New National Physical Education Standards

Check it out! The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance has released the newest PE standards. The National standards will drive the creation (or re-creation) for state standards.

With permission from the Director of Health and PE for DCPS, I will be using the new standards to drive my instruction from here on out. If you have a questions, feel free to email me!

http://www.aahperd.org/

Crack a Smile Week!

I love everything about this!

Canned Foods Please!

Good afternoon!

Ms. Bomba and I are collecting canned foods for a collaborative project, allowing kids to both analyze food labels for nutrition info as well as explore the pop art work of Andy Worhol. The canned food items will then be donated to the Capitol Area Food Bank. Please consider donating healthy canned foods (not just the stuff in the back of your cabinets).  There is a collection box in the main lobby, near the office.

From the Capital Area Food Bank website:

What is the Capital Area Food Bank?
The Capital Area Food Bank is the hub for food sourcing, food distribution and nutrition education in the Washington metro area, serving those struggling with hunger. In Washington, DC and its six surrounding counties, there are nearly 700,000* individuals at risk of hunger, of which nearly 150,000 are children. Last year, the CAFB distributed 45 million pounds of food – equivalent to 37.5 million meals – to 478,100 people through direct service and a network of more than 500 partner agencies. The CAFB service area includes: Washington DC; Montgomery County, MD; Prince George’s County, MD; Fairfax County, VA; Prince William County, VA; Arlington County, VA; and The City of Alexandria, VA.

Thanks for your help!

Family Fitness Night was a Success!

Thanks to all who came out for Family Fitness Night 2013! We had great stations set up throughout the school including: Cycling, Railyard Fitness Obstacle Course, District Crossfit, Hooping, First Tee Golf, US Tennis Association, Adventure to Fitness, Eat Your Colors and Just Dance!

At each station, students and families got to try a new way of keeping their bodies busy. Focusing on the four components of fitness, participants worked on raising their heart rate, strengthening their muscles and honing their life long physical activity skills.

In Mr. Scott's room, participants learned about the importance of eating different color fruits and vegetables and got to make their own healthy snacks.

For those of you who struggled with the hula hooping, I'll leave you with some inspiration. Enjoy! (PS. This is Ms. Bomba's Mom's hooping instructor!)

Fitness All Day Everyday

The Fitness and Wellness Room has been getting quite a bit of use: teachers have been working out together, Fitness Club has kicked off during recess and Maury's Fitness Club (after school)  began this past Thursday.

 One student has really taken to the idea of fitness, look at his latest accomplishment!

Railyard Fitness in the Works!

Railyard Fitness is literally the coolest PE equipment around and Maury's got it! The equipment is quite pricey, so I used the DC PAY grant money to purchase these fun rails and platforms. Railyard is totally modular so you can change the course every time you use it. While looking for inspiration online, I found these videos. Check it out!

Look at our kiddos trying out the equipment for the first time! Students improved their Muscular Strength and Endurance by practicing different exercises set up in stations all the equipment. Exercises included: Jump Ups, Modified Push-ups, Jump Overs and Crawl Unders. Then students got to explore the equipment and create their own "moves" to show off to the class.

All K-5 students played a fun game the combines Sharks and Minnows and an obstacle course. If the student makes it past the taggers they get to try the obstacle course. If the got tagged, students had to start back on the other side of the room and try again. The game focused on improving Cardiovascular Fitness. 

One more treat :) The PK students explored the equipment by moving across it in different ways. As I was helping one student make it across the highest rail, I heard some kids singing. I asked them to do it again because it was too good not to video tape. Enjoy! (And GREAT JOB, Ms. John!!)

***The Video had trouble uploading, I'll keep working on it. Check back soon!**

Calling all Fit Families! (Or families who want to get fit!)

This year's Family Fitness Night will take place at Maury on Oct 10th. If you are interested in helping out, or have an amazing idea that our community would benefit from, please contact me directly. Each year, I try to make the event fresh and interesting. Right now, I am looking for outside vendors who would be willing to come in and share their knowledge with students and families.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Caroline

National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

Re-Posted from the:

President Barack Obama Proclaims September 2014 as “National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month”

Posted by Elyse Cohen, Deputy Director, Let’s Move! on September 05, 2013

President Barack Obama declared September 2014 as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, encouraging Americans to get involved in promoting healthy eating and physical activity for our kids nationwide.

Obesity affects millions of American children and teenagers, putting them at risk for serious health issues, such as diabetes, cancer, asthma, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Rates of childhood obesity—after exponentially increasing over the last three decades—are holding steady and even decreasing in some areas.

“During National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, let us build on this momentum and strengthen the trend toward healthier lifestyles and brighter futures for our Nation’s children,” The President said in a proclamation released August 30th, 2013.

Let’s Move! continues to extend a call to action to get everyone involved in overcoming this epidemic. The First Lady remains dedicated to working together to change the way a generation of kids thinks about food and nutrition.

“We all share in the responsibility of helping our Nation’s children enjoy longer, healthier lives,” said President Obama. “Together, we can give them the energy and confidence to learn, excel, and pursue their dreams.”

Do your part this month by ensuring your kids have a healthy environment by getting involved with Let’s Move! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. 

www.letsmove.gov

Railyard Fitness

I couldn't be more excited about the giant shipment we recieved last night! Check out www.railyardfitness.com to get a sneak peak of how we will use this fantastic equipment in the future! we are taking Maury's PE and Health program to a new level (and we're taking the staff with us too)!!

$500 for Maury Fitness and Wellness!

As recipients of the DC PAY grant, our students are eligible for an additional contest to win $500 for Maury. If we do have a student that wins, they will be in charge of picking the equipment we will be purchasing for the school. If you would like an original copy of the submission form below, let me know!

Welcome back!

I feel it already, another great year ahead of us. It was so uplifting to see everyone's smiling faces this morning!

If you want to get a jump start on your reading, I've posted my welcome letter below. Please remember to put your kids in sneakers for PE!!!

Welcome Back Maury Family!

It is great to back for my fourth year as the Physical Education and Health

teacher. I want to highlight some of the changes and exciting things we

have in store for this year in Physical Education and in Health.

Physical Education Curriculum:

This year, we will continue to use the SPARK PE Curriculum. “SPARK PE was designed to be more inclusive, active, and fun than traditional PE classes, and SPARK was proven to work with both physical education specialists and classroom teachers.” (www.sparkpe.org)

Please be sure your student is prepared for PE! This means proper attire and footwear. If your student is wearing footwear that is dangerous for physical activities (flip-flops, open-toed shoes, high-heels, boots, etc.) they will be asked to not participate.

Health Curriculum:

Our Health classes this year are concentrated around the Health Standards for DCPS which are aligned with the National Health Education standards. I will also use curriculum from Welcoming Schools (www.welcomingschools.org) to combat bullying and promote a school culture that is accepting and welcoming of all students. In addition, Health includes: health promotion and disease prevention, access to and evaluation of health information, self-management skills, analyzing influences, interpersonal communication, and decision making and goal setting.

The BIG Change:

This year students in grades PS-5th will have PE and Health once a week. Students in 1st and 2nd grade will have an additional PE and Health class during the 1st half of the year. 3rd-5th graders will have an additional PE and Health class during the 2nd half of the year.

Maury Fitness Club:

Please stay tuned for these great fitness opportunities for 3rd-5th graders! I will be sending out more information in the next few weeks. Maury Running and recess time Fitness Club is now merged into one Maury Fitness Club. The club will meet both during recess and after school. More information to come in the Tuesday folder.

Continue to find news and information on the PE and Health Blog! Check back often to see updates on what your students are doing in class and what events will be coming up.

www.maurype.blogspot.com

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding Physical Education, Health or the Fitness Club. I know this year will be a great success!

Stay active and healthy!

Caroline Hunt

caroline.hunt@dc.gov

3rd Grade and Pre-school Get Together for a Multi-level PE Class

As the pre-school class is wrapping up their Ball Study, they joined one of the 3rd grade classes for a very fun PE lesson. The 3rd graders were asked to teach the 3 and 4 year-olds how to throw and catch. Then, the pre-schoolers shared some bouncing and catching tricks they learned in PE class. Both groups of students were proud to share what they learned and excited to call themselves teachers. Listening in on one conversation, I overheard a 3rd grader tell her partner, she should be a teacher when she grows up! (What a compliment!) It was great experience for all and an amazing site to see.