Lacrosse is one of my all-time
favorite P.E. units. While the sport
continues to experience major growth throughout the state, it is still very new
to many of the elementary school students.
I find that the students that are new to lacrosse are eager to learn the
sport. Fortunately, we were able order
brand new lacrosse sticks for this spring.
The sticks that we use in class are smaller versions of the actual
sticks used in league play.
This is a sport that can be frustrating
when you first attempt some of the skills.
With that being said, I take the time to discuss this with the students
before we begin our unit. We talk about
the importance of trying our best, continuing to practice, and not giving
up. As in all units, effort is the key,
and if students aren’t putting the effort in, the skills become much harder to
master.
We
briefly cover the history of the game, and all students are notified of the
safety rules associated with handling the stick. In lacrosse, it is important to remember to keep
two hands on the stick, so the students are showed how to properly handle their
stick around others. All students have
done an excellent job of taking care of their stick during the course of this
unit.
In many
classes, there is a student or two that either plays on a team, or has had some
experience with lacrosse in the past. I
talk to these students at the beginning of the unit of how cool it would be for
them to help their classmates learn the skills.
I call them my “teacher’s assistants”, and it is amazing to see how well
the students interact with each other as they practice. I have seen some really nice things during
the past couple of weeks with students helping each other out. It is a real self-esteem booster for both
students that know the game, and students that are new to lacrosse.
There is no checking allowed with
the stick or body, and the P.E. version is called “soft lacrosse”. We focus on the basic skills that will allow
us to gain an understanding of how the game is played. The skills that we work on include: Catching,
Throwing, Cradling, Scooping, Shooting, and Defending. Students in the younger grades focus a lot on
spacing and the handling of the stick.
Each class in grades K-6 participates in drills and games that help develop
these skills.
