What a racket!

This week our classes will be enjoying the new athletic center to try out some different games and skills using rackets. The youngest classes will be using balloons to help practice tracking, and will use lollipop rackets to practice striking. Older students will have the opportunity to participate in Badminton. We are so fortunate to have a facility in which we can all have enough space to safely cover these units - something we've been missing in the past years! It is sure to be a wonderful week!

3rd Grade Lunch time poll!

This week's question - What is your favorite fruit? So interesting to see how many different choices they came up with! Here are the results:

Apples - 5
Bananas - 1
Blueberries - 2
Cherries - 1
Dragon Fruit - 1
Grapes - 7
Kiwi - 3
Lemons - 1
Mango - 3
Oranges - 6
Peaches - 3
Pears - 3
Pineapple - 7
Pomegranate - 2
Raspberries - 2
Star Fruit - 1
Strawberries - 13
Water Melon - 19

The New AC!

What an exciting time to be a Shorecrest student (and coach too!) with the opening of our brand new Athletic Center. This space allows us the opportunity to develop skills in an environment that is safe, secure, and beautiful.

This week we will be having a "Gym Fun Week" to celebrate this opening. Games like Junk in the Trunk, The Magic Disk, Treasure Island, and Smash the Pumpkin will be used to reinforce teamwork and cooperation. Overhand throwing, kicking, and locomotor skills will also be a major focus this week.

Given our amazing new facility, we ask that all students come to school in athletic shoes with non-marking soles on the days that they have PE. This way we will be able to keep the floors in perfect condition for many years to come!

Bocce anyone?

This week students 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!

The fourth grade girls will also have the opportunity to participate in the Punt, Pass and Kick competition. Each will have a chance to give their best throw, punt, and kick off of a tee. The two with the highest yardage total will be invited to the PPK finals during half time of the Varsity Football game on October 27th. More details to come. Good luck girls!

Lunch Time Poll

The 3rd grade lunch time poll is back! Each week that I have lunch duty, I will present a question to the 3rd graders. The results will be posted here on the blog. This week's question - When did you start at Shorecrest? Here's how the 3rd graders answered:

Alpha - 25
JK - 15
K - 9
1st - 8
2nd - 9
3rd - 11

Rolling into action. . .

This week's focus for Coach Pope's classes will be rolling. Using the proper technique when rolling helps to improve accuracy and also reinforces the proper form for throwing overhand and tossing. Games that incorporate rolling include 10-pin, Bowling and Bocce. All age levels will be introduced to this important skill and will have the opportunity to practice it in a variety of ways. Happy rolling everyone!

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. Another crazy thought - almost everything about throwing a frisbee is opposite what we know about throwing a ball! Stay low, keep your same foot forward, and always keep the frisbee FLAT! We should be ready for some ultimate frisbee very soon!

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!