1st Grade and K Health: Week of 12/1

First grade and kindergarten families, look for Family Resource Sheets in backpack mail later this week about our upcoming Nutrition unit!  We'll play with food models, talk about the major food groups, and why good nutrition is important.

Some quality nutrition resources include:

Choose My Plate  (Replaces MyPyramid)

For Kids:
CDC BAM!  (Body and Mind)
KidsHealth

2014 Detroit Turkey Trot

Why not start Thanksgiving morning super early with a little 6.2 mile run around downtown Detroit?  It was a beautiful morning for a run!!  

All Grades: Week of THANKSGIVING!!!

This **very short** week in PE, we participated in the Great Turkey Award.  The activity is essentially a color by number turkey, with each turkey feather corresponding to a number, color, AND an exercise.

Young Fives - 2nd graders do this in a structured centers format.  They rotate to stations, participating in each center for about 1 minute.  Then they color in the corresponding feather for that center, sit and point to the next center.  Rotate, and repeat. :)  Centers include:  butterfly stretch, push-ups or ABC strong soldiers, jump rope, jumping jacks, and run laps.

3rd - 5th graders experience a free flowing centers format.  They can move at their own pace, with a small group or individually if they choose.  Centers include:  sit and reach (practice for fitness testing), push-ups or ABC strong soldiers, sit-ups, jump rope forward and backward, run laps, and jumping jacks.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of the Haisley community!!

See the previous blog post about this activity.  :)

Upper Elementary: Week of 11/17/14

This week, 2nd-5th grade upper elementary students are working on five different center/station based activities.  This helps them learn or re-learn our centers expectations for Haisley PE. :)  Students are divided into approximately equal groups and work at a center until the whistle sound.  Then, grades 3-5 students "clean up and point".  This means they clean up/reset the center for the next group, point to their next center, and wait for my signal to rotate.  This procedure (for grades 3-5) is a little more concise compared to the lower elementary centers procedure, since these students are older and many have experienced these expectations for centers before.  Second graders, at this point in the school year, still follow the Y5-1st grade procedure for centers. :)

Centers this week include:
Jump Rope:  Students choose between beaded jump ropes to work on jumping, tricks, patterns, etc.  Jump rope tricks from past years are always posted in the gym, and students are encouraged to challenge themselves at this center.  Jumping rope is quite a cardiovascular workout!!

Bowling:  It's been a few weeks, but we remember our bowling unit.  :)  We used similar group member roles for this center, single-lane, bowling setup.

Hula Hoops:  Oh, how we love hula hoops.  Similar to the jump rope center, students can experiment with traditional hula hooping, or do some hula hoop activities from our hula hoop lessons.

Bounce Pass:  For this center, students chose between a playground ball or a basketball.  Standing on floor lines, they bounce pass to one another.

Pull-Up Bar:  Students have an opportunity to practice for the Flexed Arm Hang, one of our FitnessGram fitness tests.  Students are reminded that for the FAH test, grip must be overhand.  However, they can practice pull-ups or FAH procedure with underhand grip if they prefer for this center. :)

Below is a collage of station instructions (posted on the walls during directions and class), and one class in action.

Lower Elementary: Week of 11/17/14

This week, Y5-1st grade lower elementary students are working on four different center/station based activities.  This helps them learn the rules for centers in the PE setting. :)  Students are divided into approximately equal groups and work at a center until the whistle sound.  Then, students "clean up, sit, and point" at their center.  This means they clean up/reset the center for the next group, sit down with their group, and point to their next center -- and wait for my signal to rotate.  This procedure has worked so well for students, AND me.  When we do this, I know they've set up the station for the next group and that they know where they're moving to next.  It's also a great time for any last minute reminders.  :)

Centers this week include:
Jump Rope:  Students could choose between beaded jump ropes to work on jumping over the rope, or using a speed rope stretched on the floor for different creative movements.  We briefly reviewed last week's jump rope activities, too.

Bowling:  Remember our bowling unit?  :)  We used similar group member roles for this center, single-lane, bowling setup.

Hula Hoops:  Oh, hula hoops, how we've missed you.  Similar to the jump rope center, students can experiment with traditional hula hooping, or do some hula hoop activities from our hula hoop lessons.

Ball rolling:  For this center, students rolled a 6-7 pound medicine ball a short distance to a partner.   (Floor tape marks their positions on the floor.)  Students are in partners or a group of three, and the ball stays on the floor the entire time.  Work those pectorals and triceps!! :):)

Below is a collage of station instructions (posted on the walls during directions and class), and classes in action.

Lower Elementary: Week of 11/10/14

Lower elementary and young fives students continue to practice locomotor skills during our warm-up activities.  This week, after warm-up and stretch, we're working with jump ropes -- without picking them up and using them as actual jump ropes!!  There are many activities we do with ropes -- besides jumping!!

Here are some of the movements students were encouraged to try.  We used two different ropes:  speed ropes (made of a molded plastic material, all one piece) and beaded ropes (a rope with beaded sections.)

Speed ropes:  Stretch the rope flat in an approximately straight line.  

• Pretend the rope is a tightrope and walk along it.  
• Walk forward, backward, sideways along the rope.  
• Try to walk forward/backward/sideways with eyes closed. 
• Jump/hop side to side/front to back over the rope.  
• Jump/hop side to side/front to back while moving from one handle to the other handle.  
• Make a pattern of hops / jumps while moving from one handle to the next handle.  
• Make a bridge (with own body) over the rope.  Try to move the bridge from one end of the rope to the other end.  
• Keep hands on the floor and jump feet over the rope.  
• Leap over classmate's ropes (picture below).  Count how many leaps you do before "Freeze!"
• Try other ways of moving along the rope - including criss-cross walking, jumps/hops, etc.  I love to see what students come up with for these movement exploration lessons!!  

Beaded ropes:  Make the rope into a variety of shapes.  

• Begin with students working individually with their own rope.  
• Students are assigned a small group, 3-4 students.  They then work together to make shapes with ropes on the floor.  This helps with students' space awareness, and number/shape/letter recognition.  
• Each group begins with an index card with a shape, letter, or number on it.  They work together with their group to create the shape, letter, or number using ALL of their group's ropes.  
• When finished creating the shape/number/letter on the card, the group trades their card for a new card.   Index cards are velcro attached to the wall, so students can easily trade for a new card.  (Photo below of activity and index card set-up.)

Upper Elementary: Week of 11/10/14

For grades 3-5, this week we're participating in a Rock-Paper-Scissors warm up.  Ask your student to explain the rules of this quick, low-organization game.

Following warm-up, we practiced building structures (we called them castles) from hula hoops.  This was a small-group challenge, and is quite tricky!!  The structures play an important role in a game, where students work on teamwork, underhand rolling, cooperation, and have fun in a competition to see who can win the most points!!

Being prepared: Incentive program grades 1-5

Grades 1-5 have an incentive program to be prepared for PE class.  If the entire class is prepared for PE class, the class earns a star.  To earn a star, everyone in the class must have on appropriate gym shoes (rubber sole, covered toe, covered heel), and all jewelry (dangling earrings/necklaces/bracelets/watches most commonly) removed when class begins.

Once the class earns four weeks of stars, they earn a game day!  The game day is scheduled as it works for our PE schedule.  Classes sometimes have to wait to have their game day happen - but we record when the game day actually happens, and they continue earning stars toward their next game day each class.

For grades 1-2, the reward game is Guard the Pin.  Grades 3-5, the reward game is Pins and Baskets.  Gym setup and many of the basic rules are the same for both:  the gym is divided in half with cones.  The class is divided evenly into two teams.  Players may not cross the center line of the gym.  The goal of the game is to knock over the other team's pins.  First team to knock over the other team's pins wins that round.  Each pin can have one pin guard, who must stay standing and may not touch the pin to stop it from falling or hold it up.  Players may only roll or throw the ball -- no kicking or hitting the ball.

For Pins and Baskets, if a team makes a green $$money ball$$ basket on the center hoop only (without crossing the center line), they can reset all of their team's pins.

Many ask:  isn't this just dodgeball?!?!?  No, it isn't.  We don't ever play dodgeball or games where humans are targets.  Students are aiming at the pins, and pin guards are only volunteers.  I explain to students that the best success I've had (and I've played this game A LOT) is with rolling the ball and knocking it against the back wall to hit the pins.  :)

Most students seem to love this game, and I enjoy participating with students when I can.  This game also works on overhand throwing, rolling, and space awareness.  For first graders, this is one of the first games we do following "Clean Out Your Backyard" (which they LOVE!!!).

A third grade class enjoys a game of Pins and Baskets