The authors describe the types of involvement shown by moderately mentally retarded students in physical education classes. A systematic observation was conducted of 29 students chosen randomly from among five groups with limited enrollment (special education). The behaviors were classified according to four levels of participation: deviant, inconsistent, applied, enthusiastic. The results show that these students spend almost half of the time allotted waiting without being allowed to participate in an activity. However, these subjects generally show high levels of applied participation in those tasks proposed by the teacher.