Week of June 3-7

Now that we can have P.E. outside, kickball has been a great team activity to show powerful kicking, fast running and accurate throwing. Modified Wiffle ball and Lightning ball have been successful striking activities inside as well.

Week of May 20-24

Playday is around the corner. We will be ready to show good sportsmanship in all of our class activities! Let's hope the weather is cool and comfortable.

Weeks of May 6-10

The cold, rainy spring has forced us to begin our Track and Field unit inside with the biathlon and javelin throw leading the way. As soon as possible, we will go outside for a 50 yd dash test, throwing for distance test and hurdle running. Please help your child perform their best in P.E. by wearing athletic shoes. For safety reasons, students who wear flips flops will not allowed to participate in class activities. Playday is Friday, May 24th!!! Look for more information coming!

Weeks of April 3-12

FITNESS is our FOCUS......during Fitness Testing time. Students in grades 3-4-5 have completed the 4 areas of the Carroll County Fitness Test. Ask your child how they performed against the county standards in the pacer test, the curl up test, the push up test and the flexibility tests. These performances are used to determine awards at the end of the school year. We also look for trends in fitness levels to plan student and class activities. Students in grades K-1-2 have been participating in small group fitness games such as Fitness Skillastics and Fitness Fun Cards. 2nd graders are looking very ready for the 3rd grade testing year!!

Weeks of March 4-16

During our Rhythms Unit, students participated in a variety of activities that helped develop their timing, rhythm and teamwork for any sport that they enjoy.. A few favorite activities included the parachute, lummi sticks and our new Xbox Kinect.

Week of Feb. 25- March 1

WOW..The culmination of our Volleyball unit ended with an impressive display of skill, court awareness,  knowledge and sportsmanship. Hopefully students will be able to transfer their skills to a variety of volleyball settings...beach, backyard, pool. Have some family fitness fun with volleyball!

Week of Feb.20-22

Students in grades 3-4-5 are enjoying very skilled volleyball games, They have demonstrated the basic skills as well as knowledge of court rules, rotation and scoring. Mrs. King surprised us one day this week and joined her 4th grade class in an awesome game. Students in grades K-1-2 are continuing their progress in volleyball skills of bump, set and serve.

Week of Feb.11- Feb.15

Our fitness focus has now turned to Volleyball! Practicing the skills of bump (forearm pass), set and serve will prepare students (grades 3-4-5) for a real volleyball game in our gym! Younger students learn and practice  the basics of the bump, set and serve in small group activities.

Week of Feb. 4- Feb 8

Students finished the jump rope unit with a bang at our school's Jump Rope For Heart on Friday Feb. 8. Students and teachers had a great time! Total amount of money raised for the American Heart Association will be posted soon. Thank you prizes usually take about 4-6 weeks to come in.

Week Jan 21-25

All students are participating in a new unit called Healthy Hearts. This unit is not sport-specific. All activities in this unit will develop muscular strength, flexibility , agility  and  endurance for the sports that students like. Each lesson is comprised of 3 activities: 1) Mystery Run - 1 runner is chosen to represent their class in a running contest  2) Strength Training - activities include plyometrics, weight training and body bars. 3) Jump Rope Skill Assessment - mastery of a variety of jump rope skills. We are very pleased with the students' hard work and progress. Jump Rope For Heart will be a lot of fun this Friday! Please have students: 1. bring their pledge envelope 2) dress lightly for lots of activity, especially tennis shoes.

Week of Jan. 7-11

Students in all classes have received Jump Rope For Heart information during 1 of their P.E. classes this week. Please look for this information from your child and refer to the "Jump Rope For Heart" link on this website for the schedule.  The event will be held Friday Feb.8. 2013. (snow date is Friday Feb. 15). The Basketball unit is rolling along. We will continue next week with 3 on 3 mini-games in grades 3-4-5 and station work for grades K-1-2.

Week of Jan 2-4, 2013

Happy New Year! Basketball is the name of the game in Phys. Ed. this week. Students are showing great promise as we apply proper dribbling and passing form to fun activities. Shooting will be the highlight of next week. Students in grades 3-4-5 will also discover effective strategies for offensive play and defensive play. 

Week of Dec. 17-21, 2012

We are enjoying some fun winter and holiday games this week following a very successful Gymnastics Unit. Thank to the many parents for assisting students with their work and helping to keep them safe. We are very proud of our students' hard work during this unit and we look forward to a productive basketball unit after the holiday break.

Week of Dec. 3-9, 2012

The gymnastics unit is now in full swing! Our students are showing great improvement as they practice and persevere through some difficult skills. Congratulations to all students as you master gymnastics skills and earn a performance slip. Thank you to our parent volunteers who are assisting students' performances and maintaining safety in the gym!

Week of Nov. 5-9, 2012

Tumbling has gotten off to a rolling start! Students have learned many skills challenging their strength, flexibility, rotation and balance. Skill slips can be earned for mastery of special skills. Ask you child to demonstrate or tell you about one or two of their favorite skills. We look forward to applying these skills and concepts to Gymnastics after the Thanksgiving break. Please consider volunteering during the Gymnastics unit from Nov. 26- Dec.14. No experience is necessary!

Weeks of Oct. 22-Nov.2, 2012

Fall Fitness testing is complete in grades 3-4 and 5! Each student has a Fitness Journal where they can now evaluate their  progress and set goals for improvement in the Spring test. Magic Club has been a big hit in the gym!. Magic Club is a national throwing and catching progressive program where students progress through a skill card by demonstration of mastery of the overhand throw. Students in grades 1 and 2 receive skill slips at mastery. Students in grades 3-4-5 work from a skill card that is kept for 3 years. Students are learning the valuable lesson of practice in improving any skill. Way to go! Following our break from the hurricane, we are having fun in our Fall Fitness Fun Unit. On Nov. 7, we will be begin our exciting units of Tumbling and Gymnastics.

Week of Oct.15-19, 2012

Students in Grades 3-4-5 have begun Physical Fitness testing. Depending on the weather conditions, students will either participate in the pacer test, the mile run, the push up test or the curl up test. Standards for these tests are challenging but our goal is to decrease the % of students who did not score in the healthy fitness zone last year by 10%. Ask your child how they performed! Students in grades K-1-2 are continuing work in a Ball Skills unit. Their goal is to throw a 6" ball showing opposition with correct form and catching the ball 90% of the time.

Week of Sept.24-28, 2012

Football in the fall-a great combination! Students in grades 3-4-5 have demonstrated some awesome spiral throwing, great catching and working hard at mastering the football centering skill. Next week they will put them all together in small games where they will learn about positions, offense and defense and calling plays. Students in grades k-1-2 have had lots of fun in our games unit. We are ready for the fun run which will be next Friday, Oct. 5th. Please see the schedule below and come join the running fun! Also--parents of 5th grade students,please see my link to river Valley Ranch for more information about our Oct. 31 field trip.

Week of Oct.1-5   FUN RUN SCHEDULE

Grade 5      9:40-10:10                             Welch        Andersen

Grade 5      10:10-10:40                           Hancock     McDonald

 Grade 4      10:40-11:10                          King,  Frushour, Weeks, Glotfelty

Grade 3      11:10-11:40                           Neske,  Seabolt, Wilkerson, Bailey

 Grade 2      1:00- 1:30                             Hartman, Raeder

Grade 2      1:30-2:00                               Loskarn, Bair

 Kindergarten       2:00-2:30                    Stone, Speigle

Kindergarten       2:30-3:00                    Coppersmith, Yinger

 Grade 1      3:00-3:30                              Green, Appleby

Grade 1      3:30-4:00                              Taylor, Winemiller, Wolfe 

Week of Sept. 17-21, 2012

Students in grades 3,4 ad 5 applied their soccer skills and strategies (the thinking part of the game) to indoor and out door  Lane Soccer. One of the assessments in this unit included a timed dribble test demonstrating their speed and ball control. The second assessment included a demonstration of effective game play including player position, passing to open teammates, understanding offense and defense and following rules of the game. We are very proud of our student progress and achievement as well as their good sportsmanship!  Students in grades K-1-2 are also showing great readiness for soccer by showing effective  dribbling, trapping and passing. All students are getting ready for the FUN RUN on Friday Oct. 5, 2012. What a great way to prepare for the endurance run test of the Mile run (grades 3-4-5) and the 1/2 mile test (K-1-2) which is coming up later in October.

Week of Sept.10-14, 2012

What a beautiful  week for OUTSIDE Physical Education! All students have learned our outside procedures and are learning our 1/4 mile running course. Not only is this a great way to build endurance in cardio-respiratory fitness but it is also part of the FUN RUN !! ,  a PTO sponsored fund raiser. The date of the Fun Run is Friday Oct.5, 2012. Older students have shown great progress in basic soccer skills this week. Younger students are wrapping up our motor assessments and will apply these skills in class games. Parents of 5th graders can check my link to River Valley Ranch to learn more about our field trip on Wednesday Oct. 31, 2012.

  Week of Sept.4- 7, 2012

Students in P.E. have now learned and practice our full warm-up routine that will begin most P.E. classes; an endurance run, stretching for flexibility and push ups & curl ups. Grades 2-K have been assessed in basic locomotor skills of jump, hop, slide, gallop and skip. we will continue to incorporate these movements in our activities and games. Next week, all students will be participating in P.E. classes outside. Thank you for sending your child "ready to learn" with tennis shoes on their P.E. day!

 Week of September 27- September 31, 2012

We have had a wonderful first week in Physical Education! Students have quickly learned our classroom rules and safety procedures!  Students have also worked cooperatively in small group games to solve simple problems in movement. We emphasized 2 fitness components: endurance and flexibility. Next week we look forward to working with the older students on muscular strength through  pushup and curlup testing practice. We will begin assessing younger students in locomotor movements.

Week on May 7-11

The rainy weather continues to put the brakes on our Track & Field Unit. Some classes have been tested in the 50 yd dash, thrown the javelin (plastic) and performed some awesome hurdle sprints, but some classes are still waiting for drier weather! However we all have been able to jump to our last unit of batting, striking and fielding. Students in grades 3-4-5 show excellent positioning at home plate in preparation for their strong hitting. Fielding a strong hit takes teamwork and anticipation which the students have demonstrated very well. Students in grades K-1-2 have shown strong batting and running skills also. Throwing and catching practice at home can be a great benefit to all students!

Week of April 11-13

This short week allowed students (grades 3-4-5) to complete the fourth tested area in the FitnessGram program - Sit and Reach. Students have now completed the Spring testing period. The PE teachers will now compile each students data (selecting their highest score between the Fall and Spring tests) and prepare for the 2012 Fitness Awards! For more information on FitnessGram, see  When students were finished testing, they worked hard in our Muscle Madness unit. They identified major muscles groups, performed exercises to strengthen each group and connected a sport or activity where these muscles were used. 

Week of March 26-30

Tennis was the name of the game this week in PE! WOW-our students showed excellent eye-hand coordination and understanding of "force" during forehand and backhand bump-ups and the wall rally.  Students who could control their grounds strokes in a small area with the appropriate amount of force were able to score well in that assessment. I think many students can transfer their tennis knowledge and experience to an area tennis court and play very well!

Students in grades 2-1 and K, work on similar skills but with a paddle and showed great work and progress!

Week of March 19-23

FitnessGram is back! Students in grades 3-4 and 5 completed their Spring portion of the FitnessGram Fitness test.  Students attempted to improve their Fall score by at least 1 point. Mrs. Bittinger, Mrs. Gassman and I were very impressed with their form. effort and scores. Look for their progress report card at the end of the year.

Students in grades K-1 and 2 improved their fitness levels, too by participating in Fitness Skillastics and learned about strength, balance, endurance and flexability in a variety of activities.

Week of March 5-9

The Volleyball net is up! Students in grades 3-4-5 are beginning to apply their volleyball skills in a small group setting. In addition to the skills of the bump, (also known as the forearm pass),  the set and the underhand serve, students are learning how to "rotate" positions on the court, keep score and know when fouls are called. We are having a lot of fun! 

Students in grades 2-1-and K are showing great promise in their volleyball skills, too as they learn to "rainbow" toss their ball to a partner in preparation for the bump (forearm pass) and the set. Cooperation is very important in partner and small group work! 

Week of Jan. 16-20

This week students in grades 3-4-5 have:

• applied offensive and defensive strategies in 3 on 3 basketball games.
• demonstrated effective dribbling, passing and shooting skills using rubrics in class activities.
• integrated fundamental movement patterns into increasingly complex physical activity.
• valued the concept of practice in developing skill proficiency.

This week students in grades K-1-2 have:

• identified key components of a set shot in basketball-BEEF
• analyzed peer/teacher basketballs for key components
• demonstrated proper form of basketball dribble, pass and shot in basketball skill stations. 
• demonstrated an understanding of the relationship between skill development and practice.

Week of Jan. 9-13

WOW! What a difference in the students' dribbling skills this week! Many students have demonstrated excellent control of their dribbled ball while walking/jogging/running. Our passing and shooting rubrics have helped students focus on key points to perform these skills. We look forward to applying these skills in small basketball games incorporating offensive and defensive strategies next week.

Week of Jan. 3-6

We have started off the new year in a Basketball Skills unit. Students in grades 3-4-5 took a pre-assessment to determine their level of understanding of skills and  concepts as well as the history of basketball. Ask your child why there is a peach basket hanging up in the gym! Dribbling a ball using finger pads only is a basic skill. We will be working on our passing and shooting skills next week.

Week of Dec. 12-15

As students finish their 3 week unit of Gymnastics, please look for their Progress Report to come home. This report (grades 1-5) indicates their level of achievement in 5 selected skills throughout the unit. Assessment is based on the written rubric. These are 5 of the 9 PE skills assessed for the 2nd marking period. We are very proud of each students' persistence, performance and accomplishments! 

Week of  Nov.28 - Dec.2

Gymnastics is in full swing in our gym! Students have been applying learned tumbling skills and concepts to our gymnastics equipment. Students are practicing many skills but are working on mastering 5 specialized skills that, together, contribute to a well-rounded gymnast. If a specialized skill is mastered, students have earned a "slip" which counts towards earning a gymnastics certificate. Thanks you to our wonderful parent volunteers who are helping students achieve their best level!

Week of Oct. 31-Nov. 4 

This week is Fall Harvest in the Gym!  Students in all grades showed their great ball skills, team work and  fitness  in a variety of activities with a fall theme. Students in grades 3-4-5 completed the Sit and Reach test part of the FitnessGram program. This test measures flexibility, an important component of fitness and is administered on a standardized "box". Ask your child what their score is and where their score falls in relation to levels of fitness!

Week Of October 17-21

In addition to implementing great pass patterns in 3 on 3 football activities, students in grades 3-4-5 were tested in the Mile Run. I am so proud of our students' effort and enthusiasm for setting and achieving their personal goals in this event. Twelve minutes (12:00) is a GOOD time for the run, however many students ran under 10:00 minutes!

Students in grades 1 and 2 were tested in the 1/2 mile run. Under 6:00 minutes is a GOOD time for this event. Students are also working on the ball skill of kicking; using both feet when dribbling a soccer ball. We have been comparing how a ball rolls differently on grass and on our gym floor.

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Week of October 10 - October 14

Students in Grades 3-4-5 are actively engaged in a football skills unit.

Ask your child to show you their spiral football throw. OR

Ask your child to tell you the difference between throwing a football and throwing a tennis ball. OR

Ask your child to explain why "gripping" the football is so important in a spiral throw.

Students in grades K-1-2 are working on a variety of ball skills.

This week students are working on the "overhand throw". Students should be able to state and demonstrate the key points of an outstanding throw. Soon we will be working on power and force behind our throw to create more distance.

Thank you to all parents and friends who supported our Fun Run last Friday!