Week 21 (February 4-8)

First:
This week the first graders worked with the yarn balls. The goal was to continue to work on throwing and catching skills. The yarn balls also can be used for cooperative activities where the students work together to perform a task.

Third:
This week had the students working on gymnastics skills. We have reviewed the process of the tripod (balance activity). We reviewed not only the technique of the tripod but the spotting (helping) procedures for the tripod so that the students will stay safe.

The students then were taught the correct procedures for the forward roll. Students should place their hands down on the mat about shoulder width apart. They want to bend their neck into their chest, round their backs and make contact with the mat using the back of their head (this makes it easier to perform a forward roll). The last goal is to kick their legs up and tuck them into their body as they roll. The spotting technique is a little more complicated for the forward roll. The spotting student should be kneeling at the side of the gymnastics mat. The closest hand to the performer should cradle the neck and the far hand should reach round to grab the performers legs. This will allow two different safety habits to occur. First, the close hand will force the performer to tuck their neck into their chest and will also aid in the rounding of the back. Second, the far hand will help a performer develop enough speed to go through the full range of motion. Without enough speed a performer would, in essence, fall on themselves because of the lack of forward momentum.

Fifth:
This week we had the students working on gymnastics skills. We have taught the tripod to the fifth graders. This is a review from previous physical education lessons during an earlier grade. We taught the students to place their hands on the mat a little more than shoulder width apart and to make a large triangle using their head. The head must make contact with the mat on their hairline. If the head contacts the mat on the top of their head the student will want to roll over (not the correct skill) or if the contact is made on their forehead the students may strain their neck. The goal is then to lift each leg up off of the ground so that it rests on the back of the arm. A good tripod shows a balanced stance for at least five seconds.

Sixth:
This week had the students also working on gymnastics skills. We have reviewed the procedures for the tripod and also the spotting technique for the tripod. The goal is to keep the students safe while showing proper spotting techniques.

The students then were taught the correct procedures for the forward roll. Students should place their hands down on the mat about shoulder width apart. They want to bend their neck into their chest, round their backs and make contact with the mat using the back of their head (this makes it easier to perform a forward roll). The last goal is to kick their legs up and tuck them into their body as they roll. The spotting technique is a little more complicated for the forward roll. The spotting student should be kneeling at the side of the gymnastics mat. The closest hand to the performer should cradle the neck and the far hand should reach round to grab the performers legs. This will allow two different safety habits to occur. First, the close hand will force the performer to tuck their neck into their chest and will also aid in the rounding of the back. Second, the far hand will help a performer develop enough speed to go through the full range of motion. Without enough speed a performer would, in essence, fall on themselves because of the lack of forward momentum.

At the end of the week the sixth graders were taught how to perform a cartwheel. We taught the students how to place their hands to lock their elbows. Without locking the elbows the students would have to support the full weight using only their upper body strength (not easy to do). They should also keep their eyes focused on the ground between their hands to help with their balance. They should also kick their legs up directly over their hands and land with their feet one in front of the other while facing the direction they traveled from. Spotting a cartwheel is difficult. First thing you have to do is find out which way the perform is going to do a cartwheel (start with the left or right hand). Without finding out which way the performer will go it can cause the performer to kick the spotter across the face. Always stand on the side of than first hand that will make contact with the floor. Then the spotter will take the closest hand to grab the performers waist and the opposite hand will grab the opposite hip. The goal of the spotter is to, first, keep the legs and hips over the hands for balance. Second, the goal is to help the performer get enough speed to complete the cartwheel. Without enough speed the performer will fall on their hands.