Fortunately for me, a basketball fanatic, March Madness runs into April so really, March and April should be renamed “Basketball Madness.” As a proud graduate of Massachusetts’s Springfield College (SC), I could not have been more excited when I opened our SC calendar and saw the newly unveiled bronze statue of James Naismith – the Father of Basketball. I welcome all to visit the SC website and click on “THE BIRTHPLACE OF BASKETBALL” link to view the simple beginnings of a game that has since become a recreational mainstay around the globe. (It might even inspire you to visit the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for a future road-trip!)
The story of James Naismith can be awe-inspiring, and is a great segue into exciting lessons on abcteach that encourage teamwork, brainstorming, and creativity. Use Mr. Naismith’s story to challenge your students to invent the next worldwide sport or game. Have them formulate small work teams and then guide them through the following development phase:
Step 1: Brainstorm (you can do a lesson on how to brainstorm)
Step 2: Create an information sheet to record how to get started
Step 3: Have students try out their different sports/games within their groups
Step 4: Make the necessary changes to improve and make the sport/game work better(Repeat Steps 3 and 4 a few times–look at how the game of basketball has changed since the original 13 rules!)
Step 5: Have two groups of inventors get together, each teaching the other about their sport/game. This will provide feedback to the inventors.
Step 6: Draft a sport/game document
Step 7: Let the games begin!
James Naismith was 31 years old and in Graduate School when he invented the simple game of basketball. By reminding students of this, they should feel a renewed sense of pride and excitement about their personal creations!
In Health and Happiness,
Candy, MA, CAPE
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Sports/PE (Free | Members)
Basketball (Free | Members)
Sports Clip Art (Free | Members)