Week of 1/25/2016

Health: First Grade
In health this week, we learned about how germs spread, how we can prevent germs from spreading, and the importance of washing our hands.

PE:  SXI and ASD
Our SXI classroom continued to enjoy Tball, and worked on locomotor/manipulative skills individually selected based on student interest and skill level!  Our ASD classrooms practiced locomotor skills during our warm up, improve flexibility during stretches, game skills and kicking during kickball, and making active choices during choice time.

PE:  Young Fives, 1st, and 2nd Grades
Lower elementary students participated in an interval warm-up, and then reviewing the steps to the overhand throw (T, Muscle, Step, Throw).  Next, students reviewed the rules of the game "Clean Out Your Backyard" (Young fives and K) or "Guard the Pin" (1st and 2nd grades).  These games use the overhand throw, so students have practice using their skills in a dynamic setting.

Mrs. Strohl's class 

PE:  3rd through 5th Grades
After an interval warmup, upper elementary students continued work with paddles, learning the game of Pickleball!  Pickleball is very similar to tennis, but played with a short wooden paddle and a small wiffle ball.  In past weeks, we have learned how to strike the ball using the paddle, and this week, we are enjoyed a game with that skill.  Students had a brief introduction to basic, modified Pickleball rules, and then we played King/Queen of the court style.  One side of the court is the King or Queen.  The other side is the challenger.  If the challenger loses the point, they go to the back of the line and the next challenger tries to win a point.  If a challenger wins the point, they take the Queen/King's spot and the Queen/King goes to the end of the challenger line.  It's a fast moving way to have students enjoy using our nets and paddles safely, and allowing many chances to have contact with the ball.  Students of all ability levels enjoyed this game, and the friendly competition was quite exciting!

Fifth grade Pickleball setup.  King/Queen of the courts are on the right side.  Challengers are on the left.  

5th grade Kings/Queens =)

4th graders play Pickleball King/Queen of the court

Third graders

Third graders

Third graders

Third and fourth graders:  Ms. Hahn's class.

Fifth graders

Bam!  5th graders enjoying pickleball.

Mr. Carnegie's class

Week of 1/11/16

Lower Elementary:  Parachute!  
Lower elementary students are having their turn with the parachute this week!  And, needless to say, they are LOVING the parachute.  We start with introductory concepts (where to stand, how to hold the parachute safely, etc.), then practice how to inflate the parachute without it.  Then, it's time for the fun!  We shake the parachute - slow/fast, high/low.  We inflate it - making a big bubble up above our heads.  Depending on the grade level, we do different things - we might inflate it several more times, do color switching activities (under/around the parachute), shake the parachute with foam balls on top (popcorn), and go under the parachute after inflating (igloo).

Although the parachute is clearly AMAZINGLY AWESOME, we are working on many important concepts while we are having fun.  Movement concepts for lower elementary students during parachute include:

• sudden/sustained movements
• moving in unison = all together at the same time
• strong/light movements (use a large amount of force or a small amount)
• high/low, start/stop, slow/fast, big/small
• up/down, on/off, above/below

Many of these concepts are relationship-based, so they are hard to measure -- but certainly very important in daily life and in other subjects!!

Kindergarten enjoying the parachute!  

Young Fives

Upper Elementary:  Paddles
Upper elementary students are working with paddles.  For their first lesson this week, they use their hands as paddles.  They start with a ball at individual wall spaces.  Tasks include:

• hit the ball with one hand and catching it, then hit with the other hand
• try to continuously hit the ball against the wall at your wall space - see how many you can do without losing control of the ball
• try to hit the ball against the wall with one hand, then the other hand - alternating this way - see how many you can do without losing control
• try to hit the ball and hit the target 

Then, we gather near the dry erase board and go over rules for two square: 

• play starts with a bounce-serve
• ball must go over the center line
• one bounce only allowed
• after you hit it, the ball must bounce inside your opponent's square
• keep score: 
• one point scored if: 
• ball bounces twice
• ball lands out of bounds

Then we divide into pairs and play begins!  Time permitting, groups combine into groups of four and begin playing four square.  One fifth grade class asked to play four square indoors with playground balls, so for the last five minutes of class, we tried it.  

Fifth graders play two square with hand paddles

Fifth graders: four square

Four square with a playground ball

Fourth graders playing two square

For their second lesson, they use an actual paddle to strike the ball.  We have two types of paddles:  wood and plastic.  They are short, about 15" from the end of the handle to the tip of the paddle.  We use them in a variety of ways to improve eye-hand coordination, and also for striking skills.  Students are encouraged to try some or all of the following tasks:

• balance the ball on top of the paddle - knuckles up (forehand), fingers up (backhand)
• bounce the ball lightly up from the paddle (forehand and backhand trip)
• bounce the ball to the floor from the paddle

ASD and SXI Classrooms
In ASD PE classes, we have added two stretches to our routine.  The stretches happen after our warm up, which includes laps around the gym.  We do laps that include walking, running, galloping, skipping, and sideways slide-stepping.  Adding stretching to our routine helps with flexibility, and also helps prepare students for middle school PE, where stretching is often a part of every class.

SXI continues to enjoy playing t-ball, and working on activities and skills based on each individual student.  These activities and skills may include tracking an object with eyes, holding/pushing/pulling a ball or object, throwing an object, throwing at a target, or catching.

1st grade PE/Humanities - Health:  Medicines, Poisons & Tobacco
In health classes this week, first graders learned about staying safe from medicines and poisons.  We learned some rules:
Medicine:  

• only take medicine from a trusted adult
• never share medicine with another child
• never take more than a trusted adult says to take or gives you

Poisons:  

If you're not sure what something is, never sniff, swallow, taste, or play with it!  

We also learned about how smoking and tobacco use can damage our bodies, making our hearts work harder, and hurting our lungs and mouths.  Students learned what secondhand smoke is, and ways that they, as first graders can avoid secondhand smoke.  Ideas included: 

• move away from the person smoking
• go to another room
• go outside
• open a window
• keep bedroom door shut if someone in the house smokes
• respectfully ask the person to stop smoking

Family resource sheets were also sent home for these topics, as well as our Personal Safety unit.  We'll be learning about how to stay personally safe next week!  

Happy New Year!

 We've had a blast this past week with parachute in upper elementary.  (Next week will be lower elementary's turn!)  Lower elementary students continued working on the overhand throw in centers.  One center was throwing with me, where I worked with each individual student.  Other centers included hula hoop, bean bag toss, exercises, and bowling.

Ms. Caballeros and Ms. Cech's classes have been enjoying new visual schedules, and one new element to our routine:  stretches!  We've also continued working on striking skills with tball.  Ms. Addison's class continues to work on individualized activities for each student, along with bowling and tball, too!

First grade health classes finished our fire safety review booklets.  Students can feel free to finish coloring their work at home.  Have your student show you the booklet and tell you about fire safety!

First graders working on fire safety review booklets

Parachute version of sharks and minnows

Inflation!  

Big giant bubble, right in front of them!

Color switch:  students walk with the parachute, jog to the next spot of their same color when called

Shake it!  

Sharks and minnows

Popcorn!  

Week of 12/14

Y5-2:  Students will work on the overhand throw!  We work on four steps for throwing:

• T:  point to target, body shaped like a T, opposite hand pointing at target
• Muscle:  Bend arm with ball/beanbag up, showing your muscle
• Step:  Step with opposite foot, transferring weight from back to front
• Throw:  Let the ball/beanbag go, end pointing toward target

During our first class of the week, students are assessed before instruction on the overhand throw.  Then, we do instruction on the keywords -- with teacher demonstration, student practice without a beanbag, and then practice at individual mid-level targets with a beanbag.  I circulate during this practice time and give students feedback on their form.  I have them say the keywords while they're moving their bodies for each step of throwing.  This is to help them remember each step.  

Students then practice with a low target (a foam cylinder shaped pin).  Then we move to partners (throwing at two pins, trying to knock both down at once), and then larger groups as time permits.  

3rd-4th, and Carnegie (5th):  These classes experienced basketball dribbling last week, so they are moving on to do basic jump rope activities.  These activities are adapted from Landy and Landy, Ready to Use PE Activities for Grades 3-4.  Activities include: 

• Rope patterns: stretch rope along the floor for these activities  (speed jump rope)
• jump zig zag from one end to the other end, facing forward, sideways
• hop back and forth across your rope, move from end to end
• straddle your rope, and jump this way (one foot each side of the rope)
• jump straddle-cross, so your rope is between your feet each jump.  
• keep hands on the floor while you jump your feet back and forth, while you move along the rope.  
• what are other ways you can move on or over your rope?  

• Circle patterns:  (speed jump rope)
• make your rope into a circle
• make a tall statue inside your circle
• make yourself as small as you can, as big as you can
• make a bridge with X parts inside the circle, X parts outside the circle (tried several of these!)
• put your hand in the center of the circle, legs straight out.  Walk legs around your hand like a grinder (coffee grinder),  switching hands and directions after two times around. 
• leave your circle and do different locomotor patterns to the music.  When the music stops, find an open circle and listen for directions (make a statue, bridge, balance, do an exercise, etc.).  
• Shapes:  For these next activities, students switched to a beaded jump rope.  
• make a shape with your rope -- any shape - circle, triangle, rectangle, hexagon, pentagon, parallelogram, etc.  
• make letters and or numbers with your rope
• with a partner (or small group), make some new shapes.  you now have twice the rope to work with!  
• For our second lesson of the week, grades 3 and 4 start out with a brainstorm of shapes they could make with jump ropes.  Some ideas include:  a house, igloo, sailboat, sunshine, clouds, flower, name(s) in cursive, letters, numbers, words, Nike logo, Under Armor logo, mitten, New Hampshire (!!  a second grade student did this last week, unprompted!), any state....and more. :)  

5th graders enjoying our jump rope lesson

5th grade rope shapes

Michigan!   

5th graders:  GO BLUE!   

Fourth graders at work

4th graders transfer the Scream painting (below) to our gym floor

Fourth graders:  ice cream cone!

3rd and 4th graders make cupcakes!

3rd and 4th graders make cupcakes!

Weindorf/Schafer:  Basketball dribbling activities, or fitness testing as needed!  See previous posts for upper elementary basketball/fitness testing activities. 

First grade health:  This week, we learned how and why to call 911.  Then, we started a craftivity (craft + activity!) to review fire safety.  This craftivity will take several weeks to complete, and we'll send home the final products in January.   

SXI:  The SXI class continues to work on t-ball, bowling, and moving, moving, moving during our PE time.  We adapt tasks as needed to allow for maximum participation and success.  For example, we have a ramp to use for bowling.  Each student has different needs and abilities, and we aim to have all students having fun, moving, and learning!  

ASD:  Both ASD classes have similar PE routines.  Students walk around cones in the gym, and then participate in a locomotor skill warm-up (gallop, skip, sideways slide-step, and run).  During some classes, we practice throwing/kicking/catching.  Next, we play kickball or t-ball, followed by choice time.  We have a large therapy ball they enjoy, scooters, hula hoops, playground balls are some options during choice time.  In January, students will add some stretching activities following our locomotor skill warm-up.  These activities work on following directions, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, listening skills, taking turns, and basic locomotor/manipulative skills.  Basic locomotor and manipulative skills serve as the basis for all sports and activities.