Last week 2nd and 3rd grade reviewed underhand tossing and evaluated their skills. Working independently at first and then with a partner, they completed thirteen tasks six times each. After the sixth attempt at a task they decided if they could do the skill or needed more practice based on the number of times they were able to catch the toss. A few of the skills were tossing the ball up to self and catching, tossing to the wall and catching, and tossing to a partner. The skill the children struggled with most was tossing the ball up, spinning around, and catching. Interestingly, this was also one of their favorite skills. We used tennis balls for this lesson (some students chose a light weight foam ball for partner work) which the kids seemed to really enjoy. The size of the tennis ball, the way it bounces, and the sound it makes excites and challenges kids of this age.
We also watched a four minute BrainPop video about the heart. Before watching the video I asked the kids to look for the answers to four questions. Those questions were: 1- How big is the heart? 2- What protects the heart? 3- What important job does your heart perform? 4- How do you care for your heart?
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