Teaching Sport Concepts and Skills: A Tactical Games Approach - Paperback

by Stephen A. Mitchell (Author), Judith L. Oslin (Author), Linda L. Griffin (Author)

This worldwide top-selling text on the tactical games approach is stronger than ever.

The fourth edition of Teaching Sport Concepts and Skills: A Tactical Games Approach adds four new chapters, more lesson and unit plans, and more detailed guidance in addressing broad ranges of student abilities than ever before. It offers the same stellar foundation for understanding the principles behind the approach, and instruction in applying the approach, to help students learn the concepts and develop the skills involved in a variety of sports.

Elementary school teachers will use games to teach the basic concepts and tactics of invasion sports, net and wall sports, striking and fielding sports, and target sports. Middle school and high school instructors will guide students in developing sport-specific technical skills for 12 sports, including soccer, lacrosse, flag football, tennis, basketball, and volleyball.

The book has four new chapters that will help you do the following:

• Align the tactical games approach to content standards in the United States and other countries
• Use technology in tactical games teaching and assessment
• Use the games to teach social justice
• Develop approaches to teaching social and emotional learning (SEL) through tactical games

Teaching Sport Concepts and Skills offers more than 350 detailed lesson and unit plans that can be used as is or be easily modified and incorporated into an existing curriculum. More than 240 diagrams throughout the lessons make it easy to set up and execute the games. There are 14 video clips, delivered on HKPropel, that show some lessons in action--for example, the volleyball segments show complete question-and-answer sessions, highlighting an effective way to make sure students are understanding the lesson.

Also available on HKPropel are reproducible forms, including a team contract, assessments, and game scenario worksheets for tactical problem solving. (For each thumbnail reproducible worksheet shown in the book, readers can download the full-size versions from HKPropel.) These resources will help teachers put concepts from the text into use with their students.

Teaching Sport Concepts and Skills is organized into three parts:

• Part I offers a thorough understanding of the tactical games approach--preparing and teaching students, transferring tactical knowledge, planning the curriculum, assessing learner performance, using games to teach social justice and to take social emotional learning into account, and more.
• Part II provides lesson plans for varying levels of complexity--with modifications and progressions--for invasion games, net and wall games, striking and fielding games, and target games, all at the elementary school level. The authors take great care in helping readers understand how to individualize instruction for novice, developing, and advanced performers by either reducing or increasing the challenges involved with the tasks.
• In part III, secondary-level teachers can choose from lesson plans for various levels of play in 12 sports.

Teaching Sport Concepts and Skills offers expert instruction and an array of multilevel games that provide an exciting and interactive environment for learning in all domains. Current and future teachers will learn how to structure positive and engaging learning experiences that set the stage for students to improve their performance, develop problem-solving skills, and enhance their lifelong enjoyment of sport.

Note: A code for accessing HKPropel is included with all new print books.

Author Biography

Steve Mitchell, PhD, is associate dean in the College of Education, Health and Human Services, and a professor of physical education, at Kent State University in Ohio. He received his undergraduate and master's degrees from Loughborough University (England), where Teaching Games for Understanding was developed. He earned a doctorate in teaching and curriculum at Syracuse University. An avid soccer player and licensed coach, he has employed a tactical approach in teaching and coaching at the elementary, middle school, high school, and college levels since 1982. Mitchell is a member of SHAPE America and the Ohio Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

Judy Oslin, PhD, is a professor emeritus at Kent State University. She received her undergraduate and master's degrees from Kent State and earned a doctorate in sport pedagogy at Ohio State University. Oslin has more than 35 years of experience as a physical educator and teacher educator. She has used the tactical approach with elementary, middle school, high school, and university students. Oslin has also presented numerous papers and workshops focusing on implementation of the tactical approach and the Game Performance Assessment Instrument at the international, national, regional, state, and local levels. Having retired in 2007, she now enjoys playing games (particularly golf and pickleball), traveling, hiking, camping, and staying fit by walking and weight training.

Linda Griffin, PhD, is a professor in the College of Education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She earned her bachelor's degree from Black Hills State University, her master's degree from Ithaca College, and her doctorate from Ohio State University. She has more than 35 years of experience as a physical educator and teacher educator. Her research and scholarly interest for over 20 years have focused on the teaching and learning of sport-related games through a games-centered approach grounded in constructivist learning. Throughout the United States and abroad, Linda has presented numerous papers and workshops focused on the tactical approach. Griffin served on the planning committee for the first Teaching Games for Understanding Conference in New Hampshire in 2001. She is a member of SHAPE America, National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS), and American Educational Research Association (AERA). Griffin has also served as chair for the Curriculum and Instruction Academy, president of the Research Consortium, and a reviewer for various professional journals, including the Journal of Teaching in PE and Research Quarterly.