From Warm Up to Cool Down, Fourth and Fifth Graders Love PE!

It has been a great first semester for our intermediate level physical education classes. We began the year with some fun team building games and activities. Following our team building games and activities we moved into some of our sport/games units and other fun activities. Below is a look at how we start each day in PE.

Daily Warm-up in PE: Here at Oakhill we are very fortunate in the PE department to see our students on a daily basis. Students begin class most days of the week with a brief 5 - 8 minute warm-up with the focus each day on fitness/stretching, along with a speed and agility focus. It has been fun to see the progress many of our students have made on the agility ladder and with their dynamic stretching exercises. Below is an overview of our past couple units in PE; with the first being football.

Football Fun: It was exciting to see the progress each student made with their throwing and catching skills in our football unit this fall. It was fun to see each students’ skills improve throughout the unit in the fun games we played. One of the fun games we played that the students seemed to really enjoy was Ultimate Football-Handball style. In this game students had to work as a team to move the ball up and down the field. The major focus of the game is throwing, catching, and working as a team. All the skills involved in football were put to the test in this activity. We wrapped up our football unit playing some 2-hand touch football games out on the North Field. Following our football unit we moved right into our soccer unit.

Soccer Unit Overview: Throughout our soccer unit students worked on developing their passing, receiving, kicking, and ball control skills, along with learning the rules of the game. Over the course of the unit students were involved in a variety of fun games and activities to help build their skills. One of the fun games we played was a ball control/kicking activity. In this game students had to use their ball-control skills to dribble the ball down the court and take a shot at a target. Once each student made it down the court, they stopped the ball on a dot and had to try and shoot the ball and hit a target. If students were successful in hitting the target they picked up the dot and earned a point for their team. This is a great game that keeps the kids active and engaged while developing their skills.

Fun Games/Activities: In the middle of our unit days (Tuesdays/Thursdays) students have been busy playing some fun PE games they enjoy; Legends, Pinball Soccer, Ultimate Football-Handball Style, Capture the Objects, Dodgeball, Paddleball Baseball, etc. A class favorite with the 5th graders  has been Legends. This is a fast paced dodgeball game played with 4 - 6 dodgeballs. In this game students are working on their throwing, catching, dodging, and fleeing skills. With students moving freely around the gym there is also a great deal of spacial awareness involved in this activity. A class favorite with our 4th grade students has been Paddle Ball Baseball. Paddleball baseball is very similar to wiffle ball. However, students use a pickleball paddle to hit the nerf ball in this game. It has been fun to see the students improve throughout the year with their striking, throwing, and catching skills in this game.

Choice Days in PE: Wednesdays in PE are a free choice play day; students are allowed to pick and choose which activities they would like to participate in. One of the 4th/5th grade class favorites on Wednesdays this year has been 8-square. This is just an expanded game of 4-square with some modified rules. We also play with a large blue bouncy ball that the kids love to use in this game. This expanded game of 4-square has been a great way to get more students involved and active in the game.