PBL Introduction

To implement project-based learning at Webster County High School, my group is focusing on Fantasy Baseball. This theme was derived from www.fantasysportsmath.com. The website addresses how including sports into math by way of creating fantasy teams and gaining/losing points based on player stats helps motivate students to become intrinsically interested in math. Webster County Schools is a small district which houses grades K-12 entirely in one building. In an effort to allow all students in Webster County Schools to participate in Fantasy Baseball, I created an instructional activity that will address 3rd - 5th grade students in a self-contained Special Education classroom.
The title of my activity is called The Dream Team. The activity addresses 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade GPS measurement and data and probability analysis math standards. To complete the activity, students would engage in a "practice" in which basic agility exercises were done. First, the students would measure the number of steps in takes them to get from one base to the next. Once an understanding of measure distance is established, units of measure would be introduced by the students measuring (in feet) how far they can throw a baseball, hit a baseball, slide into a base, and spit a sunflower seed. Each student would have a "stat sheet" to fill in as they complete each task. While the students are completing each task, the teacher will document by taking pictures of the students.
To ensure that all students realize that they will be traveling to the baseball field with a purpose, an instructional PowerPoint will be shown beforehand. Students participating would also have to bring back and signed permission slip. To make the activity a more athentic experience, the teacher would borrow baseball jerseys and hats from the baseball coach to allow the children to suit up.
Upon returning to school from the baseball field students would graph their data on a pre-made MS Word document. The teacher would put the pictures taken at the field into a MovieMaker project and the students would narrate the movie based on the pictures. The graphs completed from the MS Word document would be included in the final MovieMaker presentation to demonstrate the finished product.