Net Games with Goldilocks

We are just coming to the end of a Net Games unit. Our Central Idea for the unit was “While different cultures might have different variations of Net/Wall Games, the skills and strategies required to play successful are often very similar.” Our lines of inquiry were: The different forms of Net Games The Skills required to play net games successfully The different strategies that we can use in a net game

We looked at variety of different net games and tried them out at the start of the unit. While the students initially came up with the global games such as tennis, they later tried some more local net games found in here in SE Asia such as  Sai and Sepak Takraw.

As we moved onto developing the skills the students undertook a variety of activities, but we borrowed the  ‘Goldilocks -  just right approach’ from lovepe.me  where students experimented with different rackets and different balls and shuttlecocks to keep bouncing the ball in the air, onto the ground and with a partner over a net in cooperative rallies. If it was too hard or too easy they changed the racket, the ball or played over a different net, as several were set up in the gym of different heights, until they found the combination that was just right for them.

Our development of strategies mainly consisted on trying to control the centre of the court, while making the opponent move around, through different games. Again, students were free to choose the equipment that was ‘just right for them’, which not only lead to success, but also reinforced the concept of similar strategies can be applied in different games. We used the CoachNote app quite often in this section of the unit as it allowed students to share their ideas regarding strategies quite easily.  The use of Airserver on the laptop, also made life much easier, as students could look at the laptop screen while someone else was moving people and balls around on the ipad screen - hopefully next year there will be a projector connected up as well!