This month students learned 2 new country line dances and practiced juggling, balancing peacock feathers, spinning plates and the using the Diablo. One popular country line dance is the Cowboy/Cowgirl boogie. It is a 4 wall line dance that is easy to learn and fun to do and is a great exercise. Below is the 6th grade class doing the dance. We also started our Circus Arts unit where kids get to practice these skills such as juggling, balancing peacock feathers and spinning plates. Check out the video below of the first grade practicing these skills.
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4 years after Basketball was invented, William Morgan who worked about 8 miles North of Springfield, MA, invented Volleyball to appeal to older gentleman who had a hard time running up and down the basketball court. He originally called it Mintonett but it changed to Volleyball as it was a more appealing name. Here at Barton graded, students were introduced to the main types of hits used to pass and hit the ball over the net. The forearm pass and the overhead pass were two of the skills that were learned and practiced. The emphasis on the forearm pass was on utilizing the legs and the shrugging of the shoulders to control the force of the pass and not the swinging of the arms. Through practice, you could see that the passes were more under control. They also practiced 2 types of serves which was either the underhand serve or the overhand serve. However, the main emphasis during the unit was placed on the footwork needed to play this game. Trying to get the students to move their bodies so that the ball came down in between their shoulders was the goal from day one and at the end, you could see some of the students moving their bodies to get under the ball before performing the skill. That was great to see. All in all, the unit went fairly well and I look forward to picking up where we left off for next year.
IF you don't know but Basketball is very popular here at Barton Graded School. It has a special meaning to me as well as I went to Springfield College, the birthplace of Basketball. So the kids hear about its humble beginnings that started in Springfield, Ma in December of 1891. My main focus during the unit was to introduce the main elements used in the game such as Dribbling, Passing and Shooting and sprinkled in some other skills such as pivoting, offensive and defensive strategies that relate to other invasion games. I tried to give the students as many opportunities to practice these skills either independently or with partners and then some small games/competitions. The 5-8th graders finsihed the unit playing the Notre Dame Passing game which focuses on passing and getting the ball inside the key. This stresses the best way to move the ball and getting high percentage shots. Teams would get points if they were able to successfully get the ball in the key. Once they scored 3 points this way, on the 4th time, they would get to shoot from that spot to get an additional point.
The students came back to PE after our Holiday break learning about New Years Resolutions and what it meant. Students were asked what they though it meant and a lot of them came up with some accurate meanings. " a change", "setting goals", "starting something new", "stopping something", "a new start", etc... were some of the things students were saying. We then talked about some examples of what a New Years Resolution could be. I then explained that exercise was one of the most popular New Years Resolutions among people and how they wanted to get more exercise and to "get in shape". I then tied in that with our own PE class. We started our fitness unit and more importantly Circuit training which is a popular way for people to train and exercise as it maximizes time and efficiency, and it challenges the entire body. Within the Circuit training information, we covered the 5 fitness components, target heart rate, and the major muscle groups. During the circuit training, students were in partners and participated in a variety of stations that worked a certain part of the body and targeted one or more of the fitness components. After each class, we would talk specifically about the stations and what muscles they worked on and which stations made their heart work the hardest and which stations took the most strength and endurance. We also talked about which ones were the most enjoyable and the least enjoyable. Please enjoy the video and pictures of students doing circuit training and also checking their heart rate using our schools pulse bar determining if they are within their target heart rate..... PE at Barton Graded School this month was a juggling act. Between Christmas concert practices and other activities, students missed some quality PE time. However, we were able to do some pretty cool things this month. The lower grades practiced and played "How the Grinch stole Christmas, the Who's revenge"PE addition. They practiced the elements used in the game prior to playing and took turns being the Grinch, the Who's and Max the dog, in this highly intensive game. The goal is for the Who's to take back all the Christmas ornaments (the gator balls) and place them in the bag before the Grinch song ends. The Grinch's try to kick the hula hoops at the Who's. If the hoop hits the Who, they must drop the balls and go back to Whoville and start again. The Max's help the grinch by collecting the balls and bringing them back to the Grinch's cave. If the song ends and all the balls are back in Whoville, the Who's win. Watch the video below to see who wins this round. Our third unit of the 2015-2016 school year was Tchoukball. Tchoukball was invented in Switzerland by Hermann Brandt, a sociologist, in the 1970's. He invented the game because he was concerned by the numerous injuries that were happening among athletes from sports prone to aggression and physical contact. He believed that sports should not only form champions, but also contribute to the creation of a better and more humane society. He designed tchoukball to contain elements of handball (it is played with hands, and the balls used are similar), volleyball (as the defending team must prevent the ball from falling) and squash (since there is a bounce). Because of this, I added Tchoukball to our curriculum here at Barton Graded school 8 yrs ago. It was a tough sell because players may not defend the ball from person to person, they may only defend the ball off one of the rebounding nets. Watch the video below to get and idea of how to play. This video shows our 8th grade playing, officiating and scorekeeping as part of our culminating activity to end the unit. As you can see from the video, teams can throw at either of the rebounding nets as a way to try and have the ball hit the floor. The defending team has to try and catch the ball before it hits. IF they catch it, play continues, if not, point goes to the throwing team. Below is a nice video showing all the rules to this great game. One of my all time best PE games!!!! Our second unit of the year was Touch Rugby. Touch Rugby is a modified version of the real sport that teaches the main elements of Rugby while being safe for the students. (think flag football) In the beginning stages of the game, students really struggled with the concept of lateral and backwards passing as the only means of passing. So in order to get proficient in that area, we spent a great deal of time participating in drills that focused on those types of passes as well as attacking space and supporting the person with the ball. Being a non-traditional sport, here in the United States, it was great to see that many students across a broad range of physical skills started at the same point. Once we started doing some of the drills, many of the students would often get out in front of the ball looking to get passed to and the person with the ball actually trying to do it.....ILLEGAL forward pass was the result. Below is a video of 6th graders working on moving the ball up the field using lateral or backwards passing. With the younger grades, I used this simple drill where one player receives a backwards pass, runs forwards and then gives a backwards pass to the other side. Overall, the students did a great job with the unit and it was nice to see some of the students actually play a pick-up game during their recess time!!!
The first unit of the year was Omnikin ball. What a great PE game to help emphasize teamwork, cooperation, communication and other social responsibilities. This is a game in which one person has to rely on his or her teammates to be successful. One person can not do it alone. What a perfect PE game which was invented not to far from here. Thanks Canada for this great team game! This week, I am introducing our new Fit Step Pro pedometers to my 5-8th graders. These pedometers when programmed by the students will measure their MVPA(Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity) time. So we are spending some time learning more about MVPA and how increasing that time during the course of an activity period will improve their overall health. I am also introducing the 5 National PE standards that Vermont has just adopted as their State Standards. We spent a little time going over each one and how those standards will drive my instruction this year. We also talked about how simple games/ actvities that are done in class actually do touch on one or more of the 5 Standards. Today the students returned to BAGS after their summer vacation! I was greeted by a lot of smiling faces and some who look extra tired. It didn't take long to figure out who stayed late to watch the demolition derby at the Orleans County Fair the night before. All in all a great first day in which students got re-introduced to the 3 B's ( be respectful, be responsible and be safe) by our principal Mr. Partridge and Asst. Principal Mr. Schafer. I also took the time in my classes to go over the meanings and implications specifically to PE! I will continue to teach and emphasize early and often as the weeks pass by! |