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Soccer unit of work

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Working with others

The key concept of the module as a whole, learners will cooperate with their peers during the tasks and support each other in all situations. Students will also take on different roles in their groups/teams and they will make decisions that are best for the team.

Managing Myself

Students will be working towards developing better understanding about themselves. Having this knowledge will allow them to develop personal goals and plans. This will also help them to develop strategies that will help to deal with any difficulties.

Staying well

Students will be staying physically active. They will learn to stay safe and ensure the safety of themselves as well as those around them. Students will learn to remain positive about the learning process and remain confident that they will succeed at what they are working towards.

Communicating

Students will learn to listen actively and agree or disagree respectfully. They will participate in discussions and share their opinions with teacher and each other. They will communicate successfully and effectively with their teammates in order to perform well.

Being Literate and Being Numerate

As detailed elsewhere.

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Amended from work by Kaspars Puspurs

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Student Prior Knowledge, Skills & Attitude

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Student Prior Knowledge, Skills & Attitude

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Prior Knowledge:

Students have just completed their first term at secondary level physical education encompassing modules revolving around team building, badminton and HRA. Given the immense popularity of the sport of soccer in today’s world it is obvious that all will have encountered it in some way though relatively few will have played it outside of school in an organized club setting.

Prior Skills

As with many groups there has been a perceivably wide range of abilities in this class. However the base majority have shown to be significantly weak in certain areas with my cooperating teacher noting how their coordination was amongst the worst she had seen.

Prior Attitudes:

The group has been outstandingly positive and eager to learn in the physical education class so far and the aim will be to maintain this attitude into new modules. Now that students are more comfortable in the secondary environment there is danger that attitudes will change and we will seek to try and prevent this from happening.

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Rationale for Selection of Instructional Model - Cooperative Learning

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Rationale for Selection of Instructional Model - Cooperative Learning

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The group of students have been eager and positive in their learning so far though many of the modules and topics covered have been more individual based despite the implementation of plenty of group and pair work and tasks, e.g. in badminton. Another aspect which contributed to my decision was in how this PE class is actually an amalgamation of two first year groups owing to smaller numbers and thus there has been some divisions apparent throughout. Coupled with this is a perceivable variation in the ability levels of students with some pushing towards exceptional though the base majority has in fact been quite weak in most areas. The model of cooperative learning is primarily aimed at higher age groups and indeed is best suited to team building challenges which we have covered in some proportion. Despite this I feel that if properly implemented the instructional model will provide learning developments for these learners that they can carry with them for years to come and are applicable not just in the classroom or PE hall but also the outside world.

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Rationale for selection of Soccer as Module Topic

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Rationale for selection of Soccer as Module Topic

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Games provide teachers with a great opportunity to develop a wide range of skills amongst their students. Tasks and games can be adapted to cater for the needs of all students. By creating an environment in which all students can experience success teachers can promote and encourage a lifelong participation amongst their pupils.Participation in games also allows students to develop a range of skills at the same time. For example during a small sided game of soccer students will simultaneously develop skills such as running, balance, coordination, object related skills (passing). Perhaps, most importantly, students will develop communication and people related skills. These skills are important not just in sporting context but also in many everyday situations.

“Through participation in a variety of games in a safe and enjoyable environment, students will be presented with the opportunity to develop personally, socially, and physically”

(NCCA, 2003)

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In the organisation of the learning experiences I am implementing a great deal of team work, pair work and group work to help facilitate self-discovery in the students’ learning as well as increase the level of interaction and participation in the classes on top of the overarching aims of the cooperative learning model. I will also be concentrating on development of individual technique and giving feedback on how to improve it and this will result in high level of interaction between students also. Safety issues will all be implemented and informed of the students prior to commencement of any task, drill or game.

Housekeeping routines at the beginning of each lesson will be followed by a group discussion utilising the learning wall resources for outlining the learning outcomes of the lesson, linking and recapping on previous lessons and introduction of the class. This will be followed by a wide variation of warm up games which will be engaging, fun and related to the topic of the lesson. The main body of the lesson will involve a variety of main tasks with an emphasis on fundamental movement skills, skill development and performance and team/group challenges as well as the overall aims of the sports education model design. I will conclude the lesson with a cool down activity followed by a discussion at the end of the lesson.

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Fundamental Movement Skills targeted in the module

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Fundamental Movement Skills targeted in the module

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The key skills addressed in the module will primarily be kicking, dribbling, running, turning, jumping, and twisting but many more will be explored in some detail throughout the 6 week module.

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At this stage of their school careers, all students should have a wide range of educational experiences. Particular attention must be given to reinforcing and developing the skills of numeracy and literacy.  Junior Certificate Physical Education Syllabus Revised

Any unit or module revolving around Soccer will readily provide teachers with ample and excellent opportunity to address literacy and numeracy. Principle among these will be the detail of score keeping, pitch parameters and dimensions, timekeeping and number of teammates and divisions amongst attack and defence. Even in the simpler tasks and drills will students be capable of self-improvement e.g. when working in pairs or groups on passing students will have to be wary of the number of touches they take etc. All of these teaching points will help students to work on their numeracy.

Literacy is also improved during soccer, oftentimes even without pre-planned methods. All of the new terminology, teaching cues, and descriptions will help students to improve their literacy. Learning wall with description of tasks, skills and techniques will help learners too. It is important not only to instruct students, tell them what needs to be done, but allow them to interact also. By answering questions and discussing the task and drills at hand students will elevate literacy levels far more than if they were not involved in the learning process. Non participants can also participate in many of the literacy and numeracy designed tasks detailed also it must be stated.

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Fidelity of Model and Student Response to it

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Fidelity of Model and Student Response to it

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Research Study Paper

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Cooperative Learning Model in the classroom

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Cooperative Learning Model in the classroom

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Interpretation.

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Cooperative Learning Model: Strategies & Examples

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Throughout this unit the use of digital resources will be prevalent. From video clip resource aids to student discovery QR codes they will not only contribute to teaching and learning of Basketball and sports eucation but will also feed into the students development of their individual digital literacy though this necessitates cognitive and affective discussion and exploration of the concept also

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Given the increasing importance and significance attributed to wellbeing in recent years with particular relevance to physical education, their is need for teachers to be inclusive of this in their planning and preparations for lessons.The overall aim of this will be to improve, enhance and maintain students' physical, social and mental wellbeing. For PE the obvious focus will be upon being active but all aspects will be explored and developed for the students.

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Wellbeing | Home Page | Junior Cycle for Teachers (JCT)

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Wellbeing | Home Page | Junior Cycle for Teachers (JCT)

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Not to be confused with the roles associated with sports education instructional models as these are the combination and mixture of roles and characteristics, both psychologically and behaviorally that contribute to the most successful teams, as identified by Belbin (1981). That is not to say that each successful team must have such number of members rather that the blend of them is what Belbin identified as crucial. Further research has since identified further roles including chairman for example.

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As in any model of instruction it can be easy for teachers to fall into assessment of skills, techniques and the like rather than what the model is actually striving to achieve. For cooperative learning there is a rubric of three key ideals over which both individuals, pairs and groups can be assessed upon. These ideals are as follows:

Ø  Work toward the achievement of Group Goals

Ø  Demonstrates effective interpersonal skills

Ø  Contributes to group maintenance

As well as the above mindset, throughout the module unit students will be assessed using both Assessment for Learning (as well as Assessment of Learning. During each lesson teacher observation, assessment and feedback will be used to monitor the progress of pupils. Per the ideas of cooperative learning, students themselves will also be involved in assessment process by analyzing their own performance and performance of their peers. Based on the observations the tasks will be adapted if necessarily (more practice, instructions will be included if skills are not improving etc.). In order for assessment to be reflective on the learning process some principles have to be followed. Learning goals have to be shared with students. Teacher will clearly explain why they are teaching this skill and why they are important. For example, striking the ball is not only important for the game of soccer. This skill is also needed for sports such as GAA, rugby etc. Specific features of quality that are important for each skill should be pointed out. Features of quality such as – arm out for balance, body over the ball, strike with laces, follow through after strike. With the culmination of the unit in a competition based element there will be opportunity for teacher and student reflection on progression and development made throughout the 6 weeks.

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Teaching and learning Strategies for Cooperative Learning.

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Teaching and learning Strategies for Cooperative Learning.