Welcome to grades 3-5 Physical Education
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Mr. Mitch Jensen (click the email address below) mjensen@eagleridgeacademy.org
I am excited to work with you this year. This is my 43nd year of teaching Physical Education. This is my 14th year at Eagle Ridge Academy. I have taught all grades from kindergarten to 12th grade. I have been married for 43 years and have two adult sons. I also have two granddaughters who attend ERA as fifth graders. The other two members of the family are our two dogs Bingo and Brooke. I coached high school football and wrestling for 25 years. I have also coached elementary age baseball and junior high basketball. I was an umpire for high school baseball for 25 years as well. I am looking forward to teaching you the importance of physical activity, team work and other healthy habits. Go Gryphons!
My philosophy for Physical Education class!
"The results of good physical education are not limited to the body alone, but extend even to the soul itself." Aristotle 350 B.C
Physical Education is an important part of any school's overall program. Physical education provides students with an opportunity to include physical activity (exercise) as part of their daily routine. By offering students at least a moderate level of daily exercise, physical education teaches the importance of physical activity in developing healthy life style habits.
Classes offer a variety of activities aimed at introducing students to various movements, skills, sports, games and other physical tasks that will stimulate both cardiovascular and muscular systems, leading to improved fitness levels. Other class goals include learning game rules, terminology, strategies, skills, spatial awareness, team work, leadership behavior and sportsmanship. By doing this, students will have a better understanding and an increased appreciation for these activities.
The physical education program also strives to create an atmosphere that is not intimidating but rather fun and enjoyable which will in turn teach students that exercise can be fun. If students perceive exercise as enjoyable they are more likely to make it a part of their daily routine outside of school and later in life.
Regular exercise promotes physical, mental and social health, by improving fitness levels, burning calories, reducing stress, helping to promote quality sleep, teaching sportsmanship, encouraging assertiveness, teamwork and fostering leadership skills.
Students will attend physical education class three days a week for roughly 25 minutes a day. I look forward to getting to know and work with your child this year.
class goals and standards
The goals for physical education class are as follows:
1. Students will obtain an improved level of fitness, including muscular strength and endurance, cardiovascular endurance, improved flexibility, and agility.
2. Students will improve their perceptual motor skills. This will include overall coordination, balance, spatial awareness, rhythm, hand/eye coordination, foot/eye coordination, and an awareness of the body's parts and musculature and how they work together to create movement.
3. Students will improve their ability to perform fundamental motor skills. These will include locomotive skills (running, skipping, galloping etc.) non-locomotive skills (bending, arm and leg movements, calisthenics etc.) and manipulative skills (throwing, kicking, batting, hockey sticks, etc).
4. Students will learn social skills in the form of listening to and following directions, taking turns, sharing, team work, leadership, fair play and sportsmanship.
5. Students will strive to fulfill the "six pillars" (citizenship, integrity, perseverance, honor, excellence, respect) in everything we do.
6. Students will HAVE FUN, and leave class with a smile on their face.
7. Classes will teach to the (Shape America) standards, formerly known as the NASPE standards. These standards have been adopted by the state of Minnesota.
8. You can view documents showing two different snapshots of these standards as well as the full document by clicking on the links below.
GRADING PHYSICAL EDUCATION
3-5 Physical Education Grading
In an effort to better reflect the Physical Education standards set by the state of Minnesota we will be using the following system for determining grades for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade Physical Education. Student grades will be based on three categories. They are as follows: Active participation (standard 3), Social interactions (standard 4) and Motor Skills and Knowledge of Concepts (standards 1 and 2) See the rubric doc. below.
Active Participation (40% of the grade) Students will have an opportunity to earn 10 points during each of the three days in a weekly cycle. Maximum points per weekly cycle is 30. Active participation includes: coming to class ready for activity with proper shoes and having them tied, staying on task all period and giving their best effort regardless of their skill level. Students are expected to persevere through warm ups and situations that may be difficult. Students will be encouraged to challenge and push themselves during exercise sessions, while demonstrating a positive attitude and a willingness to try new things.
Social Interaction (30% of the grade) Includes: student demonstrating the ability to follow class and school rules, student’s interaction with other students while sharing, taking turns, good sportsmanship, encouraging students of varying abilities, demonstrating integrity during all activities, demonstrates squad and line etiquette, being respectful of the teacher, peers and school property. A strong emphasis will be placed on reinforcing ALL of the pillars of Eagle Ridge Academy. They are as follows: Citizenship, Integrity, Perseverance, Honor, Excellence and Respect. If students are ask to sit out due to disciplinary action they will also lose active participation points.
Motor Skills and game concepts (30% of the grade) Students should demonstrate the ability to perform various motor skills and manipulative skills, as well as an awareness of game rules, concepts and strategies. Emphasis will be on the student’s willingness to try new things and to perform these skills to the best of their ability. Students will be encouraged to work toward proficiency of various skills and movement patterns.
Frequency - All grades 3-5 will attend physical education class three days a week. In grades 4 and 5 students will take a "Fitness Challenge" to give them feedback on their level of fitness. Scores on the challenge do not affect their grade. See "The President's Challenge" below for more details. Students in third grade will start to learn the various physical tests that make up the "President's Challenge".
Click on the Assessment Rubric doc. below to see how points are determined for each cycle activity.
Required dress for Physical Education classes
Students will need a pair of sneakers/tennis shoes for 3-5 Physical Education. It is very important that they wear a shoe that allows them to run, jump, stop and start quickly and change directions without slipping. Without proper footwear, students risk slipping and falling or rolling an ankle. A shoe that is marketed as active wear is not necessarily a good shoe for gym class. Please view the picture below for examples of acceptable shoes. Students should always come to class with “gym” shoes on. Students who come to class without proper shoes will likely not be allowed to take part in the day's activity because the gym floor will be damaged by street shoes and boots. It is also unsafe for them to participate with street shoes on. Students that don't participate in gym class due to improper shoes will receive a zero for the day. Also their shoes should fit well enough that they don’t come off during vigorous activity. Please encourage your student to learn how to tie and then practice tying their own shoe laces. Shoes that are not tied properly often fly off when kicking and create the risk of hitting another child. Girls who wear dresses or skirts should always have shorts or tights on underneath them. Please try to remember to have gym shoes available for your students on formal dress days when they are required to wear dress shoes to school.
Acceptable shoes for class.
The President's Challenge
"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to always try just one more time" Thomas A. Edison
Due to the Covid 19 disruption for schools, I was forced to suspend this program. It was tough for students to perform the tests while social distancing and wearing a mask. I hope to replace this with some type of goal based fitness program in the future.
The President's Challenge gives the students an opportunity to discover their strengths and weaknesses in five areas of fitness. Grade five will take the challenge. Third grade and fourth grade will begin learning the various challenges so they are ready to take it in 5th grade. The challenges include the Pacer which is a cardiovascular endurance test, Push Ups, a measurement of upper body strength, Sit Ups, a measurement of abdominal/core strength, Sit and Reach which is a measurement of hamstring flexibility, and the Shuttle Run which is an agility test. The goal for this challenge is not for students to be the best in the class but rather to be their best in terms of healthy fitness. Students will strive to steadily improve their scores in the five different fitness challenges. The scores they earn do not affect their grade in the class. Each student should strive to earn a score that places them in the "Healthy Fitness Zone". If a student finds that they are not in the "zone" they then know that this is an area that they should focus on improving. Any student that completes all five of the challenges will earn a certificate. They will have an opportunity to earn excellence "Eagle Stickers" for their certificate by achieving a score that is at or above the high end of the fitness zone. Any student that earns five eagle stickers will also receive a Presidential Fitness Patch. We will practice the various challenges periodically throughout the year and students will be encouraged to practice them at home. See the links below to view the different challenges and the Healthy Fitness Zones for different age groups. Documents showing the current records can also be viewed.
>Healthy Fitness Zones Boys and Girls
>FITNESS CERTIFICATE Certificate copy download click here
Weekly Activities and Class syllabus
3-5 Physical Education Daily Routine
Classes are twenty five minutes long. When students enter the gym they go to their squad spots. While I take attendance, students are doing their “do now” which means making sure their shoes are tied well. After attendance we will do a warm up. We will have a variety of warm ups. Some involve general space and some will be done in personal space. When the warm up is over students go back to their squads where they will listen for an explanation of the day’s activity. After the activity time is over, students will again go to squads for reflection and dismissal.
To view the syllabus click here>
To view daily and weekly Phy. Ed. activities in Planbook please look below. You can see 4th and 5th grade by scrolling down.
Resources
Help students and parents help themselves by making resources easily accessible.