Healthy Living

Playing a word game relay race

Healthy Living month is my favorite! It is so much fun, and the kids really connect to it.  This year my professional growth goal has been to include more activity in my lessons, so it all fit together quite nicely.  We have been starting out each day with Action Math.  This month we have been concentrating on the idea of practice - that the more you practice, the better you get.  They have been able to see how much more they can do now - both physically and mathematically - as we have worked each day. Most of them are up above their 1,000s counting by 10s as they do their jumping jacks! And that's the last of the challenges each morning.

Skip-Count Jumping Jacks
Champions of the Day

We have been talking about the different kinds of exercise as we do new activities, but the video from Ms. Simmonds really helped them tie things together. They had great discussions about how much sleep is needed, what kinds of foods are healthy foods and how important it is to be active.  One of the things I really appreciated is how Ms. Simmonds pointed out that it is as important to eat enough as it is not to eat too much.

Discussion time

Action Math

I was fortunate enough to have my nephews come spend the day with me this month as well.  Both of them are student athletes (one in high school, the other 8th grade), and have been diligent about learning how to be healthy.  I asked them if they would talk to my students about what it's like to be an athlete in school and how their choices affect their ability to work and participate in their sports.  The kids had tons of questions for them!

They were even willing to participate in Action Math and in our small group discussions about healthy living.

The boys working on their song

After we watched Ms. Simmonds' video, I divided the kids into boys and girls to do our monthly challenge.  They have such different ideas of what a dance should look like, it's easier for them (and more fun) when they do these kinds of things separately.  I have to admit, I was a bit worried about what they were going to come up with!  But in the end, they did a great job.  The boys are still practicing, but the girls were ready to record.

Although many of the challenges for the FAAR lessons were a bit to high a level for them, we did talk about drug and alcohol use this month several times.  We talk a lot throughout the year about brain development and why their brains work the way they do sometimes.  So that part of our discussion was pretty familiar to them.  But this is a tough topic for my kiddos each year, because many of them see both drug and alcohol abuse in their community, or they have had family members who have been victims of those who are under the influence.  It's hard for them to understand why it's okay for some people to have alcohol and others can't.  Especially when they see the results of overindulgence.  The challenges were a bit over their heads, but we wanted to participate anyway, so we adapted and created our own haiku:

Our brains - still growing

Alcohol - no good for us

Wait 'til we grow up