Physical Education for the 21st Century
Grade 5
Invasion Games 2024
Central Idea
Teams actively learn physical and personal skills to cope with situations of adversity
Introduction
After a couple of years of toying with basketball as the chosen sport for our invasion games unit, I just couldn’t get past the inequity in the sport. If there was one person who had more experience in the sport they would dominate the court. This leaves the rest of the team reliant on this one player and can be quite demoralizing to the other team. Somehow I had to balance this unit out by allowing others to thrive and to be exposed to the joy and critical lessons that can come out of invasion games. Netball, I feel, combines the best of basketball and our version of modified handball (no moving with the ball). Read on to see how I introduced this sport to my students.
Lesson 1
We started the lesson with 5 minutes of Moving Time. I have a trolley consisting of a variety of equipment including jump ropes, basketballs, frisbees, tennis balls, etc. Moving Time aims to have the kids explore the different equipment, move, get warmed up, and just have some fun before starting the lesson.
My colleague and I have similar approaches to our lessons and we ensure we vertically align the best we can. Therefore, these kids were familiar with the basic invasion games strategies. The next few lessons were mainly reviewing and getting them tuned into the unit once again.
I started this unit with a very simple game called Crossover. You can see how to play this game HERE. This was to introduce the kids to our first invasion games strategy – positions. At the simplest level, this can be broken down into 2 – an attacker and a defender. We unpacked the roles and responsibilities of these positions. These positions will become more complex as we get deeper into the netball unit with such positions as Goal Defense, Wing Attack, Centre, etc.
We did Crossover Level 2: Both teams attack and defend at the same time. This requires team planning and position allocation within the teams.
We only did Level 2 briefly considering most were already familiar with this game and the purpose of it. I introduced the Driving Question and Central Idea to the class.
We did not spend too much time on this since I wanted to get the kids introduced to Netball. I then played this video as a brief intro to the sport.
Acknowledging my interest in Project-Based Learning, I announced the project for this unit. A Netball tournament. They would have 5 weeks to prepare a team for a Grade 5 Netball tournament. The date was set for the 29th of November. I like having a timeline present on the board where we cross off each lesson toward the project goal. This visual helps make the project much more visible.
I then separated the class into 6 groups and gave each of them a challenge - to work out how to do 2 netball passing drills. I gave each team an iPad with the Netball PowerPoint on it (click on the image below to access the PowerPoint).
The drills I gave them were the 123 Pass and Switch drills and the Catch, Pivot, Pass Relay.
The aim of the drill was for the groups to analyze the drill, determine the role of each person on the team, and coordinate their passing.
With 5 minutes to spare, we reviewed our learning at the end of the lesson with questions such as:
What did we do today?
What keyword did we learn today?
What does position mean in this context?
What does success look like in the game of crossover? (it does not necessarily mean a higher score, but what does success look like for each of you?
Lesson 2
After Moving Time, we gathered in our little classroom corner for our review session. I did our Jump Up routine where I asked, “What’s our unit?” Students jump up if they want to answer. They then get to put the Central Idea poster onto the board. This is a simple way for kids to get involved in the discussion. Eventually, we will do this for the Learner Profile and 2 AtL skills as well.
I then ask “What’s our Driving Question?” Here, the class has an opportunity to respond to the question based on our learning from the previous lesson as well as their prior knowledge from other experiences. I ensured to frame my questions by linking them to our previous lesson. Our focus in Lesson 1 was to introduce the unit, the new sport of Netball, a keyword of ‘Positions’, as well as the passing drills. Therefore, I asked questions such as, “What challenges did you face in the last lesson?”, “how did you overcome those challenges?”, ‘what were the roles in Crossover?”, “How does our central idea connect with our driving question?”
After this questioning, we got into 4 teams for a game of 5-Pass. A lot of the kids already knew this game therefore this was a simple way to review our second strategy for this unit – Maintaining Possession. As in previous lessons, I played these short videos that allow students to analyze different options to determine which one is demonstrating the relevant strategy successfully.
After a couple of rounds of this, I connected this strategy with Netball by including a maintaining possession drill – 2 v 1 In the Circle.
This required a bit more team coordination but the concept was the same. This allowed the students to discover the link between this strategy and Netball.
Lesson 3
After Moving Time we got into our classroom corner and then reviewed our unit. “Jump up for our Central Idea / Driving Question / Strategies!” I then do the same questioning procedure with the driving question by linking it with our previous lessons. “What sources of adversity did you face in the last 2 lessons?” “How did you overcome these sources of adversity?” “Was it the physical skills such as catching, throwing, moving? Or was it personal skills involving your team? Was your teamwork impacted? Was it because of communication? Or the difficulty of the drill?” I wanted to unpack the Central Idea a little bit more and connect it with the unit.
With the discussion over we got into the practical part of the lesson by introducing half-court Netball where I would introduce the 3rd strategy – Creating Space in Attack.
We played this round for about 8-10 minutes and then gathered to reflect on their performance. I asked questions such as, “What is the aim of this game?” “What do you need to do to be successful in this game?” “How can we ensure the shooters can get the ball?” I then played the video for our 3rd strategy – Creating Space in Attack.
We then got into Half-Court Netball Level 2
We did not have time to get into Level 3 but we will do so in the next lesson. During our reflection at the end of the lesson, I introduced the Learner Profile for this unit and asked, “How does this Learner Profile connect with our unit?”
Lesson 4
We started with Moving Time and then got into our lesson review. We did our Jump-Up routine and included the Learner Profile – Principled. “What does this Learner Profile mean?” “How does it connect with our unit?” “What does being Principled mean when training or playing a Netball game?”
We continued with our Half-Court Netball but then got into Level 3.
We reflected on their performance and whether they were able to apply the 3 strategies that they learned so far.
We then got into full-court Netball. I put this image on the screen so the kids could learn and plan for their positions.
This was quite a difficult round since the positions took a bit of getting used to. But, it’s all a learning curve that needs to be encountered eventually.
We gathered and reflected upon their first-round performance. The obvious difficulty was understanding the positions and where they could go on the court. But also, this first round was to introduce the final strategy of this unit – Defending Space.
After analyzing this video we got into round 2 ensuring we understood the positions a bit better and how to defend an opposition player.
Lesson 5
Considering we completed covering all the strategies and the kids had their first attempt at a full-court game of Netball, it was time to focus on more of the skills in Netball. Rather than doing Moving Time, the first 5 minutes of the lesson will be spent on a Netball warm-up. As the kids came in, they saw the screen and I had this screen playing. They needed to analyze the warm-up and work out how to do it. This will be the standard start of the lesson for the rest of the unit
After their warm-up and the Jump-Up routine and responding to the Driving Question using their current learning from the lessons as well as the Central Idea and Learner Profile, we reflected on the basic skills of Netball. After unpacking this the kids got into 3 groups and we had 3 stations for them to engage in: You can download the Netball PowerPoint here for drill reference.
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Pass and Return
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Shooting Technique
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3 v 3
Each group had an iPad with the Netball PowerPoint on it to help them work out the drills. Because of this iPad being there with the students, it meant that my Teaching Assistant and I were available to help individual students or groups that needed some direct assistance. After 8-10 minutes at each station, we gathered and reflected on the lesson.
Lesson 6
Students came into class and got straight into their warm-up. I find it so important that the kids know exactly what to do as they get into my class. The warm-up is there, the balls are there, the court is ready for them, there is no wasted time, it is active, and it gets the kids straight into activity. This is particularly necessary for them after presumably being seated from their previous class.
After our review session using the Jump-Up routine and Driving Question responding, we reviewed some of the more cryptic rules of Netball. Some of the rules such as Repossession, Obstruction, and Footwork. We will get into more of this later on, however, it was now time to announce the teams for the tournament.
I put the teams on the screen and then they had 5 minutes to do a quick plan working out positions for each person on the team. I put up the Netball Court Positions on the screen to help the teams get ready. We had 3 teams playing, therefore 2 teams played a match where I was officiating, and my teaching assistant was with the third group working on their plans. They had an iPad they could use to help them choose a drill to warm up with or prepare their team with.
After 3 rounds of Netball, we reflected on the lesson and connected it with the Learner Profile and Central Idea.
Lesson 7
After our warm-up and Jump-Up routine students sat in their teams and I gave them their Team Journal. You can access it by clicking on the image below. It contains:
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First team analysis
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A calendar for November
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Practice Match Analysis for 3 practice matches
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Netball court diagrams for strategy development
Now that the teams were formed they needed to learn more about the capabilities of their team. They were asked to conduct a team analysis on the first page of their Team Journal. I then put on the screen the 4 drills they would need to do to complete the team analysis.
The aim was for the students to learn more about their team, to determine positionings, to learn more about the drills they would need to prepare for the tournament, as well as to see if they could manage themselves in their team. This team analysis would take 2 lessons to complete. Each team had their team journal, the Netball PowerPoint on their iPad, balls, and cones.
Before letting the students go, I emphasized the Principled Learner Profile. This small group, student-oriented approach to learning is great to empower and engage students however, there is an expectation that students have some degree of self-management. Hence, the need for me to emphasize being principled.
The teams had their task to do which left me and my teaching assistant available to work with individuals or groups that needed some extra support.
Lesson 8
We started this lesson in the usual fashion of warming up and reviewing, and then they continued with their team analysis.
Once groups were done with their team analysis I sat down with each of the groups and we reviewed the completed analysis. We worked out areas that needed attention as well as positions on the team. Each team had their team journal, an iPad with the Netball PowerPoint, a couple of balls, and cones. They had everything they needed for this lesson. It was up to them how they would use their time to prepare for their practice match in the next lesson.
Lesson 9
After our usual warm-up and reviewing session I introduced our first AtL of this unit – Resilience.
By this stage, we knew what physical skills we needed in this unit: Passing, catching, shooting, etc., and that personal skills are behaviors such as being Principled. I asked the students questions such as, “What does this AtL mean? How does it connect with our unit? How can we develop resilience?” I asked the students if there is a keyword in the Resilience description and the Central Idea – Adversity. “What strategy can you use to overcome adversity to keep going?”
We did a quick review of netball rules and then got into our matches. Again, 2 teams played a match, and the third team had an iPad, balls, cones, etc. to prepare for their match.
Lesson 10
Students came in and got straight into their warm-up. We then worked through our Jump-Up routine and answered the Driving Question but now this time layered with the Resilience AtL.
I then introduced the calendar to the team with the tournament day listed. They can use this if they want to plan their training sessions. The main focus for today, however, was to conduct a match analysis on their previous match.
Based on their analysis they would select a single drill or several drills to improve areas needing attention. I did not force a drill upon them, the teams chose what needed to be done from their perspective.
The rest of the lesson was theirs to use as they saw fit. My teaching assistant and I were left to give individual attention to those needing some extra support.
Lesson 11
Kids came storming in and got straight into their warm-up. We reviewed using the Jump-Up routine, Driving Question responding, and unpacking the physical and personal skills they have learned so far. We did not spend too much time on the review since the kids were getting quite familiar with the unit, this left much more time with their practice match.
We did a quick review of the rules. I stumbled across this great visual and printed each team a copy and stapled it with their Team Journal.
They got into their teams and got stuck into the practice match.
With 5 minutes to spare, we reflected upon each team’s performance and any areas of improvement they felt they needed to work on for the next lesson.
Lesson 12
After the warm-up and review, I wanted to introduce the final AtL of this unit – Emotional Management. We spent some time on this since we have the tournament coming up and I wanted to make sure the kids had some strategies in place to manage their emotions.
We first focused on the 4-7-8 breathing technique.
We then tried out the Progressive Muscle Relaxation technique.
I emphasized that the first thing to do is to separate yourself from the source of emotional distress. Fortunately, we had enough space in our teaching space to create a quiet area where a student could come in on their own when they needed some space.
After these strategy introductions, the teams got together and worked on their Match #2 analysis and drills to prepare for their final practice match before the tournament.
Lesson 13
After our warm-up, we unpacked the unit using the Jump-Up routine and then answered the Driving Question using our second AtL.
I also asked how their learning from this unit can be applied to their life. It is important to ensure that all their learning whether from PE or any other discipline is not siloed but rather can be applied to their life.
I shared with them the tournament information, reviewed some Netball rules, and then got into our third and final practice match.
Lesson 14
After our usual warm-up and review routine the kids analyzed their final practice match and then got stuck into their training.
This routine was fairly automatic now for the kids. They knew what they had to do and were excited about the tournament coming up in a few days.
Lesson 15
This was our tournament day, and the kids were excited. Unfortunately, it was also the coldest day of the week with temperatures dropping close to 0 and a windchill bringing the temperature even further down. However, the air was clear, zero pollution, and there was no room in the timetable to reschedule. Therefore, we persevered!
Lesson 16
We moved back into our indoor gym space and the kids reverted to their Moving Time instead of the set netball warm-up.
I wanted to get an understanding of what they learned from the unit and how they could use their new knowledge beyond PE. On Seesaw, I asked them to answer the Driving Question in their own words as we did during the unit. Out of respect for each child’s preference, they could answer in a variety of methods, may it be through text, visuals, or audio.
They had 15 minutes to do this, but if they needed more time they could hand it to be the following week. We spent a solid 20 minutes on Castle, a fun way to wrap up the unit. You can see how we play Castle here.
Lesson 17-19
We had 2 weeks left until the start of the winter holiday so I thought I would hold off on starting a new unit, purely because these last 2 weeks are generally interrupted with events, parties, and some children leave early. Rather than just playing random games during these lessons I wanted to continue with invasion games. My colleague introduced me to a variation of Netball I had never heard of before – Fast 5.
After Moving Time, I explained how we only had 3 lessons left until the holiday and rather than starting a new unit let’s have some fun with a variation of Netball.
I separated the class into 4 teams ahead of time and then explained the rules of Fast 5. The kids loved the idea of 3 scoring zones and the strategy of having the Power Play.
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You can see below how I organized the scorecard. Due to time constraints, we only played 5 minute thirds.
For the remaining lessons, we played our in-class tournament.
Unit Reflection
I enjoyed seeing how engaged the kids got with this unit, particularly with a new sport that is outside the usual big 4 of sports in this school – basketball, volleyball, football, and handball. The fact that the team is incredibly reliant on each other because of the way the positions are organized means all team members are involved. I highly encourage you all to try this sport in your curriculum if you haven’t. I was fortunate to have my colleague help me with the nuances of the sport, i.e. the replaying the ball and footwork rules took some clarification. Furthermore, the Fast 5 variation of Netball was so successful with my G5s that I immediately changed my G4 Invasion Games unit to move away from handball into Fast 5.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this unit, please write in the Chat Bubble at the bottom right of this screen.