What's happening in PE .... Week of Sept. 14th
I hope you will enjoy following my blog as I share snippets of activities we have done and skills we are working on. From time to time I will include some information on the importance of physical activity. Feel free to comment back to me.

Senior Kindergarten

Just who is this Physical Ed guy? Physical Ed is our imaginary friend who sends Mrs. Keily e-mails and letters to explain all the special things we learn in PE. For instance, Physical Ed wanted us to learn about the PE rules ( listen, raise your hand, be safe - make sure you have PE shoes, be kind and finally our special signal words - Green or Go to start and Freeze to stop). Physical Ed has helped us learn about personal space, general space and how to dodge. To practice these skills we played a game called " Chickens to the Rescue."

This week was a fun week as we were the "Very Hungary Caterpillars with our 3rd grade buddies. It was a get acquainted activity where the 3rd grade friends (also know as our Homecoming Fun Run Buddies) came to the gym and worked through a fun obstacle course with their SK buddy. The children balanced, crawled like caterpillars, scooted through the fruits and vegetable garden, tossed apples (well balls), traversed the climbing wall, spun a chrysalis ( spun in a hula hoop), spent time in the chrysalis (hid under the parachute) and then went through a small mat maze and through a tunnel to become a beautiful butterfly. It was great seeing the buddies working and having fun together!

Since the children are studying insects, I try and incorporate experiences in the gym that they are working on in the classroom. We started off talking about entomologist - and then the children went to work - matching insects as quick as they could. Wow - the children really paided attention to the details of the insects and were able to match them with ease! We then played a game where the children were either frogs or insects - their job was to uncover or cover the frogs and insects - lots of fun with lots of giggles as well.

1st and 2nd Grade
This past week we have been working on overhand and underhand throws as well as catching a ball. All three of these skills take lots of practice and I encourage you to play catch with your child at home. The key elements of the underhand throw are - tick - swing the throwing arm back, step - step with the opposite foot from the throwing hand and finally - throw - release the ball toward the intended target. The body should be facing the target during the whole throw.
For the overhand throw our key elements wereare; ready position - face target ball held in front of the body. Side to the target - turn sideways with throwing arm furthest from the target, elbow up - ball up near ear, step - with the opposite foot from the throwing arm , throw - follow through - on the release the throwing arm crosses the body toward the knee.

We have done a number of different practices and games that have worked on the skill. Many of the children can isolate the skill well, however once they put the skill into a game situation they struggle to remember the key elements - it will just take more practice! One of our favorite games this week was "Swamp Monster" where the children are trying to throw the balls over the swamp and have the children on the other side of the swamp catch the ball on one bounce or on the fly.

3rd and 4th Grade

Tennis is our present unit and will go through Tuesday next week. In 3rd grade our focus is on performing a drop hit. A good eye-hand coordination activity. We have also worked on the forehand. Tennis is a great lifetime activity, however, just like anything, it takes lots of practice to become proficient at it. I am seeing some good progress. It also helps that a number of children participate in tennis outside of school. They are good role models to demonstrate good skill and help out their peers.

Fourth graders continue to work on the drop hit, their main skill focus is on the forehand hit that is tossed to them over the net. Students are working to demonstrate and perform the forehand using the following key elements: ready position, side to the target, step, swing - low to high. Students are encouraged to work on a gentle touch to keep the ball in the court - not swing like they are hitting a baseball. It's fun to see their progress - and they are eager to play the real game. We will play some lead up games that continue to work on their skills.

General Info

• Running Club: An opportunity for students to come to the track on C days during recess to work on their running skills or just to come out and walk around the track with friends. Students that complete 20 laps earn a special toe tag to signify that they have completed 5 miles. Hope to see lots of kids out to run. It's a good way to improve cardio endurance!
• 3rd and 4th grade Assessments - be watching for our first assessment coming home in a Friday Folder. This year Mrs. Griffin and I are trying something new. We are asking the students to self-assess their skills and give us their opinion on where they are in their skill development. Then, Mrs. Griffin and I will follow up with our assessment and the children will be able to see where they are in their skill development from our view point. Hopefully this will encourage further practice at home.
• Homecoming Fun Run - Is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 30th during Homecoming Week. SK - 4th grade students will do our revised course while the new addition is being built. Watch the Electronic Friday Folder for more specific information next week. Come and support your Lower School Runners!