Volleyball

The kindergarten students started the week off working on locomotor skills. Five stations were set up that keyed on a specific skill. All skills were modeled and each station explained. The students were asked to do a self assessment at each station. If they completed the station they earned "money." As the stations increased in difficulty, so did the dollar amount. The students were urged to rotate through stations equally - but as you might expect, the big bucks for skipping were hard to ignore. In the end, they all had fistfulls of dollars.

Jumping - $1
Galloping - $5
Hopping - $10
Leaping - $20
Skipping - $50

The rest of the week was dedicated to hand-eye coordination with an emphasis on basic forearm passing technique. Creating a solid flat surface for the the ball to contact is very important in volleyball. The tendency for beginners is to interlock fingers and box at the ball above the head. Instead students should grasp one hand within the other, squeeze thumbs, wrists, and even elbows together.


Balloons were used to introduce and revisit this concept. They provide ample time for students to get their hands, arms, and feet in the right position. The older students progressed to soft volleyballs and had the opportunity to play mini games using the forearm pass. The server would toss the ball up (enables them to get set) and then pass the ball across the line. If it landed in the designated rectangle they earned a point and the opponent would then catch the ball after the bounce. they would then repeat the process.


Finally, fourth grade students used the forearm pass in a rally game similar to the one above. Instead of catching the ball after a bounce though, the ball was returned directly to the opponent using a forearm pass. Rallies continued until someone missed the designated rectangle.

On Friday, each class was assessed on cognitive objectives regarding the forearm pass, and overall, they did a great job demonstrating that they understood the content covered.

Up next - fitness testing. Yipee!