Library Basketball

Why Library Basketball? ● Lets kids move around ● Encourages teamwork ● Provides feedback to librarians on what students have learned ● Gets students excited about library ● Gives everyone an opportunity to shine, as there’s both an academic and an athletic component

When Library Basketball? ● After completing instructional units ● As a review before a test ● As a reward ● Before vacations ● During testing ● Any time students are antsy

Supplies Needed: ● Something to serve as a basketball (balls with some weight work best; I use water-filled ones) ● Something to serve as a basket (I use a high-walled recycling bin) ● Masking tape ● Pen and paper to keep score ● Treats for the winners ● Ideally, a backboard for your basket

Library Basketball Set-Up ● Place your basket and put three pieces of equally-spaced masking tape on the floor in front of the basket (essentially, one shooting line close to the basket, one mid-way from the basket, and one far away from the basket). ● Split students into groups of 3-6 students (4 is my ideal group size). ● Choose one student to be the ball person and one to be the foot checker.

Library Basketball Rules ● Groups choose an easy, a medium, or a hard question. ● Each question is read only one time. ● The first answer that any group member yells out is the group’s official answer, so students are encouraged to discuss their answer before blurting it out. ● The group has one minute to answer the question. ● If they answer the question incorrectly, the question rolls to the next group in line. Each group gets one chance to answer a question.

Library Basketball Rules, cont. ●If a group answers correctly, one student from the group gets to make a shot at the basket. ○ All students in a group must shoot once before anyone can shoot a second time. ●Students answering an easy question shoot from the furthest line back, a medium question from the middle line, and a hard question from the front line. ●Any students who yell while someone else is making a shot lose a point for their team, and the shooter gets a second chance.

Library Basketball Rules, cont. ● At the end of the game, the team that scores the most points wins a treat (I use Jolly Ranchers). ● No one touches the ball except the librarian, the ball person, and the shooter. ● The foot watcher makes sure that students are behind the line. Theirs is the official call in regards to foot faults.

Tailoring to Different Topics ● If you already have a written assessment, it can often easily be turned into library basketball questions. ● True/false questions can be used, but I remove the steal option in that case. ● The difficulty levels can be removed as needed by age/topic (make all students shoot from the medium line).

Library Basketball Example 1 Class: 5th Grade Library Purpose: Review prior to break Modifications: None, played with rules as written Questions: Standard library ‘trivia’ questions (provided as a handout)

Library Basketball Example 2 Class: 3rd Grade Library Purpose: Differentiating fact and opinion Modifications: All shots from the center line; no steals Questions: Groups are presented with a statement and have to identify whether it’s fact or an opinion

Library Basketball Example 3 Class: 6th Grade Library Purpose: Identify parts of a citation Modifications: All shots from center line Questions: Provide groups with written citations and ask them to identify a specific part (i.e., “what date was this information retrieved?”)

Library Basketball Example 4 Classes: 6th Grade Enrichment and 5th Grade Library Purpose: Review for 5th Grade; writing for a specific purpose and audience for 6th Grade Modifications: 6th Grade students will write questions and run the game for 5th Grade students Questions: 6th Grade students will create library basketball questions for 5th Grade students, based on what 5th Graders should know about library