Active Living and Movement: Fit, Safe and Game SmartSMART Fitness Goals: Assess, Plan, Track and Revise
B2 A1.3 A1.5 A1.6About 40 minutes
Learning goals- I can assess my health-related fitness and use the results to choose a goal.
- I can write a SMART fitness goal.
- I can track my progress on a graph and explain the changes I see.
- I can revise my plan when something isn't working, and explain how growing and changing can affect my results.
Words to know
assess
To check carefully how you are doing.
baseline
Your first result, used as a starting point to compare with later.
SMART goal
A goal that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.
monitor
To keep checking how you are doing over time.
revise
To change a plan to make it work better.
plateau
A time when your results stay the same for a while. It is normal.
growth spurt
A time when you grow quickly, often around puberty. It can change how your body moves for a while.
Remember from earlier grades
In Grade 4 you set a fitness goal, tested your baseline and tracked it. In Grade 5 you made a fitness profile of all four parts and planned with FITT. You learned that a plateau is normal.
This year you will write goals the way many athletes and coaches do, using SMART, track them on a line graph, and practise revising your plan. You'll also learn why a growing body can make results go up and down.
"I want to get fit"
That's a great wish. But how will you know when you've done it? What will you actually do? By when?
A wish becomes a goal when it is clear enough to plan and check. That's where SMART comes in.
| Letter | Stands for | Ask yourself | Example |
|---|
| S | Specific | Exactly what will I improve? | Skipping without stopping |
| M | Measurable | How will I count or time it? | Seconds of skipping, timed with a stopwatch |
| A | Achievable | Is it a realistic stretch for me? | From 60 s to 120 s, not to 30 minutes |
| R | Relevant | Why does it matter to me? | I want more energy for soccer |
| T | Time-bound | By when? | In 6 weeks |
Step 1: Assess and choose
Start with your fitness profile: do the four home tests the same way each time (a steady jog or skip for endurance, wall or knee push-ups for strength, a plank or wall sit for muscular endurance, the sit-and-reach for flexibility).
Then choose a goal that is meaningful to you. It could build on a strength ("I'm a good runner; I want to finish the 2 km fun run") or improve an area to grow ("My flexibility is my lowest score").
Remember: this is about you. Your results are private information to share only with people you choose, like your family and teacher.
Step 2: Plan with FITT
Use FITT and the training principles from the last lesson:
- Specificity: pick activities that train the part you chose.
- Progression: plan small steps each week.
- Rest: include easier days.
Step 3: Track it on a graph
Test every week and record the result. A line graph makes changes easy to see. Here is Ravi's skipping goal:
Step 4: Reflect and revise
Look at the graph and ask: Is my plan working?
- Going up steadily? Keep going. Maybe add a small step.
- A plateau? Normal. Keep at it, or change one FITT part (for example, add a day, or try intervals).
- Going down? Look for a reason: illness, poor sleep, a busy week, stress, or a growth spurt. One low result doesn't erase your progress.
- Way too easy? Make the goal more challenging.
- Way too hard, or causing pain? Make it more achievable, and tell a grown-up about any pain.
Revising a plan isn't failing. It's what smart athletes do.
Your growing body
Around Grades 5 to 8, many young people start puberty and may have growth spurts. This can affect fitness results:
- Arms and legs can get longer quickly, so movements may feel less coordinated for a while.
- Some results may jump up because you are bigger and stronger; others may dip for a time.
- Everyone starts and goes through puberty at a different time. That is one more reason to compare with yourself, not with classmates.
Your body is changing, and that's normal. Be patient with yourself.
Talk kindly to yourself
When a result dips, try: "That's one data point, not the whole story." When you reach a goal, celebrate, and notice what helped. That's information you can use for your next goal.
Riddle timeWhy did the line graph get invited to every party?
Because it was great at sharing its ups and downs! (Plateaus and dips are part of every real graph.)
Worked exampleLet's make a goal SMART
Tia writes: "I want to be stronger." Make it SMART. Her baseline is 6 knee push-ups with good form.
- Specific: Upper-body strength, measured with knee push-ups.
- Measurable: Number of knee push-ups with good form in a row.
- Achievable: From 6 to 12 is a realistic stretch over several weeks. (From 6 to 50 is not.)
- Relevant: She wants to climb the rock wall at the community centre.
- Time-bound: In 6 weeks.
- Plan (FITT): 3 days a week, 2 sets with good form, adding 1 push-up each week, rest days between.
"I will improve from 6 to 12 knee push-ups with good form in 6 weeks by practising 3 days a week, so I can climb the rock wall."
Worked exampleLet's read Ravi's graph
Use the line graph above. Results: W0 60, W1 75, W2 90, W3 90, W4 85, W5 110, W6 120 seconds. What happened, and did Ravi reach his goal?
- Weeks 0 to 2: went up steadily, 60 → 75 → 90.
- Week 3: stayed at 90, a plateau.
- Week 4: dipped to 85. Ravi noted he'd had a cold that week.
- Weeks 5 and 6: went back up to 110, then 120.
- Total improvement: 120 − 60 = 60 seconds, doubling his baseline.
Yes: Ravi reached 120 seconds in week 6. The plateau and the dip were normal, and he kept going.
Hands-on activityMy SMART goal project (4 to 6 weeks)
You need: a timer, a measuring tape or ruler (for sit-and-reach), graph paper or a notebook, and a pencil.
- Assess: Warm up, then do the four home tests. Record your baseline.
- Choose: Pick one part of fitness to work on. Is it a strength or an area to grow?
- Write your SMART goal and your FITT plan.
- Track: Test once a week, the same way each time. Plot each result on a line graph.
- Reflect each week: Write one sentence: "This week my result went ___ because ___."
- Revise once, if needed, and write what you changed and why.
- At the end, write what helped most and what your next goal will be.
Safety: Always warm up before testing. Use good form. Stop if anything hurts sharply.
Your turn
1What does SMART stand for?
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.
2Which SMART letter is missing? "I will run 2 km without stopping because I want to do the fun run."
T (Time-bound): there's no "by when." (Example fix: "by June 1".)
3Is "I want to be the best at everything" a SMART goal? Why or why not?
No. It isn't specific, measurable, achievable or time-bound.
4Why should you do a fitness test the same way every time?
So results are fair to compare. Changes will show real progress, not just a different way of testing.
5Your results stay the same for two weeks. What is this called? Is it normal?
A plateau. Yes, it's normal.
6Name two reasons a result might dip for one week.
Any two: illness, poor sleep, stress, a busy week, not warming up, a growth spurt, testing a different way.
7How can a growth spurt affect movement?
Arms and legs grow quickly, so movements may feel less coordinated for a while.
More practice: warm-up
Your first result, used as a starting point.
2What does the M in SMART stand for?
3What kind of graph shows changes over time well?
4Who should you compare your fitness results with?
Yourself (your earlier results).
To change a plan to make it work better.
More practice: on your own
1Make this goal SMART: "I want to be more flexible." Baseline: sit-and-reach 20 cm.
Example: "I will improve my sit-and-reach from 20 cm to 25 cm in 6 weeks by stretching after activity 4 days a week, so I can do better splits in dance." Look for all five parts.
2Plank results: 30, 35, 35, 35, 35 seconds over 5 weeks. What would you suggest?
There is a long plateau. Keep going but change one FITT part, for example add a day, or try a side plank or extra set. Check sleep and form too.
3Wall sit: baseline 25 s, week 6: 55 s. What is the improvement? Did the person reach a goal of 50 s?
30 seconds of improvement (55 − 25). Yes, 55 is more than the 50-second goal.
4Mo's goal is 20 push-ups in 2 weeks; baseline is 5. His arms hurt every day. What should he revise?
Make the goal more achievable: a smaller target (for example, 8 to 10) or a longer time (6 to 8 weeks), add rest days, check form, and tell a grown-up about the pain.
5Why is it a good idea to keep fitness results private unless you choose to share them?
Fitness is personal. Everyone grows and develops at different times, and results are about your own progress, not a competition with others.
Challenge
1Results for 6 weeks: 40, 46, 52, 52, 49, 58, 64 (W0 to W6). Describe the trend, find the total improvement, and suggest one reason for week 4.
Upward trend with a plateau at weeks 2 to 3 (52, 52) and a dip at week 4 (49). Total: 64 − 40 = 24. Week 4 might be illness, tiredness, stress or a growth spurt.
2Write a SMART goal that builds on a strength, and explain why goals that build on strengths can help motivation.
Example: "I'm a strong swimmer. I will swim 10 lengths without stopping (now 6) by the end of March by swimming at the community pool twice a week." Building on strengths uses something you enjoy and feel confident about, which helps you keep going.
3Two friends both start at 60 seconds of skipping. After 6 weeks, one reaches 120 s and the other 90 s. Does that mean the second friend failed? Explain.
No. The second friend improved by 30 seconds, which is real progress. People improve at different rates because of growth, sleep, experience, health and other life events. What matters is each person's progress compared with their own baseline.
Quiz
1. What does the A in SMART stand for?
3. Your results stay the same for two weeks. What should you do?
4. Who should you compare your fitness results with?
6. Why might a growth spurt change your results for a while?
Big idea: Grade 6 students assess their health-related fitness, set and work toward a personal fitness goal, monitor their progress and revise their plan. This lesson introduces SMART goals and line-graph tracking, and explains how growth and puberty can affect results.
How to help at home:
- Help your child time or count tests the same way each week.
- Ask "What helped?" and "What will you change?" rather than focusing only on the number.
- Keep results private and positive; avoid comparing siblings or friends.
Common difficulties:
- Goals that are too big. Help scale to a realistic stretch.
- Discouragement at plateaus or dips. Remind them one result is one data point.
- Graphing. Label weeks along the bottom and results up the side, with equal spacing.
Sensitive note: Some children are self-conscious about body changes. Keep the focus on what their body can do and how it feels, not on weight or appearance.
Social-emotional learning: Setting and revising goals builds perseverance (A1.3); celebrating personal progress supports a positive sense of identity (A1.5); reading graphs and revising plans builds critical thinking (A1.6).