PTA Popcorn Sale this Friday. Please bring 50 cents if you would like to purchase popcorn at the door when you exit the school at the dismissal bell. Please have exact change because you will be paying for yourself you will not be paying the teacher. We will have someone selling at each door. Thank you!

During these two weeks, my kindergarten-2nd grade classes will work on the one handed push shot.   I will have the students practice this skill in a variety ways to help them improve on how they perform the skill.  Each class will perform it differently, so that it is developmentally appropriate for their ability level.  My 3rd-5th grade classes will be learn about and play an Olympic sport, called team handball.  I will have all of the 3rd-5th grade classes play this game for the next two to three classes.   This is a sport that uses some of the skills we have learned about so far this school year and some that we will continue to practice as the year goes on.  It incorporates skills, such as, throwing, catching, passing, defensive guarding, and the goalie position.  Once we are finished with playing team hand ball, they will begin to learn about and practice the one handed push shot.

The 1st – 3rd graders will learn about the personal/social skill best effort throughout the 2nd marking period.  I will constantly remind the students using the poster on the gym will about the different ways that they should use best effort.

The 4th and 5th graders will learn about the personal/social skill responsibility throughout the 2nd marking period.  I will constantly remind the students using the poster on the gym will about the different ways that they should use responsibility.  I will have both grade write in their journals about responsibility and the different way to use it.  They will also write sentences in their journals to list the different ways to have responsibility.

These personal/social skills will be used as a main part of the students grade for sportsmanship on their report card.

The 3rd-5th graders will be taking a jump rope test. The 4th and 5th graders will have the grade for the test on the 2nd marking period report card. The 3rd graders will have the grade for the test on the 3rd marking period report card. The 3rd grades will take a 1 min test. The 4th graders will take a 2 min. test and the 5th graders will take a 3 min. test. I have listed the standards and grades below:

# of Jumps/Grade

3rd grade 1 min.
66+/1
45-65/2
24-44/3
Less than 23/4

4th grade 2 min.
151+/1
120-150/2
90-119/3
less than 90/4

5th grade 3 min.
300+/1
190-299/2
120-189/3
less than 120/4

This week, I will be starting my basketball ball unit with all of my classes.  I will be focusing on the hand dribble during the first lesson of the week with all of my classes.  The students will get the opportunity to practice this skill in a variety of ways.  I will also focus on the hand dribble for the second class of the week with the kindergarten classes.  During the second class of the week with my 3rd-5th grade classes, I will be mainly focusing on passing.  The student will learn how to do different passes with a partner and they will get a chance to use them in a passing game, called 10 passes.  I will also start to have my 3rd-5th grade classes practice for their jump rope test that I will be grading them on towards the end of the marking period.  The 3rd graders will take a 1 min. test, the 4th graders will take a 2 min. test, and the 5th graders will take a 3 min. test.  There are certain standards that each grade will have to reach for their grade on their report card.

I also want to take a moment to congratulate the two classes that won my sportsmanship chart this marking period.  Ms. Philip’s class won for the 1st and 2nd grades and Mrs. Caito’s class won it for the 3rd-5th grades.  Each class receives a trophy to put inside their classroom and a certificate to hang up in the hallway.  They will keep these two things until the end of the second marking period, unless they end up winning it again.  I give this sportsmanship award to the class that ends up with the most points at the end of each marking period.  The classes start with 10 points when they walk in the gym.  Each class can either lose or gain points from the start to the end of each class depending on how the class or individual students follow the rules I have for my class.

This week, I will continue my football unit with all of the 3rd-5th grade classes.  My plan is to teach the students the basics of football through a variety of drills and games.  The classes will end the unit with a defensive back drill that has the students pull flags and score points.  This unit will be short and will only last two weeks.  I will also continue my hula-hoop unit with the Kindergarten-2nd grade classes this week.  For the first class of the week for kindergarten they will be doing a variety of individual skills with hoop.  Then on the second class of the week, the kindergarten classes will be doing hula-hoop relay races.  For the 1st and 2nd grade classes, they will be practicing their second class of individual hoop skills, because they only come to see me one time a week.  The hula-hoop unit will also be a short unit, that will only last two or three weeks.

I’m excited for Chess Club to start again this year!  We will again be practicing on Tuesday and Friday mornings from 7:35-8:35 a.m.  I will have the students start in the gym and then we will move to the cafeteria once most of the students have shown up.  When we are done with practice at 8:35 a.m., I will release the students to their classrooms.  Chess Club is open to any 4th or 5th grade student that is interested in joining.  The cost to join this year is $25.  The information for joining the club is listed in the permission slip below:

chess-club-permission-slip

This will be a shorter week, because we there is a half day on Friday.  This week, I will be making a transition to my new units.  I will have the kindergarten-2nd grade students start my hula-hoop unit and the 3rd-5th grade students will start my football unit.  The lower elementary students will learn a variety of individual skills with a hula hoop.  Then at the end of the unit the student will learn about and practice relay races using the hula hoops.  The upper elementary students will start the week with one of the games I usually play between unit.  For the second class of the week, for the classes I actually see twice, I will start my football unit.  This unit will mainly focus on throwing and catching.  To finish this unit, I will have a drill that uses flag belts and the student will keep track of their score.