7/7/09 - Today, Miss Caroline and I took the fifth graders to a climbing wall in Littleton. Twelve girls put on harnesses at the Foothills Parks and Rec center and took their turns on the wall. Two center instructors gave them a quick overview of some climbing terms (what does "belay" mean?), hooked them up to a safety line, and up they went. The challenge was to make it to the top and ring the bell, which three girls (and Miss Caroline) did.
6/30/09 - Today the sixth-graders in Miss Caroline's Sports and Adventure class played tennis at nearby Sloan's Lake Park. Thirteen girls piled into the GI van and soon arrived at the park where they unloaded a big black bag full of tennis rackets and a lot of balls. A couple of girls and I brought our own racket. My relic is 35 years old, but it still works. The girls were interested in comparing it to the newer models which have been improved to have shorter handles and bigger faces.
It was a gorgeous day and Miss Amanda accompanied us after giving a short lesson in tennis court rules and scoring. She then led us in stretching exercises and chose four girls to play a doubles game, while lining up the others to play a game of "Jail." This is where I served the ball and the first girl in line would return it. If she missed or hit it out of bounds, she went to "jail" and had to retrieve balls for the rest of the game. If she hit it back in bounds, she could go to the end of the line to play again.
After practicing a bit (it's been a long time since I've played tennis), I was able to serve most balls to the right spot and I remembered how much I loved to play tennis. The girls seemed to enjoy it also and we spent the next two hours hitting and retrieving lots of balls, with other girls taking my place as server or switching out in the doubles match.
We cooled off in the shade and drank from our water bottles which Miss Caroline is always sure the girls bring with them for outside activities. Then we returned to the center.
6/30/09 - Today the sixth-graders in Miss Caroline's Sports and Adventure class played tennis at nearby Sloan's Lake Park. Thirteen girls piled into the GI van and soon arrived at the park where they unloaded a big black bag full of tennis rackets and a lot of balls. A couple of girls and I brought our own racket. My relic is 35 years old, but it still works. The girls were interested in comparing it to the newer models which have been improved to have shorter handles and bigger faces.
It was a gorgeous day and Miss Amanda accompanied us after giving a short lesson in tennis court rules and scoring. She then led us in stretching exercises and chose four girls to play a doubles game, while lining up the others to play a game of "Jail." This is where I served the ball and the first girl in line would return it. If she missed or hit it out of bounds, she went to "jail" and had to retrieve balls for the rest of the game. If she hit it back in bounds, she could go to the end of the line to play again.
After practicing a bit (it's been a long time since I've played tennis), I was able to serve most balls to the right spot and I remembered how much I loved to play tennis. The girls seemed to enjoy it also and we spent the next two hours hitting and retrieving lots of balls, with other girls taking my place as server or switching out in the doubles match.
We cooled off in the shade and drank from our water bottles which Miss Caroline is always sure the girls bring with them for outside activities. Then we returned to the center.
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