Mrs. Brauch’s

Gym Class

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Happy Spring, and welcome to St. Henry Elementary’s gym class web page! I am very excited to share with you our accomplishments in the third quarter and what we expect to achieve during the fourth. Third Quarter The third quarter started with several weeks of lessons focusing on basketball. The students practiced dribbling, passing, and shooting techniques. Everyone especially loved the shooting part! We played fun games like Kickbasketball, Basketball 21, Knock Out, and the fourth and fifth graders even played three on three games! We also practiced cooperation strategies by having relay races. Kindergarten and first graders rescue teammates from across the gym, second and third graders had to arrange beanbags in hula- hoops, and fourth and fifth graders had to run around in circles in consecutive order! Teams had to work well with one another in order to complete these tasks. Each class also had an interdisciplinary lesson that incorporated mathematics. Addition, subtraction, measurement, multiplication, division, and fractions were all included in our physical education! Finally, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and Easter all fell in this quarter. We celebrated them by including hearts, Cupid, leprechauns, shamrocks, bunnies, and eggs among many other things in class activities. We all had fun and enjoyed the holidays!

Fourth Quarter The fourth quarter will bring about many fun lessons, as we wind the year down. We will begin with parachute activities to remind us of different intensity levels. The children must shake the cute slow, medium, and fast in the games we will play. Of course, running underneath will be incorporated because we all love when the parachute falls on us! To develop our upper body strength, we will push ourselves on scooters. Scooters are a fun way to move across the gym floor! Volleyball will be our last unit for the year. The children will develop their bumping, setting, and serving skills. We will play a number of games that help us to improve our ability to get the ball over the net, and the older kids will even play a real volleyball game. On two different occasions, the children will work on their decision-making skills, when given a number of choices. They will help me decide what game to play, after I provide them with a list of their favorites. The year will end with a number of events to help them remember how important it is to remain physically active over the summer. They will see how easy it is to stay healthy and fit! Don’t forget to send your child with gym shoes and gym clothes if your child is in the fourth or fifth grade on the appropriate day. Listed below is the p.e. schedule: Wednesday—Mrs. Rauch a.m., Mrs. Huser, Mrs. Fette, Mrs. Blust, Mrs. Franks, and Mrs. Smith Thursday—Mrs. Rauch p.m., Sr. Jean, Mrs. Wade, Mrs. Dietz, Mrs. Montgomery, and Mrs. Jansing.