Phys. Ed. as an Occasional Teacher - Dodgeball

If you can dodge conflict, you can dodge a ball

If the regular classroom teacher has not specified a particular game/activity for Phys. Ed., I like to give the students an opportunity to nominate 4-5 activities.  I write the ideas down on the board and then we do a class vote.  I only take suggestions from quiet hands, i.e. students who are sitting quietly at their desks with their hands raised, and remind them to only vote once.  Most often, the top choice ends up being some form of Dodgeball.

There are so many different versions of Dodgeball and variations in rules, it can be hard to keep up!  Before playing any type of Dodgeball game, I clarify the following with the students:

1. Does the ball have to hit you from the waist down or from the shoulders down?
2. If you catch a ball someone else threw, is the thrower out?
3. If you fumble the ball, are you out?
4. If the ball bounces off of the floor/wall/etc. before hitting you, are you still out?
5. Can you block an incoming ball with the one that you are holding, or will you be out?

Note: Students will often say they know the rules already, but then contradict each other as they take turns explaining them to me.  I would rather take the time at the start to make sure everyone is on the same page rather than deal with constant arguments and disruptions throughout the entire period.

Still Experiencing Arguments/Disruptions? Try Quiet Dodgeball!

Turn any Dodgeball game into Quiet Dodgeball, where talking is equivalent to getting hit by a ball; if you talk, you are out!

Note: Only problem with this is that once you are out there is no longer a consequence for talking.  Usually it is enough to remind chatty students who are already out that, if they keep talking, I cannot hear properly to get others (such as their opposing team) out.   

Getting Complaints of Cheaters and Unable to Keep Track?  Try Time Bomb Dodgeball!

As an Occasional Teacher, I am most often teaching students who I am unfamiliar with, so I do not always know who in particular I should be keeping my eye on during competitive games.  I do not yet have a sense of which students will be too quick to accuse others of cheating, which ones will be reluctant to fess up when they should be out, etc.  My primary concern is always safety.  With multiple dodgeballs flying around, it is already hard enough to keep track of every throw.  If I have a group of students all standing in front of me complaining about who should or should not be out, I could miss witnessing and/or preventing a situation where a student could actually get hurt.  

Time Bomb Dodgeball is my new favourite version of Dodgeball!  I cannot believe I had never encountered this version until a couple of weeks ago!  The key to this one is that there is only one ball used, so there is only one ball to keep track of throughout the game.  Obviously you could play any version with just one ball, but this tends to lead to more complaints and lack of participation since most classes are used to 4 or more.

Time Bomb Dodgeball:

Goal:

The last person remaining in the game wins.

Equipment Required:

1 dodgeball

Rules:

No teams.  Start off using the entire gymnasium space.  As soon as someone picks up the ball, the entire class (or just the teacher) starts counting down from 10.  During that time, students take turns throwing the ball to tag each other.  The last person to be touched by the ball or to have touched the ball when the countdown is up is out!  As students get out, you can decrease the size of the playing area according to previously established boundaries.

One last piece of advice for Occasional Teachers: always bring a whistle!  Before even entering the gym I let the students know that 2 blows of the whistle means to Stop, Look, and Listen, no matter what.  If the whistle does not work effectively, getting everyone to sit down (either in a circle or wherever they happen to be standing) works quite well to quiet things down and get their attention.  If I have to resort to this then I give the class one warning, letting them know that the next time, we will head right back to the classroom; If I cannot trust them to stop when I need them to then I cannot ensure their safety in the gymnasium.


  

Linear Relations Guess Who

Can You Guess Who?

My Grade 9 Math Summer Session students are often having difficulty making connections between the different representations of a linear relation, i.e. recognizing how the same linear relation can be represented by a table of values, a graph, and an equation.  While browsing through Pinterest for more math game inspiration, I stumbled upon Guess Who - Linear Functions from "i is a number".  This seemed like a great concept for encouraging students to practise analyzing and comparing different representations of linear relations more confidently and quickly!  I adapted the cards to create my own "Linear Relations" Guess Who? for Grade 9 Math.

Making the Game:

Luckily, I was able to find an old Guess Who? set from my local Value Village.  Only the game boards themselves are needed, so no worrying about missing cards when buying the game used.  Make sure to double check that the game boards are not broken, however.  One of the white plastic frames from the blue game board had broken off, so I had to MacGyver a new one using a white paperclip and a hot glue gun.  It works, but did not turn out the prettiest (which is why I only included a picture of the red game board).

For my purposes, I chose not to include the written representations and only include tables of values, graphs, and equations.  Here are the small cards for my "Linear Relations" Guess Who.  I would have shared the large cards (Mystery cards) as well but for some reason the formatting of the large cards did not translate well from Microsoft Office to Google Docs.  Fortunately, the large cards have the same images as the small ones, and their size does not need to be as specific.  Two copies of the small cards are required: one on pink/red card stock and one on blue.  For the large Mystery cards, I chose a neutral but easy to read colour.

Note: If you find the small cards are falling out during use, consider sticking a piece of tape across the back of the frame.  Some people glue the cards to the frame, but you may want to swap out the cards to differentiate for different levels or to practise other skills.

Playing the Game:

Goal:

Guess your opponent's Mystery card before your opponent guesses yours.

Rules:

Ask one yes or no question per turn to eliminate any game board pictures (small cards) that do not fit the Mystery card's description.  If you make a wrong guess, you lose the game; so do not guess until you are sure!

The following are just some examples of yes or no questions you could ask:

• Does your linear relation have a positive slope?
• Does the equation represent a partial variation?
• Does your graph have a negative y-intercept?
• Etc.

While your students are playing, keep an ear out for the kinds of questions students are asking each other.  "i is a number" brought up a good point: a question such as "is it a graph?" technically fits the description of a yes or no question, but does not involve any analysis.  For my cards, however, I feel it may be necessary to narrow the options down to one final card.  One of my learning goals for this activity is to determine other representations of a linear relation, given one representation; because of this, a table of values, graph, and equation could all be described using the same properties and characteristics, making it necessary to clarify the representation as well.

Solving Equations Jenga

Jenga! J- J- J- Jenga!

Worksheets are great for practising basic math skills but can be tedious...  Why not make them into a game?  I am always trying to find ways to make math practice more fun, especially during Summer Session!  I decided to make my own "Solving Equations" Jenga for Grade 9 Math after seeing a variety of Jenga games for the classroom on Pinterest.

Making the Game:

Well...technically I used a mini version of "Tumbling Tower" that I found at Dollarama.  It was only $2.50 and is more portable and easier to store than a full-sized Jenga set!  I cannot remember which website I used as the source for my questions, but either of these would be great resources for practice questions:

• http://www.mathworksheets4kids.com/equations/
• http://www.math-aids.com/Algebra/Algebra_1/Equations/

I colour coded the two different sides of the bricks to better accommodate a range of abilities:

• Green side (easier): Basic 1- and 2-Step Equations.
• Blue side (harder): Equations with Variables on Both Sides and/or Brackets.

At least for the "Tumbling Tower" set, I recommend using a fine felt-tipped marker rather than a permanent marker; I first tried permanent marker but found it bled into the wood and made the equations harder to read.  I labelled the ends of each brick with a different number so that students can quickly check their answers with the "Solving Equations" Jenga Answer Key.

Playing the Game:

I use a file folder to store the "Solving Equations" Jenga Rules and Answer Key.

Goal:

Be the last player to stack a block without knocking over the tower, having correctly solved the block's equation.

Rules:

First player removes a block from anywhere below the highest completed story, using only one hand.  That player must correctly solve one of the equations shown on the block before stacking it on top of the tower at right angles to the blocks just below it.  If the player does not correctly solve the equation after the first try then they must take another turn, risking knocking over the tower again!

  

Side note: One drawback to using the dollar store version: since the wood is not as good of quality as the name-brand version, the first couple of pieces to be removed tend to get stuck.  I changed the one-handed rule to allow students to use their other hand to hold the blocks on either side, just for the first couple of turns.  After the first few turns though, the blocks move smoothly and it is back to using only one hand!  (If you run into this problem, warn the students ahead of time so they do not get instantly discouraged!)

If you would like to make your own Jenga game, I recommend checking out this DIY Jenga tutorial by "The Tutor House".  Unfortunately for me, I did not find this until after I made my own...but I plan to use it to help me make a full-sized whiteboard Jenga set once I have my own classroom :)