HKIS MS Grade 7 Physical Education & Health Class Update

Dear Parents of grade 7 students,

During quarter 3 our 7^th Grade PE students have completed a series of ‘Fitness’ lessons, focusing mainly on cardio-respiratory endurance. Many students demonstrated a marked improvement in their 1-mile run times, and this bodes well for the final fitness challenge of the year coming up in quarter 4. Other students realized that that they need to spend more time working on their cardio-respiratory fitness to appreciate more significant improvements.

To support students with their work on fitness our 7th graders have each analyzed their running form - be sure to ask your kids to walk you through this with the materials posted on the PE page on MyDragonNet. If you watch the NYRR video on 'posture' and then watch your son/daughter's footage, you will be well set-up with the basics for offering some coaching advice.

Since our last update, other activities have included encouraging our students to step out of their comfort zones and challenge themselves in the high element activities of our ‘Adventure Learning’ unit. We worked on our motor skills and strategies for using space to our advantage in 'Badminton' and are currently working on using space well with a focus on team support strategies in our ‘Soccer’ activities. We have also explored a selection of ‘fitness games’ that proved to be great activities for engaging students in interval training without them realizing that they were getting a work out. The same cannot be said for our introduction of ‘circuit training’, which was just plain good old fashioned hard work!

Each student’s ‘performance’ and ‘work habit’ assessments have been updated and are available on the new PowerSchool system. Please have your child guide you through the system and use this as an opportunity to hear about their areas of growth and the areas they need to pay more attention to.

All students have the opportunity to ‘redo’ an assessment (time permitting) in any component of a standard where their overall level of proficiency is below ‘Meets Expectation’. In order to take this opportunity:

• Students must reflect on the comment/strategies offered on PowerSchool.
• Students must take the time to work on improving their performance.
• Students must arrange a time (outside of class and within two weeks of receiving their assessed level of proficiency) to demonstrate their conceptual understanding and improved performance.

At the beginning of April students will be encouraged to select an elective activity from ‘Self-Defense’, ‘Ultimate-Frisbee’, ‘Dance’ or ‘Triathlon’. Assessment in these ‘electives’ is focused on Standard 5: ‘interpersonal skills’ rather than ‘performance skills’, as students are encouraged to take a risk and try an activity that they may have little previous experience of, assured that their performance in a new/unfamiliar skill will not reflect negatively on their grade.

As summer temperatures begin to rise and we move toward the end of the school year, we move our program more in doors and students can challenge themselves and enjoy our 'Water Adventure’ component and experience the final component of our Health Unit –  'Puberty & Relationships.' I will send out an email to parents two weeks before the commencement of this series of lessons, detailing the content and providing a reminder of the opportunity for you as a family to engage in dialogue about healthy relationship issues.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via email.

Kind regards,

Michael Coleman

Middle School Physical Education Department