K-5 Overview for February
February is Heart Health month and much of our activity time will be dedicated to heart healthy movement and games. Another important area that will be a big focus this month and into March is game behavior and conflict management in student directed games. In PE, students have been taught and continue to practice ways use to settle disagreements with constructive talk and also use rock - paper - scissors game. Recess games that will be revisited include: Hopscotch, Tetherball, Four Square, and Ball Wall games. Please visit my Fusion Page and look for the File "Recess Games" for specific rules. Two new games we will be introducing in upper grades over the next few weeks are Speedminton and Spikeball.
In addition, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grades also begin outdoor hockey, lacrosse, and track and field activities, and square dancing.
5th Grade students have completed their pre-test for the California Fitness Test and will soon identify and write their goals for the State Mandated Fitness test to be held in the beginning of April. Parents please look for an email in the next week regarding the fitness test, test dates, and goal setting assignment.
Every Day of the Week Homework: Encourage your child to play at least 60 minutes EVERY day!
Activities and Learning Experiences from the Past Few Months
Kindergarteners:
We have worked on hard on basic loco-motor skills (skipping, hopping, jumping, leaping) and motor skills of hand dribbling, catching a self-tossed and partner-tossed ball of various sizes, and utilizing the concepts of self-space, general-space and moving into open spaces when playing various games. Another skill we have explored is that of striking as in hockey in PE we start with foam noodles and have focused our learning on proper hand position on the stick and hand grip. The ancient game of Chinese Jump Rope was introduced the week prior to Chinese New Years to the Kindergarteners and the whole school. This is a great game to play at home! See look for the file on the PE Fusion page as to how we played in class. Prior to the holidays all classes were taught and performed a version of the Hora.
1st and 2nd Grades:
Jumping patterns, Jump Rope, and Chinese Jump Ropes, Indoor Hockey, Bowling, Playground Games, Creative Dance, Throwing and Catching, Soccer Dribbling, and Dribbling as in Basketball, and Heart Healthy games.
In 1st grade we have been working on the jumping patterns of jumping from one foot to a two foot landing, taking off from two feet and landing on one foot and jumping a self-turned rope. 
Games we have played include traditional hopscotch, jump rope, and Chinese Jump Rope. Some of the teaching cues we use for mastering a self turned jumprope are: Turn, Hit, Jump. The sequence is: turning the rope; waiting for the rope to hit the ground; then jumping over the rope. If your child is having trouble with this concept have them practice by turning the rope, toping it on the floor in front of their feet, and then jumping over the rope. We have also worked the concepts of aerobic activity utilizing continuous tag type games. Throughout the year we will continue to work on loco-motor skills and aerobic conditioning and concepts related to wellness.
