January Newsletter

Dear Families,

We welcome your son/daughter back to Physical Education class, and we wish you all a Happy New Year!  Before we went on the holidays, the upper grades completed a unit on basketball, and the lower grades finished a gymnastics unit. The focus of the  Basketball unit  included passing, dribbling and shooting. The students excelled at these skills as well as building eye-hand coordination, working together and learning lifelong skills. The lower grades enjoyed learning a wide-variety of gymnastic skills such as: tumbling, balancing and stunts! Classes were combined in the big gym where your son/daughter explored challenging gymnastics stations. For the culminating activity, students created a routine based on skills they had been working on throughout the unit. It was exciting to see their creativity and personalities shine through!

Beginning this month we will start a kicking and trapping unit for the lower grades while the upper grades begin a juggling unit.

Lower grades (K-2) will be focusing on the development of foot-striking skills such as dribbling, passing and kicking a ball. Students will learn how to pass, trap and control a ball in different ways. The physical skill is important along with the student having time to learn through exploration, experimentation, cooperating with others and having fun. This unit is a great way for students to develop fundamental skills which could be used during future sports that include soccer and football as well as kickball.

Upper grades (3-5) will be exploring a variety of juggling activities. Juggling is part art and part science. It is a challenging activity which offers both physical and mental benefits. In fact, studies have shown that learning to juggle can produce changes in the structure of the brain. There are many other benefits including: stress relief, focus retention, coordination, entertainment, and improved learning. During the unit students will learn to juggle one, two and three bean bags, scarves, rings and also explore other forms including: devil sticks, peacock feathers and stilts. The culminating event will have students choose a juggling skill and develop a routine which they will perform in front of their peers.

Thank you for your continued support!

In health,

Emmanuel Riby-Williams and Marie “MJ” Jennings

Peacock Feather Balancing!