GRADE

TOPIC

UNIT

Kindergarten

Striking Balloons with an Implement – Bat

Games

Equipment Needed

Control Cones, Hoops, Balloons, yarn balls or Whiffle balls, Whiffle bats or a pool foam bat, Buckets.

Content Standard Benchmarks or Common Core Standards

Learning Goals, Objectives, Expected Outcomes

Psychomotor

1. Demonstrate the correct way to hold a bat, or foam noodle!
2. Hit the ball without hitting the cone at least 2 times.

Cognitive

1. Describe the hand positions on the bat for the most control and force

Affective

1. Have Fun
2. Play safe.

ACTIVITY

PROCEDURE AND TRANSITIONS WITH MODIFICATIONS AND OR ACCOMMODATIONS

SETUP DESCRIPTION OR DIAGRAM

Entrance Routine

Part 1

Warm-up/Review

Warm up with a travel/stop song.  Encourage the children to try different levels, directions and different body parts to travel in and on!  Emphasize safety, looking where you are moving to and looking for open spaces as they travel.

Transition

One person at the cone will go get the balloon (ball) and the other person will get the bat (noodle).  The person with the ball will stay at the cone with the bat and ball.  The person who got the bat will be the first fielder!  You will all get a turn to bat and to field.

Part 2

New skill or concept

One partner hits 3 balls (one at a time) off the tee (which is one of the 24-inch rainbow cones), while the other partner fields them.  The fielding partner should field all three balls, holding them until all 3 have been hit, and then bring the balls into the tee, trading places with the hitter. The GDS questions will guide the students through hitting a ball.

Following are safety rules you must insist your students follow.

1. Only the batter may be standing near the tee.
2. Each batter should take three hits from the tee and then run out to the field.
3. When the batter finishes batting, they will place the bat on the ground and run out to the field, tagging the player that should run in to bat next.
4. Continue rotating around in order, taking turns batting until the teacher gives the signal to stop.
5. Watch out for other groups, Players and whiffle/yarn balls.

Batting

Remember, each GDS question should be asked to the entire class, and then allow the class (both partners) to work on the question before answering the question. During the time the students are working on the question the teacher should walk around and work with students individually. After a few minutes, stop the class and allow a few students to answer. Be sure you get mostly correct answers. If you don’t, then you must find a way to reword the question so the students can work on it again. Be sure most of the students have the concept from the question before you move on to the next question.

[AT]

Each player will get three (3) hits each, then rotate through again. Hit the ball off the tee. Do not go up to the tee unless you are the batter. The fielder that will bat next can bring the balls up to the tee for their turn at bat.

Guided Discovery Questions:

1. Where do your eyes look as you are swinging the bat to hit the ball? (At the ball)
2. To get the most power, how should you hold your hands on the bat? (Hands together, strong hand on the top & weak hand on the bottom)
3. To get the most power where on the bat should your hands be? (Toward the bottom of the bat)
4. How should your arms look when you actually hit the ball? (Extended straight out over the tee)
5. What can your weak leg do to help you get more power and direct where the ball will go? (Step into the hit, in the direction of where the ball should go)
6. What should your strong foot do to help keep you stable as you hit the ball? (Stay planted)
7. As you begin the swing, which leg is holding most of your weight? (Strong/back leg)
8. As you follow through the swing, which leg takes the weight of your body? (The front leg)
9. Which surface of your body begins facing the pitcher? (The weak side) Which surface of your body finishes facing the pitcher? (The front surface)
10. Where on the ball should you make contact if you want the ball to go on the ground? (On top of the ball)
11. Where on the ball should you make contact if you want the ball to go up in the air? (Underneath the ball)
12. Where on the ball should you make contact if you want the ball to go straight out like a line drive? (In the center of the ball)
13. If you want the bat to swing level with the ground, what part of your body should bend in order to adjust to the height of the ball? (The knees)

Be sure to spread the tees out far enough apart, so that walking and swinging will not interfere with the other tees. This will allow the activity to be self- directed and you will not have to start and stop the groups for each round of hitting. It will also enable you to walk around and teach instead of watching all the time for the students to be ready to rotate to the next hitter. It is ok to set the tees out on the outside of the boundaries and hit into the middle. It will allow you to have nine tees on each side of the field, and the students hitting are on the outside, while the students fielding will all be on the inside. This should only be done if there is at least a basketball court length between them. You can set the tees on mats. Then if a tee is knocked over, the students will know where to set it up again.

This lesson will take place over two full lessons.  Use the questions that focus on the placement of the ball for the part two of the second lesson.

If you are indoors, begin with the balloons.  They are bigger and easier to hit!  They can swing hard and there are no worries that the balloon will hurt someone!

Transition

Part 3

Practice

The runner gets a point if they make it back to the cone before the fielder throws the ball into the bucket.

Rotate fielder and batter after each turn.

Transition

Part 4

Stretching & closure

Taking it Home

Choose 3 stretches to do with the class.

Review

Verbally review the points to hitting the ball. Tell the class what a great job they did!

Closure