THEMATIC UNIT. Baseball. Written by Robert Smith

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THEMATIC UNIT Baseball Written by Robert Smith Teacher Created Materials, Inc. 6421 Industry Way Westminster, CA 92683 www.teachercreated.

ISBN-0-7439-3102-5 Edited by Polly Hoffman Illustrated by Sue Fullam Cover Art by Denice Adorno The classroom teacher may reproduce copies of

1 THEMATIC UNIT Baseball Written by Robert Smith Teacher Created Materials, Inc Industry Way Westminster, CA Teacher Created Materials, Inc. Made in U.S.A. ISBN Edited by Polly Hoffman Illustrated by Sue Fullam Cover Art by Denice Adorno The classroom teacher may reproduce copies of materials in this book for classroom use only. The reproduction of any part for an entire school or school system is strictly prohibited. No part of this publication may be transmitted, stored, or recorded in any form without written permission from the publisher.

2 Table of Contents Introduction Bobby Baseball by Robert Kimmel Smith (Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1989) (Available in Canada, Doubleday Dell Seal; UK, Bantam Doubleday Dell; AUS, Transworld Publishers) Summary Sample Lesson Plan Overview of Activities Baseball Survey Rules of the Game Bonehead Play Nicknames Career Guidance Baseball Equipment Stealing Home: The Story of Jackie Robinson by Barry Denenberg (Scholastic, 1990) (Available in Canada, Scholastic; UK, Scholastic Limited; AUS, Ashton Scholastic Party Ltd.) Summary Sample Lesson Plan Overview of Activities Jackie Robinson: The Man and His Times Courage Under Fire (Script) The Negro Leagues Dirt on Their Skirts Great Moments in Baseball History by Matt Christopher (Little, Brown, 1996) (Available in Canada, Little Brown; UK, Little Brown Ltd.; AUS, Penguin) Summary Sample Lesson Plan Overview of Activities Who s the Greatest Pitcher? The Great Debate II Become a Famous Player Literature Focus on an Author: Robert Kimmel Smith Creating an Author Profile Children s Books by Robert Kimmel Smith (Author Activities) Drama and Poetry Readers Theater The Poetry of Baseball Write Your Own Poetry Across the Curriculum Language Arts Baseball Vocabulary Baseball Lingo Verbs: Where the Action Is Baseball Word Practice Baseball Quotes Math Computing Earned Run Averages How to Compute Batting Averages Winning Percentage Computing Slugging Percentage Social Studies Baseball Chronology (Time Line) Where the Parks Are Major League Ballparks (Math and Geography) America s Game Baseball Around the World Science/Health Extending Your Abilities How the Ball Moves Health and Exercise Baseball Lead-Up Games Playing the Game: How to Hit, Field, and Pitch Art Make Your Own Trading Card Pennants, Posters, and Uniforms Culminating Activity Unit Management Bulletin Board Ideas Certificate of Participation Bibliography Answer Key #3102 Thematic Unit Baseball 2 Teacher Created Materials, Inc.

3 Introduction Baseball is an exciting literature-based unit, which delves into the history and culture of baseball from its earliest days to the present. The following 80 pages are designed to immerse students in the multifaceted world of baseball through math, history, science, language, and especially literature. The literature choices for this unit are certain to excite the interest of your young readers and add to their stores of information and experience as well. A wide variety of teaching strategies are employed throughout the text to motivate and maintain the high interest of students. These include hands-on activities, cooperative groups, team-building activities, and full-class instruction. In addition, there are sections introducing Readers Theater, poetry writing, creative expression, and other oral language activities. At the core of this literature-based theme book are three high-quality literature selections: Bobby Baseball by Robert Kimmel Smith, Stealing Home: The Story of Jackie Robinson by Barry Denenberg, and Great Moments in Baseball History by Matt Christopher. This thematic unit includes the following: literature selections summaries of three books related to the topic of baseball fine arts suggestions for activities in the visual arts planning guidance sequenced lessons and activities to provide a natural flow of study, which increases understanding of various concepts related to baseball bulletin boards suggestions and instructions for content-related bulletin boards curriculum connections activities that appropriately interweave science/health with math, language arts, visual arts, and social studies technology activities that use related Web sites to extend learning and introduce students to current information culminating activities experiences which require students to apply their learning to create an interesting and informative product that can be shared with others (This may also serve as an alternative assessment for student progress and understanding.) resources an extensive annotated list of information about books and sources of materials, specifically related to this study of baseball answer key answers for activities used in this unit To keep this valuable resource intact so that it can be used year after year, you may wish to punch holes in the pages and store them in a three-ring binder. Teacher Created Materials, Inc. 3 #3102 Thematic Unit Baseball

4 Introduction (cont.) Why a Balanced Approach? The strength of a whole-language approach is that it involves children in using all modes of communication reading, writing, listening, observing, illustrating, and doing. Communication skills are interconnected and integrated into lessons that emphasize the whole of language. Balancing this approach is our knowledge that every whole including individual words is composed of parts, and directed study of those parts can help a student to master the whole. Experience and research tell us that regular attention to phonics, other word-attack skills, and spelling develops reading mastery, thereby fulfilling the unity of the whole-language experience. The child is thus led to read, write, spell, speak, and listen confidently in response to a literature experience introduced by the teacher. In these ways, language skills grow rapidly, stimulated by direct practice, involvement, and interest in the topic at hand. Why Thematic Planning? One very useful tool for implementing a balanced language program is thematic planning. By choosing a theme with correlating literature selections for a unit of study, a teacher can plan activities throughout the day that lead to a cohesive, in-depth study of the topic. Students will be practicing and applying their skills in meaningful contexts. Consequently, they will tend to learn and retain more. Both teachers and students will be freed from a day that is broken into unrelated segments of isolated drill and practice. Why Cooperative Learning? Besides academic skills and content, students need to learn social skills. This area of development cannot be taken for granted. Students must learn to work cooperatively in groups in order to function well in modern society. Group activities should be a regular part of school life, and teachers should consciously include social objectives as well as academic objectives in their planning. For example, a group working together to solve a problem may need to select a leader. Teachers should make clear to the students the qualities of good leader-follower group interaction just as they would state and monitor the academic goals of the project. Four Basic Components of Cooperative Learning 1. In cooperative learning, all group members need to work together to accomplish the task. 2. Cooperative learning groups should be heterogeneous. 3. Cooperative learning activities need to be designed so that each student contributes to the group, and individual group members can be assessed on their performance. 4. Cooperative learning teams need to know the social as well as the academic objectives of a lesson. #3102 Thematic Unit Baseball 4 Teacher Created Materials, Inc.

5 Bobby Baseball by Robert Kimmel Smith Summary Bobby Baseball is a fast-paced story about a ten-year-old boy who wants to play on his father s Little League team, the Hawks. He convinces his father, a former professional baseball player, to choose him, despite the father s misgivings. Bobby is intensely focused on a pitching career in baseball. He writes his school stories from a baseball perspective, with himself as the future Hall of Fame pitcher. His father realizes that the boy s love of the game has blinded him to his own limitations, a weak arm and poor hitting ability. The father sees Bobby as a fairly good fielding second baseman. Much of the heart of the book records the conflict between father and temperamental son, as the boy argues with his coach-father at games and stubbornly insists on pitching when the success of the team depends on using a more talented player. In a climactic episode, the father comes out to the mound to replace his son with a better pitcher. Bobby hurls the ball away in a fit of temper and quits the team. In the end, Bobby finally realizes that he misses the team camaraderie, and that he can t stand missing the next game, so he rides his bicycle across town and cheers his team on. He reconciles with his father and comes to understand his own limitations as a player and his strengths as a writer. There are several concurrent themes which stream through the text. Bobby is opposed to the idea of girls playing baseball, but gradually begins to change his way of thinking as Mouth, one of the two girls on the team, becomes a skilled player. The fondness and tensions of family life are interwoven through the book with strong and believable characters in his brother Sammy, his mother, and his grandfather. Team spirit and the honesty of true friendship are juxtaposed with Bobby s serious difficulty in controlling his temper. Finally, the characters, the events, and the emotions of a ten-year-old boy are portrayed with both realism and empathy. Teacher Created Materials, Inc. 5 #3102 Thematic Unit Baseball

6 Bobby Baseball (cont.) The outline below is a suggested plan for using the various activities and ideas that are presented in this unit. You should adapt these ideas to fit your own classroom situation. Sample Lesson Plan Day 1 Read Bobby Baseball, Chapters 1 5. Conduct SSR (Sustained Silent Reading). Discuss Bobby s family. Who does he live with? What are they like? What advice does Sammy have for Bobby about playing for his father? Should Bobby play for his father? Should his father place him on another team instead of his own? How does Bobby feel about girls playing baseball? How does Bobby feel about women in other jobs? Use the Baseball Survey (Setting the Stage, #3). Begin a reading journal (Enjoying the Book, #2). Day 2 Read Chapters Discuss Bobby s friend, Jason. What is he like? What does he want Bobby to do for him? Is it fair to ask Bobby to help get on his father s team? What are A, B, and C players? Is the system for choosing players for this league fair? Why? Continue the reading journal. Complete Nicknames on page 1 (Enjoying the Book, #3). Review Baseball Vocabulary (Enjoying the Book, #7). Day 3 Read Chapters Continue the reading journal. Discuss Bobby s team, the players, the personalities, and the positions they play. Ask how Bobby is doing on his father s team. Do Baseball Lingo (Enjoying the Book, #5). Introduce the writing topic (Enjoying the Book, #12). Day 4 Read Chapters Discuss Bobby s pitching performance and Dad s actions as a coach. Discuss Bobby s behavior when his dad removes him from the game. Continue the reading journal. Review verbs (Enjoying the Book, #8). Continue the writing topic (Enjoying the Book, #12). Day 5 Read Chapters Discuss Bobby s behavior after being taken out of the game. Discuss his final decisions about the game, the team, baseball, and his future. Continue reading journal. Do Elements of a Story (Enjoying the Book, #11). Write a literature essay (Extending the Book, #11). Learn more about the author (Extending the Book, #8). Write a persuasive essay (Extending the Book, #6). #3102 Thematic Unit Baseball 6 Teacher Created Materials, Inc.

THEMATIC UNIT. Basketball. Written by Robert Smith

THEMATIC UNIT. Basketball. Written by Robert Smith THEMATIC UNIT Basketball Written by Robert Smith Teacher Created Materials, Inc. 6421 Industry Way Westminster, CA 92683 www.teachercreated.com 2002 Teacher Created Materials, Inc. Made in U.S.A. ISBN-0-7439-3103-3