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Movement Update - from Ms. Karen (karenr@willowwind.org)
I hope you and your child are
getting outside to enjoy being physically active in this great spring weather.
The current units in PE are building physical skills for your child to enjoy
being outdoors. We continued work on Frisbee skills, fitness and softball
skills. We will finish our spring with track and field, outdoor adventure
activities, cooperative games and their favorites.
Did you hear about Disc Golf in PE?
They all practiced throwing a Frisbee forehand. Upper grades
tried throwing backhand also. Targets were set up to practice and improve
their accuracy. To apply their new skills, I introduced students to the game of
Disc Golf. Students completed a course I had set up for them. They
loved to Tee Off and putt to get their Frisbee in the target hoop. The rules
are simple and very similar to golf.
Disc Golf is an awesome family recreation activity. There are
several local courses in the area. They are at Sugar Bottom
and Coralville Reservoir Dam in Coralville, and the Peninsula area in Iowa
City. All you need are your own Frisbees, one for each
player, and get ready to have some family fun!
I look forward to introducing
students to the great outdoor adventure activity of Geocaching. It’s one giant
treasure hunt with a GPS. We will create our own fitness caches in Willowwind’s
play space. I will encourage students to get their family involved in a
geocache hunt. There are a few websites to get you started. A good website with
introductory videos and maps is www.geocaching.com. What a great activity to enjoy getting
physically active outdoors.
Speaking of family fun; it's time
to do the Twist! In PE class, most students participated in the game of
Twister. Students have been exploring
how to bend and stretch different body parts. They have been challenged to
stretch and bend in many different directions, with different numbers of body
parts and in as many different ways as possible. All this bending and
stretching draws students' attention to their muscle movements. When muscles
can stretch, the muscle can allow different body parts to move through their
full range of motion. We call that muscle flexibility.
Flexibility is an important component of being physically fit. Our older student population is testing their hamstring flexibility with a V-Sit stretch. They measure how far they can reach through their legs in a V position, with knees straight and hands stacked on top of each other. When it becomes obvious that a muscle is tight, we can work to stretch out these tight places. Discovering where a student needs to increase flexibility helps maintain their healthy body throughout their lives. Inflexibility is a common cause of back and shoulder pain in adults.
In PE class, we have learned that stretching after the body is warm is when flexibility can be increased. Stretching is commonly used in a warm up in preparation for movement, but really long periods of stretching is better left for the end of activity time to be effective in increasing flexibility.
Flexibility is an important component of being physically fit. Our older student population is testing their hamstring flexibility with a V-Sit stretch. They measure how far they can reach through their legs in a V position, with knees straight and hands stacked on top of each other. When it becomes obvious that a muscle is tight, we can work to stretch out these tight places. Discovering where a student needs to increase flexibility helps maintain their healthy body throughout their lives. Inflexibility is a common cause of back and shoulder pain in adults.
In PE class, we have learned that stretching after the body is warm is when flexibility can be increased. Stretching is commonly used in a warm up in preparation for movement, but really long periods of stretching is better left for the end of activity time to be effective in increasing flexibility.
Our overall goal in PE is for
your child to develop the knowledge, abilities and commitment needed to live
and promote a healthy, active lifestyle. Students are becoming “physically
literate” in PE. This is a term used in the new National Standards for Physical
Education. Physically literate students will be able to move with confidence
and competence in a variety of environment. These National PE standards are
available to view at www.shapeamerica.org. Students’
progress in PE will be evaluated at the end of the school year against these
standards, so you are encouraged to check them out.
Spanish is the perfect time to practice GRIT on a regular basis. It takes a lot of time and effort to learn a new language. As a class, the kindergartners are eager to learn Spanish and have no fear in trying to sing new songs and pronounce new words. They joyfully sing our class songs, and learn a lot in the process. They are learning to pronounce words (three times) after me, and do so even with the accent! As a class, they are working on listening to instructions the first time and listening to one another without interrupting. I look forward to seeing more spring growth! Ask them to teach you the game “Cuatro Rincones” at home...and see if they can teach you to play it in Spanish!
Art Update - from Mr. Ryan
** Coming soon. **
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