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Lesson #1: Following directions, learning rules, and the learning the history of basketball.

Grade: 6th grade

PREREADING:

I. Motivation:

"Since we are done with our volleyball unit we will be moving into are next unit, which is basketball. Today, you are all going to be at a clinic; no, it is not a health clinic but a basketball clinic. You are going to learn about the rules, history, and skills of basketball. I want all of you to become so proficient with the rules and the calls of the game that I can call you my referees. You all have favorite NBA and WNBA players, and guess what? They showed up today, they are in the audience because they heard that we were having a basketball clinic. They came to see whether you guys and girls have what it takes. They are going to be scoring you on whether or not you know the skills, the history of basketball, and the rules/calls of basketball. I don't know about you but I do not want to disappoint them, so we better get started."

II. Prior Knowledge:

"I know that some of you are big basketball fans, because some of you have older brothers and sisters that play for the school. By a show of hands, how many of you have seen a basketball game? The game might have been a junior high game, varsity, college, or even a professional game. (most of the students if not all of the students should have raised their hands, now I am going to ask questions to try and see how much the students know about the history, rules, and skills involved in basketball.") Students should be writing in their KWL charts as students are discussing and answering questions.

Have any of you noticed the kind of calls and hand gesture the referees make during a game. What kind of calls do the referees make during a game? (a student may say traveling, I would then ask the student to demonstrate what the call looks like.) Would have the students go until the students are all out of suggestions, and I would redirect any calls that might be slightly off, and I would ask the students after ever suggestion what makes the referee blow his whistle and make that call. What did the player do wrong?

What are some of the skills needed to play the game of basketball? (students might reply you need to be able to pass, dribble, and shoot the ball.) What are some other physical or team skills you need to be a good basketball player? (A student might respond you need to be able to share the ball, you have to be in good shape, you have to be quick, jump high and run fast.)

Ask the students what they want to learn about, because I am sure we will cover it. Students should write what they want to know in their KWL Chart, under the "W" section. The first thing we are going to read and talk about is the history of the game, because knowing who created the game is a great start for our unit. We are going to compare and contrast how the basketball rules have changed. We are going to learn about the basic calls or rules the referees make during a game. We are also going to learn and practice some of the skills needed to play the game of basketball after the lesson.

III. Purpose:

"Our purpose today is to learn about the history, rules, and skills involved in the game of basketball. We will be reading about the history of basketball for informational background about who invented the game, why it was started, and how has it changed. We will also read information about various skills and rules involved and basketball, and will use this information to perform a task. The students will be asked to compare and contrast how the game of basketball has changed and stayed the same since it was first invented. The students should be looking and finding information about how the skills have changed but most importantly how the rules have changed.

IV. Strategy instructions: KWL Chart

Teacher Note: This is not the main strategy for the lesson.

The KWL chart strategy is used before, during, and after reading. I will guide the students through this strategy because we will be completing the KWL chart in a whole group setting. We have filled out the section "Know" and "Want to Know" in our KWL Charts. We have to focus on filling out the "What we learned" part of the KWL Chart, and we can do this by answering our questions from the "Want to know" section of the KWL Chart. When filling out the section "What I learned" you should also put facts and information that your classmates could benefit from also.

Steps to filling out the KWL Chart

1. Brainstorm what is known about the rules, history, and skills involved in basketball.

2. Organize thoughts and write them down under the "K" or What I know section of the chart.

3. Have the students write down what they want to know, have students also write done what you want them to know.

4. Read the expository texts.

5. Have the students write what they learned in the "L" or what I learned section on the KWL chart. (students should have answered all questions in the "Want to know" section and should also fill in information that is interesting and important for everyone to know.

Examples of KWL Charts

http://www.readingquest.org/pdf/kwl.pdf

http://www.readingquest.org/pdf/kwl_mod.pdf

IV. Strategy instructions: Compare and Contrast Chart

The compare and contrast chart is used during and after reading. I will guide the students through this strategy by modeling a couple of examples for them because, I want the students to get familiar enough with strategy that they can think for themselves and complete the compare and contrast chart. An example is provided for the students below.

Teacher: It is important to remember what we already know about basketball, as well as what the text says. To help use find the differences and similarities between the rules when they were first established and how they are in today's game, we are going to use a compare and contrast chart.

There are a few steps to remember when we are working with our compare and contrast chart.

1. Read the texts and find a rule that has been changed from when basketball was first played until how it is played today.

2. Write the rule under the rule section on the compare and contrast chart.

3. Write how the rule is similar, comparing it to how it was enforced in the past to how it is enforced today.

4. Write how the rule has changed, contrast how the rule is different today from when the rule was first established.

Teacher Note: the following link will provide an already made compare and contrast chart for the text.

Model:

Teacher: I want to show you how to use a compare and contrast chart so you know what to expect, if you have any questions please feel free to raise your hand and let me know when I am done modeling.

Teacher: First, I am going to search through the text after reading it and find a rule, such as the jump stop. This rule has similarities and differences from when basketball was first played to how it is played now.

Teacher: Second, we write our rule under the rule category.

Teacher: Third, we write down all the ways the rule is similar in the similarities category. So, for instance I would write that the player has to come to a stop with both feet picking up his/her dribble.

Teacher: Last, I would write how the rule has changed in the differences category. So, for instance I would take the two and find that in the 1934 rule a player could take and additional step or two after he/she came to a jump stop if needed. I know that in rule today you must come to a complete stop taking no steps, if steps are taken a travel will be called.

Guided Practice:

Teacher: Now that I have modeled one of the rules for you I want to see how well you can do it so let's do another rule as a class.

Teacher: Could I have a volunteer to pick the next rule from the timeline.

Teacher Note: Have a student read both the old rule and the new rule to the class.

Teacher: Ok, so the rule that you picked was subbing.

Teacher: Can I have someone tell me how the two rules are similar and how they are different.

Teacher Note: After the students are done discussing how they are different and similar the students should write those thoughts in the two categories provided on their compare and contrast chart.

Teacher: Now that we have written how the the two rules are similar and how they are different in our charts, I want you to finish the chart by picking three more rules and fill in how they have stayed the same and how they have changed over time.

Example of a Compare and Contrast Chart

Teacher Note: Students will write what rule they are talking about down the far left column as modeled. Students will right the similarities in the middle column, as shown. Students will then write the differences in the far right column.

Students will read the descriptive timeline for the rules of basketball and the the text of the 13 original rules. Students will then look and organize the rules that have changed over time. Students should pick the rules that have changed and then write it in the rules column comparing and contrasting the two.

Students will read the timeline and 13 original rules text and fill in their own compare and contrast chart. The two links of the text are provided below, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rules_of_basketball#Timeline_of_the_evolution_of_the_rules_of_basketball.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Naismith#13_Rules_of_Basketball_-_Written_by_James_Naismith

DURING READING:

Teacher Note: There are alternate texts for history and skills listed in the differentiation section, just following this section on readability. These alternative texts will help you to decide what text is appropriate for your students.

The History of Basketball

Since the following text is short, it would be appropriate to share it with the whole class. If readers need a differentiated text, the following link could be used with readers that are talented and gifted.

http://library.thinkquest.org/J002516F/history.htm

Readability: 6.5 grade level using the Flesh-Kincaid. This text is very usable in a sixth grade classroom. There are not a lot of longer words in this text which makes it easy to read. The students will easily grasp the history of the game through this text. This text is very relevant to the lesson. The drawbacks of using a readability formula are well-documented, so the cuing system and other readability factors should be considered. The following cues were considered with this text.

1. Graphic: There are no graphic cues within the text. However, there is a great picture of Dr. Naismith the creator of basketball at the top of the page. This picture gives the students an idea of who created basketball.

2. Semantic: The meaning of the text is very straight forward, so the students will understand what is being taught. This short passage is very brief; nonetheless, it describes a lot about the history of the game. The author did a great job keeping the text short, so the students will be eager to learn more.

3. Syntactic: The structure of the text is simple to follow. The sentences are kept very simple. There are very few challenging words in the text, and complex sentences are very scarce throughout the text.

4. Schematic: The text gives links that the students can use to play games such as hangman or regular quzzes. The students may have also come across similar information in earlier grades when they were in their basketball unit.

5. Text Structure: The text structure is very readable and easy to follow. The paragraphs are broken up with spaces in the text. The nice bold title with Dr. Naismith's picture underneath it draws the readers in. The hardwood court as the background color also makes it easy to read because the black text shows up nicely. Finally, the spacing and white space are just the right amount, making it easier for the students to read. When a student looks at this text, they will not loose their place or be dejected by the short paragraphs, they will instead be drawn to the text by the picture and the overall structure of the written passage.

Descriptive Timeline for the Rules of Basketball

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rules_of_basketball#Timeline_of_the_evolution_of_the_rules_of_basketball

The readability of this text is 6.4 grade level using the Flesh-Kincaid; the text structure may make this more difficult to read. There are many links within the timeline, which could make it more difficult to read. However, students should have no problem with a printed version of the text.

The Orginal Rules of Basketball

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Naismith#13_Rules_of_Basketball_-_Written_by_James_Naismith

The readability of this text is 6.8 grade level using the Flesh-Kincaid. This is an understandable readability level because the text is very straight forward and easy to read. There are not very many difficult words within the text. The students will look and read these two links about the rules, because this is the information that will help them fill in their compare and contrast charts.

Adapted text for the history of basketball

http://www.geocities.com/sissio/BBALLHIST.html

The readability of this text is 10.5 grade level using the Flesh-Kincaid; there are some longer words in the text that the 6th graders would already know, such as gymnastics and their are other words that could be defined before reading the text which would dramatically lower the readabilty. The drawbacks of using a readability formula are well-documented, so the cuing system and other readability factors should be considered. The cues could pose a problem with the students, because the text is not written very well. This text would work for talented and gifted readers, because the information is very similar. However, the information is just expressed in a more difficult way.

Skills that we will be practicing on later within our unit of basketball.

http://www.geocities.com/sissio/BBALLSKILLS.html

Students can read or look at this link to see what we will be discussing and learning about in later lessons of our basketball unit.

V. Text Structure

Teacher: The structure of the texts is expository. They use prior knowledge and description to teach the history and rules of basketball.

A strategy to support comprehension during reading is a Compare and Contrast Chart.

Please follow this link to the BDA strategies for reading comprehension. There you will find the guidelines and steps for executing this strategy for this lesson.

VI. Vocabulary

Teacher Note: These are the new vocabulary words for this lesson. They will be posted on the gym wall with a picture so the students will remember how to spell them and what they look like. These vocabulary words should be introduced before the reading, with a short demonstration of what they look like so the students can reinforce the picture in their mind as they read and practice the skills after reading. It is important that the students understand these words or they will have difficulty with the text. Following up on some of the links and using context clues will help the students find the definition of the new words, and will help them practice these skills after the reading.

Vocabulary words/skills

1. Field Goal: "A field goal or basket was changed from counting as three points to two points."

2. Double Dribble: "The dribbler was permitted to shoot. In addition, the dribble was defined as the "continuous passage of the ball," which made the double-dribble illegal."

3.Traveling: "Running, or "traveling," with the ball was changed from a foul to a violation."

4. Jump Stop: Not specifically mentioned in the text, but important to know because if done improperly will lead to a traveling violation.

5. Jump Ball: "The "held ball" could be called when a closely guarded player withheld the ball from play for five seconds. The result was a jump ball."

VII. Content:

Teacher Note: The following link will take you to the national standards for grades 5-8 in physical education. In the standards for K-4 you will find the content that the students should have learned before. In the prior knowledge section their is information that students should look at or be familiar with before starting the lesson.

http://www.education-world.com/standards/national/nph/health/5_8.shtml

After Reading:

VIII. Questioning:

Teacher Note: Question-Answer-Relationships (QAR) is the questioning method used in this lesson plan. To set the students up for success the teacher needs to first model the approach. The teacher can do this by answering the question and following it up with where the answer came from. There are four types of questions that the children will have to answer; which include: Right There, Think and Search, Author and You, On Your Own. The students will also have to identify where they found their answer.

For example: (taken from the history of basketball, a selected piece from the lesson.)

Text explicit: Who invented the game of basketball? (Dr. James Naismith. The answer is Right There because the text says, "Basketball was invented years ago by an American named James Naismith.")

A helpful link that guides and gives teachers instructions on how to teach QAR is:

http://www.itrc.ucf.edu/forpd/strategies/stratqar.html

IX. Writing to Learn Activity:

Teacher Note: Student's will write in their journals since this lesson is part of a unit. Student journals will be benificial, because the teacher will collect and read their thoughts, finding out what their strengths are and what they need to work on. The students would reflect on the major concepts learned throughtout the lesson such as: rules, history, and skills.

Some suggestions for the student's daily journal entries.

1. Have you ever played basketball before. If so, what did you like about it and was there anything that you did exceptionally well?

2. Watch a game of basketball and write down any rules, skills, objects, or violations that happen throughout the game that you know or have heard about before?

3. If their was one thing that you need to work on to be the best basketball player you could be, what would it be?

X. Closure:

Teacher: Now that we have learned about the history of basketball and how the rules have changed over time, we are ready to look at and practice some of the skills involved in basketball.

Teacher: We have finished reading or texts and answering the comprehension questions, I would like you to pull out your compare and contrast charts and fill the rest of it out with your groups. Make sure that your groups are discussing the old rule and the new rule and finding how they are similar and how they are different. If you have any questions just raise your hand and I will come by.

Teacher: Now that we understand how basketball was invented, the many rules, and the skills involved to play you can play at a higher level. This new knowledge will allow you to play smarter. You can use this newly acquired knowledge when you are watching and playing basketball. Remember that the individuals that play varsity, college, and even professional did not get there knowing nothing about the game or by not practicing. It is important to have the physical skills involved in basketball, but remember that it is equally or if not more important to know about the history, rules, and skills.