In sport, to get the best out of an individual or team, they must compete with 'like' athletes. Divisions, rankings, leagues, levels...they are all required in competition, and I have considered this with my PE classes. Here I will explain one of the methods of streaming students I have used, and reveal the results.
Streaming Yr 6 Volleyball
My first lesson in this unit involved a student constructed quiz to test each other on how much of the rules and teaching points they retained from last year. Then I threw them into a game and observed. This informed me as to what skills and game procedures needed the most work, and it enabled me to split the class into a Blue group (better skilled) and a Gold group (lesser skilled). The following lesson I set the two groups onto separate skill-drill progressions to accelerate the Blues in applying their skills, and to catch up the Gold group on the fundamentals. When it came to game time (culmination of each lesson which was more and more each week) the results were amazing.
The Results
My Blue group played the best volleyball I had ever seen from year 6s. The rallies consistently went 4-5-6 times over the net. They thoroughly enjoyed their games. All students were involved and confident enough to offer suggestions and support to their team mates. They were even able to umpire themselves fairly without any major disputes.
My Gold group also picked up their intensity compared to what I had seen from some of them in previous units. The game was played at a slower pace to the Blue game, so they all felt like they could contribute (there were modified rules to allow the game to flow, like being allowed to catch a serve). They played with confidence because their team mates and opposition had similar skills and so refrained from making criticism when mistakes were made. Mostly I could stand back and observe and make assessments on their skills, understandings and teamwork.
At the end-of-unit-debrief and reflection I was pleased to hear how much the class enjoyed playing volleyball. I fed back to them how much they had improved, what their greatest attributes were, and what they could work on to take it to the next level in high school.
Summary
If students enjoy playing sport and being active in PE, they will be more inclined to pursue physical activities in their own time. This will lead to them becoming life-long participants in sport and as we know - the physical, social and cognitive benefits are endless. Naturally skilled students find enjoyment from being challenged when playing at a pace and level that is exciting and involves risks and failures. Lower skilled students need an environment that is less risky, a suitable pace for easier decision making and with rules that are easy to follow. Both groups can get the same enjoyment out of the same activity if the environment is suited to their abilities.
My favourite hour of the week is when I play basketball for a team called 'Vintage'. It's not the NBA - it's Tuesday night social Men's B division at my local recreation centre. I can keep up with the pace, I don't get criticised if I miss a shot (and it happens ...oh it happens!) and I thoroughly enjoy the level of competitiveness and teamwork. I have found the right environment for me, and I will continue to find the right environment for my students.
Note - Of course there are benefits of having mixed ability groupings as well, and I use this often in my teaching. But this is a topic for another blog.....
My next blog will be on how I streamed my Yr 5 basketball class by rotating groups through stations.
Until then I'd love to hear how you group your classes - skill groups, mixed abilities, friendship groups?
Great ideas/concept! I have limited space and find it difficult to create divisions based on ability, any suggestions??
ReplyDelete@JoeyFeith mentioned that he layers skills within a game to meet individual needs. Although they are playing the same game, some students are playing by different rules. For example, some students might be able to serve closer to the net to make it over while others have to serve from farther back.
Great post!
Good old Mosstons Inclusion style.
ReplyDeleteV'Ball, won't answer the lack of space problem, but I find teaching volleyball across two or three different court layouts (depending upon numbers) works really well. I don't assign students to a court, they choose their level of challenge. Most choose a level that is appropriate. If students are ready to 'slide up the rope' then so be it. 1 court, low net, soft ball, minimal/mdoified rules, focus on play. 2nd court, lower net, some rules, choice of two balls, fun game focus etc. 3rd court full rules, net at official spot for age, competitive focus.
http://www.isat.jmu.edu/common/projects/spectrum/styles/style_inclusion.html
Great post Ross!
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is important that we use divisions and rankings to allow each student to compete in a level playing field. I have given this a lot of thought lately as I prepare for our House Athletics carnival. Even though all students compete in a 100m, each student trials for the event prior to the carnival. This way I can sort students into the appropriate division to allow lesser skilled students to experience success and higher skilled students to be challenged and compete at a high standard.
I think it also allows for students, especially primary aged kids to build a bit of resilience. My higher skilled students struggle at times when they are not the fastest sprinter or swimmer, but the reality is that these students will not always be the best at everything and will experience failure or disappointment at some point in their life. We need to prepare them for that.
I must admit I am guilty for not always providing these opportunities. In swimming lessons, instead of A, B, C or 1,2,3 groups I use animals names such as starfish, seahorse and octopus. I will also mix up the lane order. By the time my students reach Years 4, 5 and 6 they normally have a good understanding of where they are at compared to their peers in the class and can recognise which is the strongest and weakest groups anyway.