
Monday, February 22, 2010
PE and Math

Friday, January 8, 2010
Frogs and Ants
Ants are a social insects with thriving colonies built upon cooperation and teamwork. Our cooperative game, "Frogs and Ants," stresses these principles.

Three players are chosen to be frogs. Frogs chase the ants and if they tag one, the ant becomes frozen. The frozen ant can be unfrozen with the help of the colony. Four ants are needed to carefully carry the frozen ant over to the ant hill (a mat). Ants that are helping another ant are safe and cannot be tagged by a frog.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
BRRRRRRR!
We started the new year off in a chilly fashion with highs only in the 40s. Thankfully, we were scheduled to be the gym for the month of January and took full advantage of the shelter and warmth.
Today, we played an interdisciplinary cooperative game that required students to use not only their quickness and endurance, but also cognitive skills and teamwork.
Piles and piles of beanbags labeled with numbers from 1 to 5 were placed in the center of the gym. The object of the game was to use the numbers on the beanbags to form the given sum for that round. Each player on a team took a turn racing to the middle to grab a beanbag. Communication and mental math became more important as additional beanbags were returned home.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Sportsmanship Awards for September
This month the Lower Division PE team would like to recognize Taylor M. and Mitchell S. for their outstanding sportsmanship. Both of them will be featured in Ebytes and will receive an award at the upcoming Town Meeting.

We asked both of them what sportsmanship meant to them and here is what they had to say:

"I think that sportsmanship is about being nice and telling your teammates that they're doing well. Even if they make a mistake you should always count on them. If you have bad sportsmanship you might get kicked off of your team. So it is always important to have good sportsmanship. Don't ever let your teammates down." - Taylor M.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Does a bunny hop or jump?

In August, the students in the junior kindergarten classes were assessed on their ability to jump and hop. The difference between the two was demonstrated and then each student was asked to hop and then jump in a straight line for a distance of six yards. This week we will be revisiting these two skills using Poly Spots and "hot lava" as motivation. So what do you think, does a bunny jump or hop?
Hey Batter, Batter!
This week students will be working on batting skills. From the get-go it was made clear to me by a number of students that they could hit a tossed ball and didn't need a tee. I assured them that the tee was not an indication of my lack of confidence in them, but rather a way to facilitate a more efficient class. Once they understood that using the tee would mean more chances to hit, their dissatisfaction disappeared.

Friday, September 18, 2009
The Rays may be done, but we're just getting started.
For the past two weeks, I have been working on catching and throwing with our LD students. What may seem natural and easy to us, can be very challenging to a beginner. Breaking down the process into progressions and adding learning cues helps to link cognitive and psychomotor objectives, which in turn strengthens skill acquisition. For example, having students write their name in the air helps them to easily recognize which hand is their dominant hand, and the letter "L" gives students a familiar shape to mimic when positioning the throwing arm. Progressions begin with students throwing into open space while experimenting with throwing the ball high and low. Corrective and positive feedback is given with special attention placed on correct foot placement and beginning arm position.
Catching with a glove is a student favorite. There is something very appealing about putting a leather monstrosity on your hand and trying to snag a ball out of the air. The first step may seem silly, but many students instinctively put the glove on their throwing hand, after all that is the hand they are most comfortable catching with too. Modeling catching the ball with the wrong hand and then having to take the glove off to throw is powerful in explaining why we catch with our non-dominant hand. The "web" or "pocket" of the glove is highlighted because of its importance and is likened to a Venus Flytrap. The students love to imagine that the ball is a bug and their hungry glove is just waiting to devour it the second it touches the pouch.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)