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"There was no reason to
dislike him,
and nobody did"
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As my students worked on the various Go Yankee activities I occasionally heard a student hum, sing, or make reference to the classic song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”. I was thinking about this when on a student asked. “Can we go to a Yankee home game?" Why not I thought have our own World Series. If we can’t go to the stadium why not bring the ballgame home. My students took over the planning for this event. The true authors of this activity are the students of Class 502.
Let's Play Ball
The “World Series” activity presents an opportunity for students to play baseball as they pretend to be their selected role model. And to share once again their stories and baseball cards. Students dressed in Yankee uniforms, store bought and homemade played the position of the player they researched. Before and after the games anecdotes about the personal and professional life of the individual players were shared. As prearranged an emphasis was place on relating anecdotes illustrating how individual players overcame personal and professional obstacles in pursuit of the dream of wearing Yankee pinstripes.
Calendar of Home Games:
“The World Series” activity can held on a sunny afternoon or morning in your schoolyard or at a local park. Allow at least three 50-minute, two for playing baseball and one for the sharing of stories. I used an entire day to ensure that each student had an at bat and was able to share at least one anecdote. The creation of baseball uniforms and the writing of the anecdotes should be assigned as homework a few days prior to the event.
Warm-Up Pitches:
Advanced Preparation
Review of the rules of baseball, the assigning of teams, the creation of uniforms, permission to use the schoolyard or park and the writing of the anecdotes should be completed ahead of time. If the student created baseball cards are to be shared and trading additional printing of the cards must also be done ahead of time. I held my World Series in a local park. This required that permission slips be sent home and signed by the parents. Fortunately, and unforeseen by me at the time, this proved to have an added benefit. Several parents attended the event and brought food and beverages as well. We ended having a free concession stand full of Dominican food, snack food, water, juice, and soda. Based on this experience, I strongly suggest that advance preparations for this activity included inviting the parents. Aside from possible donations to the "concession stand", you will have fans in the stands and perhaps a possible umpire or right fielder!
The Batter’s Box:
Materials Needed
A plastic bat, plastic balls, bases, and place to play are of course the necessary materials needs. Digital, video, and still camera are great to have on hand to record the event.
Getting on Base:
Vocabulary
The vocabulary needed involves baseball terms, and related positions, and rules. While it may not be necessary for a student to know the difference between a slider and a curve ball she needs to know were the short stop stands. I realized the importance of this when one of my students said to me, “I am the short stop and I don’t know what that means.”
http://library.thinkquest.org/11902/cgi-bin/allterms.html
Complete listing of baseball terms
http://library.thinkquest.org/11902/cgi-bin/search.cgi
Baseball and physics dictionary
http://baseball-almanac.com/rule2.shtml
Rules and regulations great listing of baseball terms vocabulary
Hitting for the Cycle:
Procedures
Set a date for this activity and make all the necessary arrangements: booking the playing field time, arranging for a transportation pass if necessary, and sending home and collecting permission slips. Be sure to follow all school rules and regulations for out of classroom activities. You may need to ask your principal for permission and to check the school calendar for available dates.
Assemble all the materials needed: bats, balls, mitts, uniforms, and bases. Assign students the responsibility of transporting these materials to and from the playing field.
Arrange the class into teams
Select a common theme for the anecdotes such as facing obstacles in Life, meeting new challenges, or working to your potential
Have students write a selection of anecdotes about their player that related to the chosen theme.
Students create their own New York Yankee uniform. Some of my students simply used a blue marker and a white t-shirt.
Go to the park, share stories, and play ball
Upon return to the class take time to discuss common personality traits and similarities in approaches to meeting challenges that can be found among various New York Yankees. Ask students to relate these stories to their own experiences and views of life.
The Pitcher’s Mound:
Web Sites of Interest
MVP:
Student Baseball Cards, Surveys, and Posters
The Scoreboard:
Assessment Ideas
Along with your students create a rubric to rate their level of team spirit and sportsmanship
Assess how well the students are prepared to share anecdotes about Yankee players
Assess student presentations of anecdotes
Observation and anecdotal notes
Conduct one-on-one interviews
Batting Practice and Extra Innings:
Homework and Extension Activities
Write a descriptive paragraph about the event
Write an informative essay in the style of a newspaper or magazine article about the event.
http://aol.sikids.com/ "Sports Illustrated for Kids"- sports news and scores
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc3/yahooligans/baseballnews Baseball new stories, includes a link to ESPN
Defend the merits of sportsmanship
Present in writing or orally what you learned about a particular Yankees from another classmate
The Seventh Inning Stretch:
Extension Activities for Group Work
Debate baseball as America’s favorite pastime
Create a web page using the photos taken and the stories shared at the “World Series”
Conduct interviews in the form a of radio or television talk show with individual players/students
Design and create a board game involving baseball
Rent, view, and discuss a video based on baseball such as “Angels in the Outfield” or “The Sandbox Kids”
Build a scale model of Yankee Stadium
Explore the following sites:
http://yahooligans.com/content/ask_earl/20010531.html
Ask the expert example what is a curve ball; includes interesting links to other sites
http://exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/news/september97.html
“How far can you hit one?” The science behind a home run
http://exploratorium.edu/baseball/timemachine.html
The Science of Baseball: Baseball Time Machine-
students move a player through
time and see how his statistics change
http://baseballhalloffame.org/games/index.htm
Games and activities also includes Hall of Fame Haiku Contest
http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/6082/5stm.html
Baseball and math fun math activities and word problems using baseball
Baseball math games, practice in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
Comments from the Coach:
Tips for Teachers
Ask student or a parent to be the cameraman
Invite the local press
Submit pictures taken to the student newspaper or yearbook
Make a day out of it and have a picnic too
Adjust the number of innings per game so everyone has a chance to play
Have fun
Post-Game Locker Room Interview:
Personal Reflections
Activities outside the classroom are always a treat for students and they generally afford the opportunity for the greater development of social skills. Class outings also provide opportunities for parents to participate. While my students inspired this activity, “The World Series”, it was the special involvement of their parents that made it so dynamic. Some parents helped to create a free concession stand and many others helped their children to create a Yankee uniform or to practice presenting their anecdotes. Families came together sharing baseball stories and memories. When we left park, we didn’t remember which team won which game, we just thought “We are number one”, we are “All Star Players”.
The Home Plate Umpire:
The Standards
Students will:
Develop and enhance social skills
Learn and employ the rules of a game
Participate in group discussions
Prepare and deliver individual presentation
Develop speaking and listening skills
Develop an understanding of the rules of English in oral work
Debate, share and present information
Write descriptive and informative essays
Participate in a group event
Participate in group discussions
Demonstrate an understanding of the English language in written and oral work
Work cooperatively with a team
Demonstrate good sportsmanship and team spirit
Appreciate the significance of baseball literally, figuratively, and metaphorically both "on and off" the field
Go Yankees