Kincaid PE

eWelcome Back

I am sending this same letter home with all students.

Dear Parents:

    As a physical education teacher, my job is to teach students how to live a healthy life and how to maintain a healthy body.  During the last few years I have been shocked to find out how many children never go outside to play or get any physical exercise other than their P.E. class.  It has recently been reported that every child needs one hour of vigorous physical activity each day.  Children who do not meet this physical standard are 37% more likely to be over weight as an adult.  Unfortunately, many students here at Kincaid do not get that desired amount of exercise.  Their are students that have said to me, "I'm just not a good athlete," or "I don't like sports."  I  realize that P.E. is not everyone's favorite class and that athletics is not for all students.  Living healthy is not about being an athlete.  Running is about raising the heart rate, burning calories, being active, strengthening your heart muscle and increasing your endurance.  I also believe that a more active child is a more confident child.  It has also been proven that regular exercise improves academics. (Please see the link below)

    With the students only getting two days of P.E. a week, it is important to maximize all of that time.  I think it is imperative that children  move as much as possible.  The first thing we do everyday in P.E. is run.  We have talked to the students about pacing themselves so they can run for a longer period of time.  We have started out slowly and have been increasing the time as we have progressed.  Now that the students know we are running everyday, we are getting so many more notes about not being able to participate in the running.  I realize that for students who do not get as much physical activity, that the running will be more difficult for them.  I also know and expect that students could have sore muscles as they run for longer periods of time.

    WE NEED YOUR HELP!  Please encourage your children to try their best and to even try to push themselves harder.  I feel like a lot of students stop trying as soon as the running starts to get challenging.

    I have noticed that a lot of students that have notes to not participate will go out and participate in recess.  The students have been told that if they have a note not to participate in P.E. they will also not be allowed to have recess.  Please make sure that if you write a note for your child, that they truly cannot participate for medical reasons or a real injury.  Muscles can become sore and hurt after exercising.

    Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.  Hopefully with each others help, we can get our children to build healthy living habits and life long love of an active life style.  If you have any question or concerns please feel free to contact me.

Please click this link:  http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4764808n

eWelcome Back

cWelcome back everyone. I wanted everyone to know that fitness and healthy living is going to be my main focus for the rest of the year. All students are running for a certain amount of time when they come to P.E.  2nd through 5th are running for 6:30 minutes, 1st grade is running for 5:00 minutes and kind. is running for 4:30 minutes.  I am encouraging all students attempt to jog the entire time without having to stop and walk. 

Welcome

I would like to welcome everyone back to another great year at Kincaid.  The walking club will be starting the day after Labor Day.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate.  Do not forget that the Fun Run will be held in the Spring this year.  I will be sending home my welcome letter this week.  Please read it and if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask.

Thanks,

Mr. Furr

Fitness Test date

The Fitness test will begin February 25th.  We have been practicing the fitness test skills over the last couple of weeks.  I have also encouraged the students to practice at home.  We will start by testing abdominal strength (curl-ups) and then move on to test upper body strength (pull-ups, push-ups, or flexed arm hang).  Please make sure students come to class prepared by wearing clothes that are easy to move in and the proper shoes.  Thank you!

Fitness Test

Our fitness test will be starting again around the first of March.  Here is a list and description of all five skills that each student will be on.

Fitness Test

Push-ups - Right angle push-ups are what they are officially called.  In a push-up position, arms bend and the shoulders are even with your elbow.  Some of the common problems we see for push-ups are:

1. Student's back not staying flat
2. Student's shoulders not staying over their hands
3. Not going down far enough to count as a push-up

Pull-ups - Grab a straight bar with arms fully extended.  Pull body up until the chin is over the bar.  Lower body back down until arms are totally straight.  Pull-up will not count if arms stay bent throughout the entire motion.  The grip of the bar does not matter.  Palms facing you is normally easier.

*Students are asked to do pull-ups first.  If they cannot perform a pull-up, students will attempt a   push-up.  Kindergarten, first and second graders options are pull-ups or flexed arm hang.  Flexed arm hang is where you pull your chin over the bar and see how long you can hold that position.

Sit-ups - Student will lay down on their back with knees bent.  There should be some space between the body and the heels.  Arms should remain straight and on the thigh.  Using the stomach muscles, lift shoulders and back off the floor.  Hands should slide up the leg until the wrists are touching the knee cap.  Some of the common problems we see for sit-ups are:

1. Student's not coming up far enough
2. Student's using their neck to lift them up instead of squeezing their stomach muscles
3. Heels too close to the body, or too far away.  Feet should be about one foot away from body

Shuttle run - Mark an area 30 feet apart.  Place two objects like an eraser or a small plastic cup at one end.  Runner starts at the other end.  Person with the stopwatch starts the watch on the first motion of runner.  Runner will run down and pick up one object and place it on the starting line.  Runner cannot drop the object, they must place it on the ground.  Runner will then run down to get the other object.  Runner will run through the line with object.  Stop the time when runner runs through the starting line with second object.

V-sit - Sit on the ground with legs straight and feet one foot apart.  Have a ruler in the middle of legs, at the end of the feet.  Put hands on top of each other and with arms straight, stretch as far past the feet as possible.  Measure how many inches past the feet you can stretch.  Legs must stay straight and on the ground.

Mile run - Fourth and fifth graders run a full mile.  All third grade runs a half mile.  Second graders will run either a half mile or a quarter mile depending on their birthday.  If student is eight years old before the start date of the test, they will have to run a half mile.  Kindergarten and first grade run a quarter mile.

I know that some of this is confusing, but hopefully this will shed a little light on how the students are tested.  If you have any questions about the skills, please contact me.  Please check back soon for the exact date of the start of the next fitness test.

Please encourage your students to practice at home.

New Floor and New Attitude

I want to say how thankful I am to be at Kincaid with so many wonderful students, parents and teachers.  The family of Kincaid has been so supportive and helpful in getting our new gym floor.  The SportCourt floor was installed over the Winter break.  The kids love it!  I invite you to visit the gym and see what all the talk is about.  I was able to custom design the floor so I could get the most out of the students and the classes.  With the number of students in the gym, the organization of the classes are now much easier.  And the colors are GREAT!!  Thanks again for all the support.

Fitness test

We have just started our Fitness test.  There are five different areas all students will be tested on.  Sit-ups, push-ups or pull-ups, shuttle run, stretching, and the mile run.  Depending on the age of the student, all standards are different.  Only fourth and fifth have to run a full mile.  All third and some second grade run a half mile and the other part of second, all of first, and all of kind. run a quarter mile.  The fitness test awards will be handed out at the end of the school year.  I will be sending a information sheet home with each student.  I hope to have it ready the same time that report cards are ready. 

Parents, please ask your student about the fitness test and encourage them to practice on the skills that we will be testing.  I encourage all students to practice at home.  I give examples and ideas of how to practice at home. 

Along with the fitness test, I am also going to be testing them on some of the basic skills that we learned during our gymnastics unit.

After the fitness test is completed, we will be working on our cup stacking.  I am going to try to allow the students to order speed stacks cups like we did last year.  I will send home information toward the end of March.

Thanks for all your hard work,

Mr. Furr

Team Handball and Cup Stacking

The 4th and 5th grade classes have started their team handball games.  The students picked all the teams.  The teams voted on the team names.  Every team has a girl and boy captain.  The captains are in charge of making a sub list and other decisions regar

ding the games.

The other classes have started cup stacking.  The students have been very excited about learning the proper way to stack.  All grades are working to learn what is called "The cycle".  The cycle is a certain pattern to stack 12 cups.  The cycle is made up of three seperate stacks: 3-6-3, 6-6, 1-10-1.

Sometime in Feburary or March, I will be making another school order for the cup stacking cups.  Students will be allowed to purchase cups, timers, mats, and other equipment at a reduced price.  The school does not make any profit from this order.  The merchandise is less expensive for the students because I buy it through the school.  Many of you ordered last year, and have loved being able to practice at home.

All the classes are also working on juggling.  I have encouraged the students to practice at home.  They can use plastic bags from Publix or Kroger in place of juggling scarves.  Parents' have your students try to teach you how to juggle.  It would be a great way for you to spend some learning time with your child and have fun, too.

Fun Run

Thank you for everyone who came and participated in the Fun Run.  The weather was wonderful, and I hope everyone had a great time.  We raised over $700 for American Red Cross.  Thank you for all your support.