Gymnastics, Throwing, and More!

The Pk children really had a fun time this week in the gym. We had the children do 2 stations: the balance beam and the floor mat. Everyone was so brave and went across the blue balance beam. Some children went across by themselves, and some needed a hand. of course when they jumped off the end, they landed on their feet on the big red mat. On our floor mat, the children worked on rolling, jumping, climbing, hopping, and moving in lots of other fun ways. They love to do a pencil roll down the incline mats. They work very hard at being straight with their entire body. I think gymnastics is probably one of the favorite things the PK children do in Physical Education.
The first and second graders finished up their throwing and catching units last week. We did a couple days of stations, and a couple days of big games so I could assess the children on their throwing and catching. The children were also assessed on their push-ups. First graders needed to show me 3 straight, strong push-ups, and second graders needed to show me 5. We will continue to work on our form and strength throughout the year. The second graders practiced and were tested on their PACER run last week. They did an excellent job of performing the test correctly, and working hard to reach their goal of 10 laps. We will probably test this again in the spring and see if the children can make it to 15 laps.
The third and fourth graders finished up a gymnastics unit last week, although we will return to gymnastics after skating. The 3rd graders memorized and performed a floor routine with many skills that they have been working on including handstands, cartwheels, forward and backward rolls, a Swedish fall, and much more. When we return to gymnastics, the children will be focusing more on the bars, beam, and vault. The fourth graders created their own beam routines. They had to create an original routine with a mount, a dismount, a turn, 2 balances, and forward and backward locomotor movements. Some of the children took some nice risks, trying round-offs off the beam for their dismount and some pretty difficult balances. I was impressed. The children have been working hard on doing back hip pullovers on the bars as they know I will assess them when we return to gymnastics. The children really enjoys this unit and challenge themselves to try new stunts and skills.
The third and fourth graders have had one day of skating. I am happy to report that the children came with the items needed, and no one forgot we had skating. Yeah! There are a lot of different ability levels, so Mrs. Herbst and I will try to keep everyone challenged and involved. I like to play a lot of games where children are having fun and they don't even realize they are working on their skills.
Hope to see you at Show and Share Night this Thursday. Mrs. Keily and I will be in the Lincoln Center.