Physical Activity at School - Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU)

Equipment:

• 6 foam squishy balls
• 6 foam volleyballs
• 1 foam hockey stick per student
• 2 beach balls
• 2 sets of pinnies (12 in total)

Instructions:

Warm-up: "Pylon Down" (Involves throwing, catching and running)

1. Divide the gym in half. Divide the class into 4 equal teams. Each half will have 2 teams playing against each other.
2. Give one team in each half a set of pinnies.
3. Set the balls in the centre of each half.
4. Upon hearing a whistle indicating the start of a game, the students run to the centre to gain possession of the squishy ball then pass the ball to their teammates to knock down the pylon.

• Objective: Teams try to knock down the opposing pylon by throwing the squishy ball. Each pylon knocked down earns a point. There are no goalies.
• Progression: Add in beach balls or additional squishy balls.
• Safety: Set the boundary 1 m away from the wall. No body checking.
• o vs. x and a vs. b

Questions:

Q. What game does broomball remind you of?
Q. What are some strategies you can use to defend your net/pylon without having a goalie?
Q. How would you try to keep yourself open for a pass?

Activities/Drills:

Circle Pass (Involves passing and communication)

1. In the same groups as above (o, x, a, b) get students into a circle.
2. Give students sticks.

• Objective: Students, while moving in a clockwise direction, call out someone else's name in the circle and then using their sticks, pass the foam ball to that person. Students start with 5 seconds to call out and pass to another member.
• Progression: Decrease the amount of time a student has to pass the ball to 3 seconds.
• Safety: Tell students they can't swing the foam sticks and the bottom end of the stick must always touch the floor. No slap shots.

Questions:

Q. What are some things we have to consider when passing the ball?
Q. How would you position your body to ensure accuracy?

Give and Go (Involves passing, jogging and shooting)

1. Students remain in the same groups as above (o, x, a, b, groups).
2. Within these groups, students will get into partners.

• Objective: Students must pass the foam volleyball to a partner back and forth as they charge the net and finally one person will take a shot on the net.
• Progression: Have students take shots on net with dominant and non-dominant hand; have 1 defender against 2 offenders
• Safety: No slap shots. Wait until the ball is retrieved before the next pair goes.

Q. When passing the ball to your partner, where should you pass the ball in order to have a smooth pass?