Peer form check: a 30-minute squat and push-up lesson for 8th grade
What it is: an 8th grade PE lesson where partners coach each other on squat and push-up form with a short checklist instead of video. Students learn what good form looks like, practice giving specific feedback and build strength safely with body weight only. No one is filmed, so no images of students are recorded or shared.
Time: about 30 minutes. Grade: 8th grade (grades 6–8).
Materials: a checklist card for each pair. Squat cues: feet about shoulder-width apart, heels down, knees follow the toes, chest up, hips back. Push-up cues: hands under the shoulders, a straight line from head to heels (or knees), lower until the elbows bend to about a right angle, push up as one piece.
- Demonstrate each exercise slowly with one cue done wrong, and ask students to spot it.
- Partner A does 8 squats while Partner B watches from the side and checks each cue.
- Partner B gives one thing done well and one tip: "Your chest stayed up. Try keeping your heels down."
- Partner A does 8 more using the tip. Then switch roles.
- Repeat with push-ups at each student's level: wall, knees or full.
- Finish with 2 sets of 10 squats and 8 push-ups at each student's level, then stretch.
- Reflect: "Which cue made the biggest difference for you?"
Safety: body weight only, with no added weights and no max-rep tests; form comes before speed or reps; students stop if they feel pain in a joint or the lower back. Every session: warm up first, clear the space, keep water nearby, and stop if anything hurts or a student feels dizzy or unwell.
Differentiation: students who need support can do chair sit-to-stands and wall push-ups. Students with limited mobility can do seated push-ups on armrests or band pulls. Students who are ready can try a slow 3-second lowering. English learners can point to pictures on the checklist.
Quick check: ask a student to name two squat cues and show them.
For form cues and seated versions of each exercise, see the free UpOnly Learning PE exercise library.
Do you use video for form checks in PE, or keep phones out of it? Share how you handle privacy and feedback with your students.
Found this helpful? Get the week's best posts like it.
About this resource
- Shared by
- @UpOnlyLearning · Curriculum team
- Posted
- Oct 30, 2026
- Type
- Tip
- Grade
- Grades 6–8
- Subject
- Physical education
- Language
- English
- License
- Free for classroom, co-op and tutoring use. Please don't resell.