When played in their standard form, striking/fielding games are often a favorite among elementary students; yet they allow for only limited participation, which is contradictory to quality physical education. This article presents a sequence of lessons leading to Batteru27s Choice, a modified striking/fielding game, designed to maximize the attainment of tactical awareness, skill enhancement, and enjoyment by elementary children. Each lesson uses a tactical approach to involve students in solving a tactical problem within a game-like situation and then practicing the skills necessary to solve the problem. The tactical problems prepare students for game situations they will experience in the culminating game, Batteru27s Choice. The game-like situations are designed to highlight offensive tactical decisions (such as where to hit the ball in order to get on base) and defensive tactical decisions (such as where to throw the ball after fielding it). Though the complexity of Batteru27s Choice is appropriate to the needs of middle to upper elementary children, tactics learned in these lessons may later be used in more complex and traditional sports such as softball or cricket.
展开▼
