Hello Families,

Last week we started our unit on Throwing and Catching. Beginning in Kinder, we are looking for students to be able to throw underhand with the opposite foot forward and catch a self tossed ball before it bounces twice. We start by teaching the skills of rolling and then moving into underhand throwing. By third grade, we are looking for students to demonstrate key elements of throwing, both underhand and overhand, with a partner with accuracy. We also want students to be able to catch a large, soft ball, without trapping it against their bodies. By 5th grade, we want students to be able to show the key elements of throwing and catching while moving during game play and activities.

We will be practicing throwing and catching through stations and some of the students' favorite games... Oscar the Grouch and Star Wars. In Oscar the Grouch, students get to take turns pretending to be "Oscar" by hiding inside of one of large blue mats that we stand up to make a trash can. Students outside the mat throw the "trash" (Gatorballs) inside the mats, and the Oscars throw the "trash" back out. In the game of Star Wars, we divide the gym in half and line up "Space Ships" (cones with frisbees on top) on opposite sides of the gym. Each side of the gym tries to knock down the space ships on the opposite side without crossing the invisible force field. Students can also take turns defending the space ships. Students love this game, and we play several times a year.

We have also begun our health unit on The Zones of Self Regulation. For our younger grades, we teach the color zones and which emotions fit in each zone. The color zones are Green: focused, happy, calm, and ready to go, Yellow: your body is starting to move faster... you might be worried, excited, silly, surprised, anxious, confused, Blue: your body is moving slowly... you might be sick, bored, tired, or sad, and Red: you have lost control... extreme anger, sadness, fear, or even elation.

We teach students that it is ok to feel all emotions, but their bodies are going to be healthiest in the green zone, and they will learn the best in the green zone. We talk about trying to get our bodies back to the green zone with deep breathing, rest, talking with someone or removing ourselves from situations when we feel like we have lost control. Our older students are able to name and share their own strategies for helping them get back to the green zone. We have students partner up and pair share ideas for getting back to the green zone. Each year, I am so proud of the level of engagement and of ideas that students come up with to share out.

Please continue to email us or reach out to let us know if your student needs to sit out during PE. We want to encourage 100% participation each day, but we also understand that injuries can happen. If your kiddo is hurt and needs to sit out, please let us know. Thank you to those of you who have sent doctors' notes. They are very helpful in guiding us on when your student can participate again :)

Holiday Lights!

Thank you to families who have already reached out about sending in holiday lights for our Family Fun Run. We are already collecting and brainstorming ideas on how to best string them up. If you have holiday lights to donate, they are welcome anytime. Thank you again for thinking of us and helping make the Family Fun Holiday Light Run (not sure of a name yet, but this might work) a success.

Thank you,

The PE Team

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