In Mrs. McKarski’s, Mrs. Franz’s and Mrs. Younes’s  kindergarten classes brought the Winter Olympics to Gockley Elementary school.  To start their Olympics unit, they learned about Beijing, China, where the 2022 Winter Olympic Games were held.  They learned about the opening ceremony and the meaning of the medals, olympic rings and the torch lighting ceremony.  To get ready for their trip to China, each student made a passport.  Germany, Italy and France joined together to participate in the Olympics.  Coach McKarski led team Germany, Coach Franz led team France, and Coach Younes led team Italy.

Let the games begin!!!!  Students held their country’s flags high to enter into the Olympic games on the Gockley playground.  Kindergarteners participated in 4 Olympic Events:  Figure Skating, Ice Luge, Speed Skating, and Ice Hockey.  Students practiced teamwork, cooperation, and peer support.  They were ALL winners, so each Olympian received a gold medal!  At the closing ceremony, each student celebrated with a torch treat made of crunchy orange cheetos and in a waffle cone to resemble the Olympic torch.  This unit was a great way for the classes to explore cultures and promote a positive classroom community through team building activities.  

In Mr. Berg's Physical Education classes students just finished a unit on soccer. The students practiced a variety of skills, such as passing the soccer ball, dribbling, and stopping the soccer ball.  Mr. Berg added an academic element to the skill where the students would have to be able to identify different letters and numbers on the soccer balls. The students also would come up with words that begin with their letter. Mr. Berg has the students currently practicing the different activities that will be part of field day. The students have been doing the hula hoop relay, the baton relay, frisbee throw, the egg and spoon race, and have been practicing for the main event, in the tug of war. After field day, the students will be moving into the baseball and kickball units. We will be working on how to stand at the plate, swinging the bat and which direction to run around the bases. 

In Ms. Kramer's Music classes, Kindergarten students are using Xylophones and Boomwhackers to explore high and low sounds, as well as singing with their high, low, and middle voices. Kindergarten students looked at the inside of a piano to test their theory that larger parts of an instrument make lower sounds and smaller parts make higher sounds. Student’s went home and told their parents what they saw when they opened the piano lid!

1st grade students are practicing rhythm, steady beat, and melody and are working on performing independently of the students next to them. They are practicing singing familiar songs on the solfege notes (Think “Do Re Mi” from The Sound of Music) while some of the class is singing the words. They are also practicing playing the steady beat on a drum while the other students tap the rhythm with rhythm sticks. 1st grade students just discovered that musicians get to take a little “break” when there is a rest. 

All students had a blast playing along to some favorite songs from Encanto on the Boomwhakers a few weeks ago. They focused on which note they were responsible for playing and made sure they played in time so the song sounded like what they knew it should!