B.E.A.R day

Bear day is an extra special day at Pathfinder where we get to be excited about reading.

This year in the gym we spent BEAR day focusing on soccer. We had a special visit from Soccer Bear who brought us books about two great Soccer athletes. 

We also were able to enjoy practing our soccer skills at all age levels.  Here are a couple of our 1st graders in action. 

The 6th and 7th grade classes also wrote some amazing biographies about soccer players. Stop by the gym to see their work on the bulletin board. 

--- An extra special thank you to all of the families that donated books to my classroom collection. I am excited to be able to share them with my students. 

We are on a pine cone hunt!

We are all so thankful for Spring in Northern Michigan.  We have been outside exploring the world around usand finding new ways to be active.  Our lower elementary students (K-2) went on a pine cone hunts earlier this week.  After hiking to the hoop house we raced all over for 5 minutes finding as many pine cones as we could.  We observed them to see if all of the cones were the same and what types of differences they had.  The 1st and 2nd graders picked 10 cones and arranged them in order of size.  Both groups were able to demonstrate their over-hand throwing skills with a pine cone toss at the end of class.

Kindergarten students showing off their huge pile of pine cones. 

 First and second grade enjoying a moment to relax with their collection

 How do your cones measure up?

 Look at that arm!  

How can you find ways to be active in the world around you?  

Middle School Geocachers

Have you ever gone geocaching?  Neither have most of our students.  

Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity that uses GPS signals or other navigational tools to hide and seek geocaches.  Essentially, it is a modern version of a treasure hunt and Pathfinders beautifully wooded campus is the perfect place to play.   We created our own maps and written directions to guide our classmates to our treasures.  After finding the "caches" the students had to guess who they had.  

Check out https://www.geocaching.com/ to find local geocaches in your area.  There are over 120 in the Traverse City area.  Get out and go hunting with your family.  You never know what you might find!!

Bowling at Pathfinder

During March we had the pleasure of working directly with Lucky Jack's Bowling Alley.  They provided us with 5 in school portable bowling lanes.  Students in grades 5-8 were able to learn about the history and rules of this ancient sport.  (Did you know that bowling has been around since 5200 BC?) They also learned how to use proper form, bowling terms and of course how to score by hand.    Our 5th and 6th graders were able to directly apply this information on their PE field trip. 

It was impressive to watch them successfully score their games by hand.  This is a skill long lost to the computerized age.  It also helps them to hone in on their mathematical skills.  

Fun with balloons in 2nd grade

We have done so much in the last month.  One of our favorite activities involved playing with balloons.  The 2nd grade class worked on perfecting their volleying skills by practicing with balloons.  Due to their slower fall students have a chance to get prepared for the balls approach.  We worked individually, with a partner and as a full class(2 teams).  

 

 At the end of class we even got to pop the balloons!

Jump Rope for Heart 2015

Jump Rope for Heart was a blast at all ages!  We had students from Kindergarten to Eighth Grade learning different skills appropriate to their age levels. Our students worked hard to collected over $2,300 for the American Heart Association.  Thank you for all of your support and here is a small sampling of what we learned during our  jump rope unit.  

We had fun jumping on our own...

and with our friends!

We even got to try out the cool new Chinese Jump Ropes that Pathfinder just received this year!!

Our middle school students worked on creating their own jump rope routines.  Check out this routine that was featured last week at Pizza Lunch.  

Can you keep up? 

Curling is sweeping Pathfinder Middle Schoolers

Our 7th and 8th graders learned about a winter sport that is sweeping through the Grand Traverse Region. Curling is a sport that has been around for hundreds of years.  However, the TC Curling Club has recently brought this fun sport to our region.  We were so excited to partner with this club for our Curling Field Trip.  Our students also did some research about the sport prior to our trip.

Have you tried curling yet?