Island basketball

In this activity, the class will be divided into two teams: the "Sharks," who play defense and the "Swimmers," who play offense. The "Swimmers" attempt to cross the ocean and avoid the "Sharks."

A lesson plan for grade 5

By Resa Holt

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• PE Central Information about physical education programs

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Learning outcomes

Students will learn:

• ball control
• correct defensive position
• keeping body between ball and defense
• switching hands to keep ball between body and defense when necessary

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

30 minutes

Materials/resources

• cones to mark boundaries
• hula hoops—one per child for half of class
• basketballs—one per child for the remaining half of class
• whistle
• timer

Pre-activities

Students should have already practiced dribbling with correct form, focusing on fingertips, firm wrist, and eyes “looking up.”

Activities

1. For the first eight–nine minutes of class, students will do stretching exercises followed by a five-minute run.
2. “Sharks and Swimmers” game:
   • Use cones to mark corners of a court. One half of class will be “Sharks.” They scatter hoops out on the floor step with both feet in the hula-hoops. The other half of the class, “Swimmers,” will start the game from the end line. On the teacher’s command, the Swimmers attempt to cross the ocean as many times back and forth as they can by dribbling around the Sharks without losing control of their ball. As the Swimmers cross the ocean, stress that they dribble by each Shark.
   • Swimmers should keep control of a ball while moving their back or the opposite side to the Shark and changing dribbling hand in order to keep the ball farthest away from the Shark. The Sharks need to stay in the hoops all the time and maintain a good defensive position. They attempt to get possession of a ball by reaching out with hands and arms and attempt to tap the ball away. If the Swimmer loses control of the ball for any reason, he/she needs to stop and dribble in place ten times, then continue dribbling across the ocean.
   • After the Swimmers have been across the ocean a few times, increase the difficulty for the Swimmers by allowing the Sharks to have only one foot in the hoop at a time, which allows them to reach further.
   • Students switch positions during the game, so all the students have an equal amount of time as Sharks and Swimmers.
3. Follow this with a one-minute cool down.

Assessment

Teacher observation for:

• Students turn their backs toward the shark when appropriate
• Students successfully switch hands.
• Students have good defensive form as a Shark.
• Ball is under control.
• Body is under control when dribbling across the ocean.

Supplemental information

Modifications

This game may be modified to use at a lower grade level.

If Swimmers are not visiting all the Sharks, have them move their hula hoops more to the middle of the area so they are in a higher traffic area.