Holiday Games!

This week in PE we will be celebrating various winter holidays with some fun games. Hopefully the weather will allow us to get outside, so remember to come to class prepared to stay warm! Games like The Grinch, Fitness Dreidels, Snowball Fight, and Kinaras and Mishumas give students the opportunity to work cooperatively and use the skills we've worked on all year in class. From our family to yours - Happy Holidays!

Bundle Up - Its Cold Outside!

This week PE classes will be held outdoors, so please be sure to send appropriate outerwear with your child each day. Hats, gloves, and jackets are all acceptable - however, we would prefer scarves be left at home. Most importantly, please be sure to label each item with your child's name. Very often, the layers come off during class and we always do our best to get anything that's left behind back to its owner!

Classes this week will be finishing up Frisbee, working on fitness activities, and revisiting Burnball. Fun for all!!

Frisbee Fun!

This week we will be introducing the frisbee to all grade levels. Did you know that the wind really is not a factor in good frisbee throwing? Its all about technique and taking your time! You may hear a funny little chant coming home - FLAT FRISBEES FLY FARTHER - a silly tongue twister designed to help us all remember to keep our frisbees flat.

JK and Alpha classes will be working on Motor Development in the mini-gym. Stations include a curvy snake balance beam, rocket launching boards, the rebound net and hopscotch. Fun, Fun, Fun!

Week of 11/15

This week Ms. Conroy's and Mrs. Densa's classes will be completing our unit on Burnball. Three very important concepts will be introduced to the game - no outs, how to burn a player, and how to score points. Once we are all clear on the rules, we can start to concentrate on strategy and smart base running.

Second, third and fourth graders will be working on a Team-building unit this week. Students will be asked to complete different challenges that require them to work cooperatively. We'll try group juggling, Zoom, Helium stick, and Survivor Collection. I'm hoping that the students will learn to trust and rely on one another this week!

Welcome to 2nd Trimester!

Hello and welcome to 2nd Trimester to Ms. Conroy's, Mrs. Densa's, Mrs. O'Mullane's, and Ms. LaDuke's classes - and to the new crews from Ms. Graham, Mr. Wolfrath, Mr. Hughes, and Ms. Tucker too! I'm looking forward to a great trimester with all of you! This week and next we'll be working on Burnball, a Swedish version of Baseball. Our focus this week will be on hitting. The third and fourth graders will be honing their skills; for K, 1 and 2 this week will be an introduction. We'll focus on rules and strategy next week. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns!

apope@shorecrest.org

Our final week together!

This week is the last week of the 1st trimester, and therefore my last week with Mrs. Minke's, Mrs. Owen's, Mrs. McKenzie's, and Mrs. Hensler's groups. It is also my final week with the fourth grade girls! While, I'll admit, I am a little sad to see you all moving on, I know that you'll have a great time with Coach D and Coach Every - AND I'm VERY excited to get to work with another new group of students! So many faces I feel like I haven't seen much this year!

For our last week together we'll be revisiting some of our previous units - Cone Ball, Rock Wall, and Burn Ball. For the fourth graders, we'll even have a chance to try out some cheer leading basics! Its sure to be a fun week for all!

Horseshoes!

This week classes will be learning the classic backyard favorite, Horseshoes. Using modified rules the students will have the opportunity to practice tossing, scoring, and good sportsmanship. Hopefully they'll be ready for some fun family picnics real soon! Following are the modified rules used for the classes. Maybe you and your family and play a game this week too!

HORSESHOE REMINDERS

· Pitch horseshoes underhand

· Stand across from your teammate on the same court

· Alternate who goes first (ie both red, then both blue)

· 1 point is awarded for the 1 horseshoe that is closest to the stick – MUST BE INSIDE THE SQUARE

· 2 points for ANY LEANER

· 3 points for ANY RINGER

· Only stand inside the box when you are pitching

· Measure using another horseshoe

· Pay attention to flying horseshoes!

Floor Hockey and Lunch time poll

This week, classes will be introduced to Floor Hockey in the Crisp Gym. Student will practice dribbling, passing, shooting, and defending through various lessons designed to develop basic skills. Later in the week we will have the opportunity to put these skills into practice during some modified games. Its sure to be a fun week for all!

This week's lunch time poll question was "What's your favorite holiday?" Here's how you answered:
Halloween - 14
Easter - 2
Hanukkah - 5
4th of July - 3
Christmas - 36
April Fool's Day - 1
My Birthday - 3
Thanksgiving - 2
New Year's Day - 2
New Year's Eve - 1

Bocce and Speed Minton

Last week the second and third graders had a BLAST learning Bocce ball! This week Mrs. Minke's and Mrs. Owen's classes will get their chance, as will the 4th grade girls. Second and Third graders will be introduced to SpeedMinton - a modified version of Badminton - on the field. With the beautiful weather we've been enjoying these past few weeks, both are sure to be lots of Fun!

Lunch time poll with Coach Pope

The question this week - October 4th - was " What is your favorite sport?" Here's how you answered!
Rock Climbing - 2
Swimming - 6
Street Hockey - 1
Football - 10
Triathlon - 1
Ice Skating - 1
Baseball - 8
Soccer - 15
Gymnastics - 5
Basketball - 3
Volleyball - 4
Lacrosse - 1
Karate - 1
Golf - 1
Ballet - 1
Tennis - 2
Cheerleading - 1
Kickball - 1
Burnball - 1

Bocce anyone?

This week student will be introduced to the game of Bocce Ball. Bocce is a relatively simple game that involves rolling a ball - the bocce - as close as possible to the target - the pallino. Through Bocce students are working on hand-eye coordination, judgement, sportsmanship, fair play, and score keeping. Another great benefit - its pretty easy to be good! Fun for all on the field this week!

Lunch time poll with Coach Pope

The question of the week for 9/26 was "Where were you born?" Here's how you answered!
Florida - 52
Georgia - 4 (all Atlanta too!)
California - 3
France - 1
Nevada - 1
Virginia - 1
Pennsylvania - 1
New York - 2
Washington, DC - 1
Connecticut - 3
Massachusetts - 1
New Jersey - 1
Maryland - 2
Ireland - 1

More frisbee and a little Burnball too!

This week in PE with Coach Pope, classes will continue to explore the games that are possible once we learn to throw a frisbee well. A full 9-hole Frisbee Golf course is set for Monday, and we'll continue the week with another visit to the world of Ultimate Frisbee.

On Friday, I'll be traveling to Titusville with the Cross Country team for the FLrunners.com Invitational. Its a great meet with school from all over the US participating. While I'm away, the students will get to play a game of Burnball, a favorite that never gets old! Have a terrific week!

Frisbee Fun!

This week classes will be playing frisbee. We'll first learn to throw the frisbee properly (would you believe I didn't know how to throw a frisbee until I was 30 - Thanks Coach Raab for teaching me!) and then use the skills we learn to play Frisbee Golf and Ultimate Frisbee.

Alpha and JK classes will be working on overhand throwing to a target with magic, sticky tennis balls. We'll also be crossing a river on a very narrow bridge to work on balance.

Lunch time poll with Coach Pope

This year I will be taking a poll on Monday's during my 3rd grade Lunch Duty. You can check to see how your answers match up with your classmates. This week we asked "What's your favorite lunch time food?' The answers are here for you!

Corn dogs - 3 Chips - 3 Rice - 1
Nuts - 1 Meat - 2 Cheez-its - 2
Pizza - 15 Cheese - 1 Lettuce/salad - 4
Pasta - 10 Tacos - 2 Chicken - 8
Soup - 1 Fruit - 9 Gummies - 1
Cookies - 3 Candy - 1 Ice Cream - 1
Sandwich - 9

Be on the look out for next week's poll!

Week of 9/13

Its another busy week in PE with Coach Pope. Lots to do. . . here's an idea of what's in store!

This week students will be introduced to volleyball. From the youngest age students can learn to track and toss, in preparation for underhand and overhand passing as they get older. Concepts ready position, moving to be prepared, and communication with teammates will be emphasized this week. Students in second, third, and fourth grade will also be introduced to serving - both underhand and overhand.

Kindergarten and 1st grade will have another opportunity to practice the rock climbing skills that were introduced last week.

Second, third, and fourth graders will be finishing up our fall fitness testing as well. All second graders will run the 1/2 mile on Thursday. All third graders will run the mile on Tuesday and all fourth graders on Thursday. Please be sure to send a water bottle with your child and emphasize that this run should be done at his or her own pace.

Exploring the minigym and Fitness Testing

This week PE with Coach Pope is moving indoors with Kindergarten and First Grade to begin our exploration of the mini-gym. This space will be used participate in motor development, experiment with gymnastics, and even do some rock climbing!

Grades two, three and four will begin our Fall Fitness Testing. Students will be introduced to the Presidential Fitness test and be given the opportunity to find their baseline fitness level. It is so important for the students to understand that doing the test early in the school year gives us a chance to see where we excel and where we need to improve throughout the year. This is a great time to talk to your child about setting goals and emphasizing individual improvement as opposed to feeling like he or she is competing with classmates. Hopefully, if we all work together toward this goal, we can help all of our students become comfortable with this important part of Physical Education!

Learning Burnball!

This week all grade levels will be introduced to Burnball - a Swedish version of baseball. Many of the rules of the game are very similar to American baseball but there is one VERY important difference, there are NO outs! Burnball enables students to not only improve their hand-eye coordination and running skills, but critical thinking and problem-solving skills as well. We'll even throw in a little math! Its great fun - as your child to compare and contrast Burnball and American baseball. Ask which one they prefer!

Alpha Introductions

JK Introductions

Our First Full Week!

This year in Physical Education we've made some exciting changes in the way we're teaching. Each coach will work with a specific group from each grade level exclusively for the entire trimester. It is our belief that this will allow us to track the students growth more effectively and help them to progress through skills more efficiently. We are very excited about this change and looking forward to watching ALL of the student grow. We will continue to come together as a grade level for the extended class period of each week.

For the first trimester, I will be working with Mrs. Minke's, Mrs. Owen's, Mrs. McKenzie's and Mrs. Hensler's classes. I will also be spending the first trimester with the fourth grade girls.

This week we will all be heading to the Crisp Gym to begin a unit on volleyball. The skill development and expectations for each grade level will vary, however, we will all have an opportunity to try out this great fall sport. Please feel free to contact me directly if you have an questions, concerns or comments. My email address is apope@shorecrest.org and my office phone is (727) 522-2111 ext. 440. Stay tuned for updates and photos in the near future. Have a great week!

Welcome to PE 2010!

Hi Everyone! Hope this finds you well rested and ready for an awesome new school year. We sure are excited to see all of you. Be prepared for lots of new and exciting experiences this year in Physical Education - and always lots of your fun favorites too! Enjoy your last few days away. See you on Thursday! Coach Pope