Looking for a fun and challenging way to promote fitness at home?  Studies show that when we model healthy living habits to children, they are more likely to try it out as well.  In the "Documents in Videos" section of this website I added an April Fitness Challenge for your enjoyment!  This one is baseball themed as we enter baseball season.

Print it out, or let me know if you'd like a copy, post it in a common space and see if you can make it through each days quick challenge!

March is National Nutrition Month and we're celebrating by learning how to make informed food choices and physical activity decisions.  All grades have learned or reviewed the food groups and sorted foods in to these groups.  We've learned that every food has energy for my body to use (measured by calories), though some foods like "sometimes foods" (sugary, greasy, salty, processed) provide energy with minimal essential nutrients.  Eating foods produced in nature provide more essential nutrients to help us learn, grow, and play.  Discussing essential nutrients, their purpose, and the food groups that provide high amounts of each has been a blast!  Through skill based games, we've been able to explore the many ways we can provide nutrient dense food choices to fuel our play and help our brain focus!

In Nascar Nutrition, we learned that food fuels our body. In order to continue fueling our "race car", scooter, each lap around the track required students to stop at the "pit stop" to re-fuel.  Scooters matched the food groups, so a blue scooter meant that the student would find a dairy food.

While one partner practiced pulling and pushing on the scooter, the other worked with stretch bands- helping us to learn the muscles in our body. 

Which two food groups are we missing?  Do you see any foods that need to be in a different hoop?

One major focus in PE is working together with all of our classmates.  Through problem solving teamwork  games we learn to take turns, create solutions, and communicate effectively.  In the VIDEOS tab of my site, 3 new videos from today's lesson are posted!  They are just a glimpse of what we do in PE, but worth the watch!

A couple winter reminders to help your student do their best in PE:

Did you know that 5th graders get a FREE season pass at Stevens Pass? 

Skiing and snowboarding are great activities to improve awareness (both the relation of their body to the space they're in and self-awareness, strengths and areas to improve), muscular endurance (mostly core and legs), whole-body coordination, balance, self-confidence, social skills, and perseverance.  Outdoor activities are also proven to increase mood and provide experiences to appreciate nature.

For more information about the free season pass...
https://www.stevenspass.com/shop/fifthgrader

Staff is challenged this month to improve wellness with a wellness bingo game.  You can get involved in your own game with your family too!  Refrigerator Bingo is a great way to challenge your family to eat healthy stuff and move around enough...plus making improvements together as a family is fun!

I hope everyone had a safe and active summer!  It's hard to believe that it is already closing in on October!  We have started the year with expectations in PE, practicing how those expectations look/sound/feel, and we are starting in on teamwork games.  We are working on growth-mindsets in PE and ways we can encourage each other to do their best to make improvements in each activity or game.

Coming up in the second week of October, we will have the bicycles from Cascade Bicycle Club for our Rolling and Pedestrian Unit.  I'm excited to try this unit and would love to have some volunteers who can help us be successful.  If you're available, please email me!  bcveleber@seattleschools.org

Looking forward to another fun and exciting year at QAE!

Between May 8-26 we will be learning about pedestrian safety in addition to rolling on bikes.  In order to assist all students in their learning, it will be very beneficial to have volunteers to help with each 3rd-5th grade class. 

Are you available to help out?  Please email me at bcveleber@seattleschools.org if you're able to volunteer to assist with this unit!

Thank you!

Grades 3-5 will be assessed on their knowledge of 9 muscle groups (Biceps, Triceps, Pectorals, Deltoids, Latissimus Dorsi, Hamstrings, Gluteals, Quadriceps, and Abdominals) and their function this week.  Below are the highlighted days that each class will have the assessment, taken on their iPad.  We used the "Muscle Poem" to help us and it is posted under "Documents and Videos".

• Muscle Movement Assessment:  9 Muscle groups and their function (see poem in documents to help recall)
  
• Bone Health and Assessment: Why is it important to understand how your bones and muscles work?  How do bones and muscles impact your fitness performance?  How do bones and muscles help me move? 
  
• Circuit Training and Fitness Activities
• Goal Setting Review: Why do we set goals?  How can goals impact my fitness? How can goals impact my motor skills? How does it feel to reach your goals?
  
• Fitness Assessment check in: Are you on your way to meeting your goal?
  
• Continue Volleyball Skills: Bump, Set, Serve, underhand strike, modified volleyball games
  
• Rock Wall
• Pedometer Use
• Locomotor Skills: Jump, Hop, Gallop, Skip, Walk, Chase, Flee
• Non-Locomotor Skills: Twist, Turn, Curl
• Motor Skills: Throwing and Catching
• Routines and expectations in PE to ensure safety, learning, and fun for all.
• Expected Behavior to increase safety, learning, and fun for all.

*These are our learning targets and though we hope to accomplish it all, occasionally we need to be flexible and continue working on a skill or concept.

 Do you have extra time on your hands?  QAE PE is in need of volunteers to help with replacing pedometer batteries!  Please email me at bcveleber@seattleschools.org if you'd like to help!  Thank you!