Week 4 (September 10-14)

First Grade
This weeks focus was on hula hoops. We spent the week working on personal space and making sure we did not hit other students with their own hula hoop. We worked on hula hooping around our waist, ankles, neck and arms. We also worked on our dog tricks and taught the students how to walk their dogs to walk, to play catch and to play fetch. We spent time on hula hoop jump rope and flying saucers while making sure to avoid a traffic accident.

Third Grade
This weeks focus was also on hula hoops. We spent the week working on personal space and making sure we did not hit other students with their own hula hoop. We worked on hula hooping around our waist, ankles, neck and arms. We also worked on using the hula hoop as a jump rope. We also had time to work on a game called Bridge Tag. The object of the game is to help free people who have been trapped by climbing under the "bridge."

Fifth Grade
This week started our first week working in our fitness stations. We spent time in class working in small groups (3-4 people) while completing each of the 10 fitness tasks. We spent time working on stretching, jumping jacks, push ups, curl ups/sit ups, leg lifts and jump rope. We also worked on moving around our fitness area while using the locomotor skills of skipping, hoping, jumping, galloping and sliding.

For our activity time we worked on team building activities. We spent time working on "Crossing the River" which is a group activity where you find a solution to crossing the river using our poly spots. Groups who were unable to complete the task had to start over.

We also worked on puzzle pieces. The students were placed into groups and given a puzzle to complete. They did not know what the puzzle said or how it looked so it took some teamwork to complete the puzzle. The trick was that the only person that could touch the puzzle pieces was blindfolded. This caused us to work on our communication skills to get the puzzle completed.

Later in the week we learned the reasons for a proper warm up before exercise. Without a proper warm up a student-athlete can become injured. The students worked on warming up while learning the ten different effects that a warm up has on the human body.

The effects of warming up are:
1) Decrease the risk of connective tissue or muscle tissue damage (warming up will prevent injury)
2) Increase blood flow (Increase blood going throughout the body-need for extra oxygen)
3) Increase breathing (increased oxygen consumption)
4) Increase circulation (with help with heart rate and moving blood)
5) Increase blood sent to the working muscles (working muscles will need more oxygen to move)
6) Increase the heart rate (will help with circulation and moving blood)
7) Increase the body temperature (warm muscles work better and do not get injured as easily)
8) Decrease the reaction time (decrease time standing around)
9) Increase metabolic rate (rate that the body processes food for energy)
10) Decrease chance of being sore afterwards (helps with pooling of lactic acid)

Sixth Grade
This week started our first week working in our fitness stations. We spent time in class working in small groups (3-4 people) while completing each of the 10 fitness tasks. We spent time working on stretching, jumping jacks, push ups, curl ups/sit ups, leg lifts and jump rope. We also worked on moving around our fitness area while using the locomotor skills of skipping, hoping, jumping, galloping and sliding.

For our activity time we worked on team building activities. We spent time working on "Crossing the River" which is a group activity where you find a solution to crossing the river using our poly spots. Groups who were unable to complete the task had to start over.

We also worked on puzzle pieces. The students were placed into groups and given a puzzle to complete. They did not know what the puzzle said or how it looked so it took some teamwork to complete the puzzle. The trick was that the only person that could touch the puzzle pieces was blindfolded. This caused us to work on our communication skills to get the puzzle completed.

Later in the week we learned the reasons for a proper warm up before exercise. Without a proper warm up a student-athlete can become injured. The students worked on warming up while learning the ten different effects that a warm up has on the human body.

The effects of warming up are:
1) Decrease the risk of connective tissue or muscle tissue damage (warming up will prevent injury)
2) Increase blood flow (Increase blood going throughout the body-need for extra oxygen)
3) Increase breathing (increased oxygen consumption)
4) Increase circulation (with help with heart rate and moving blood)
5) Increase blood sent to the working muscles (working muscles will need more oxygen to move)
6) Increase the heart rate (will help with circulation and moving blood)
7) Increase the body temperature (warm muscles work better and do not get injured as easily)
8) Decrease the reaction time (decrease time standing around)
9) Increase metabolic rate (rate that the body processes food for energy)
10) Decrease chance of being sore afterwards (helps with pooling of lactic acid)

NEXT WEEK: Our goal is to learn about the heart and how to take your pulse!