Basketball

On the first day I tell my students we are going to be starting basketball. Some of the first responses I get: "Mrs. S, can we play a REAL basketball game today? "If I had a dollar for every time I had to explain to my students why we don't just start the basketball unit by jumping into playing a game....

My response is to ask them to tell me a sport that they DON'T play or a sport that they have not played very much. After I get the "I play every sport" response, I ask them, "If I handed you a (insert sporting equipment) and told you to get out there and play (insert sport of choice) after only hearing the rules once or twice, would you feel comfortable?" While I sometimes have to branch out and use sports like handball and curling to find a sport no one plays, the main point is to teach that without practice of skills over a longer period of time can we jump right into playing a game. While I understand that many of my students DO play basketball, everyone gets the most out of our 30 minutes 3 times a week by practicing drills or playing games that involve the skills of basketball from all levels of experience so everyone can play. Are some classes ready to play a full court game by the end of the unit? Sometimes. But not until consistent practice of these skills do we get to the point that this can happen. 

Over the last few weeks we have been practicing our dribbling, shooting, passing, and defensive skills. In this time I have played paparazzi and caught some moments as they improve. Slow it down with everyone's new favorite "slo-mo" feature on our iphone, and you have a chance to watch for things like form when shooting, whether or not the student is looking up while dribbling, and foot placement--plus, it just looks really cool! 

Enjoy this short video of my 1st-4th graders working the SPEDS basketball court!