January Physical Education activities

This month we covered Basketball skills and fun games. The Basketball skills taught were: dribbling using the finger pads of the hand, double and single hand dribbling depending upon age and skill level, bounce and chest pass practice, shooting styles, and dribbling practice for short periods of time. Backyard game instruction in which the children can play at home with family and friends are: Around The World, 21, and Horse. We also played tag games in which children had to shoot a basket if tagged and they got the ball in the basket they got free as did everyone else in line and they got back into the game. The Pacer test for cardiovascular fitness was again administered. We administered this test in the Fall to get a baseline of performance for each child and determine class averages.. We then set a goal based upon a 12 % gain for this winter performance for all children. In the winter test we will again set a goal for a 13% goal and thus a 25% overall gain for the year ending in June. So far, all grades improved their overall class performance. Although not all children made a personal gain, it gives us something to work on for the final Spring score. Some children had a hard time understanding the concept of a goal and how to achieve a goal which is an important concept for us to work on for this last quarter, along with improved fitness. In the Kindergarten class we worked again on locomotor developmental skills and with these skills we have seen huge grade level improvements. Towards the end of this month we introduced pillo polo as a lead up skill to our floor hockey unit. We introduced the various ways in which to control a puck/ball, such as: carrying the puck, dribbling and stick handling. All three techniques will be carried on as we move to floor hockey skills. Overall, a terrific month in which children demonstrated improvements in their personal efforts to improve their own skill level.

My Video 2/13/13 at OneTrueMedia.com

K grade learns to practice their skipping skills with motivating music and a cardio workout. Results are in and skipping skills increased for 90% of the children 1 grade level.

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Pillo Polo Unit

Our kids are great! this is a lead up skill to our floor hockey unit. Keeping sticks down and learning the ways to control a ball/puck are essential. Regardless of their ability level, each child can find a level of success. We then challenge the children by the 2 staff being pirates to knowck away their balls/pucks. Other children will join us when we need more pirates! So much fun! Enjoy!

My Video 2/8/13 at OneTrueMedia.com

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Professional Lecture Series@Baker Elementary

Professional Lecture Series January 16th, 2013 6 to 7 Pm In the Baker Gym Sponsored by the Ezra H. Baker Elementary Innovation school Possible topics for discussion which could be your own questions or about some of the following topics: P.E at the elementary level and basic purpose Health concepts Goal setting and skill building P.E. Class structure, injuries, R&R etc. Sportsmanship issues Understanding self esteem and the emotions of games Testing and goal setting within P.E Special Education considerations Medical considerations in P.E.: asthma, brain injury, concussions, children in wheelchairs. Disability awareness in P.E. Learning strategies within P.E. Executive functions and academic relationships within the P.E setting The positive side in looking at BMI as a health tool. Please return this bottom portion by MONDAY Jan. 14th, if you plan on coming and list any particular discussion topics that would be of interest to you: Yes....NAME:________________________ Topics of Interest: Thank You and looking forward to our discussion: Robert Fantaroni Kevin Raudonaitis P.E Staff @ Ezra H. Baker

Physical Education in December

This has been such a fun month, with so many exciting events scheduled for the children. The focus this month in our P.E classes has been the assessment and skill development of teaching hula hoop skills. The ability to rotate and jump through a hula hoop repetitively, while learning how to integrate the 2 bounce hop in-between jumps is an important coordination skill. While many of the children have difficulty with learning this skill, it is amazing and rewarding personally, to observe their growth in performing this complicated lead up skill. The importance of learning this basic skill is that it reinforces their skill of practicing to learn something hard and to learn that with a practice “attitude” of patience that they can improve which, they so need in learning anything that is difficult. The basic 2 bounce skill is also important in learning to coordinate and control your body in space while using other body parts in a coordinated manner and also for advanced jump roping skills later on as we introduce jump roping later on in Jan and Feb. They also had opportunities for hula hoop exploration to practice other fun hoop movements. We also play tag games related to the hula hoop use which all of the children found to be fun and everyone could find a level of success in playing their “game strategy”. Towards the end of the month we got to play some holiday theme games and please ask your child about ice skating on Baker Pond and the “snowball fight” that we had, and just sit back and observe the smile that is on their face as they tell you about it and you will get a small sense of their joy that they had when they were actually throwing those snowballs. Happy holidays Mr. Fantaroni Mr. Raudonaitis

Executive Functions In PE?

The latest link (look to left on page) helps to explain the importance of this process in learning new motor patterns and thus hopefully helps in academics. Let's talk more about this important process and how we can maximize the opportunities for children to learn and grow. I know some things about this and can learn from a sharing of ideas, so lets talk! Give a call to the P.E staff and together we can help our kids develop this important cognitive skill. People suffering Brain injuries sustain a significant deficit in this area and it becomes more obvious as to just how important this cognitive process is to lead a normal and productive life.