Grade 11 Sample Lesson: Sit Volleyball on Mini Courts

• A Sudanese student who is a newcomer to Ontario. They have limited English and have cerebral palsy (CP).
  • Considerations:
    • Ensure full participation of the student with CP.
    • Highlight how the new student from Sudan may engage in net/wall activities and incorporate their experiences.
    • Provide language supports for the Sudanese student learning English. 

• 1 ball per pair (e.g., volleyball, beach ball, small or large foam balls, balloon)  

• 4 cones, pylons, or floor markers 

• 50 Fitness Activity GIFs 

• Appendix: Stretches 

• Teacher Resource: Recordable Assessment Tool (Checklist) 

• Volleyball or badminton nets and poles with padding per court or chairs and skipping ropes (as an alternative to setting up poles and nets)  

• Create a dynamic movement circuit by selecting and displaying visual instruction cards around the activity area that illustrate various dynamic movements. Refer to the 50 Fitness Activity GIFs for sample movement. Have 2–3 movements per station to provide students with choice of movement to perform based on ability and preferred ways of moving their body.  

• Before beginning the warm-up, describe and model the dynamic movements, reminding students to focus on proper form and safety.  

• Remind students that they can determine the intensity with which they perform each of the movements and may take rest breaks as needed.   

• Divide students into pairs and assign each pair to a starting station. More than one pair may be at each station.  

• Have pairs rotate through each station, performing their chosen dynamic movement for a designated amount of time.  

• Allow sufficient time for transitions between stations to accommodate the varying abilities and needs of students. 

• Have students remain in pairs. 

• Have pairs choose the ball with which they would like to play (e.g., volleyball, beach ball, small or large foam ball). 

• Have pairs find a wall space safely away from other pairs.  

• Pairs start the game by having one student send the ball to the wall. 

• The other student receives the ball and sends it back to the wall. Pairs can choose to catch and pass the ball back to the wall or use a volleyball pass, such as a forearm pass or volley.   

• Pairs engage in a practice round. Pause the activity to clarify instructions.   

• Pairs keep track of the number of times they successfully send and receive the ball. 

• The rally stops when the ball hits the ground. Pairs try to increase their number of contacts with each rally.   

Using the Think Pair Share Strategy (consult Teaching Strategy Descriptions) and the following teacher prompts, have pairs reflect on their success at sending and receiving a ball off a wall and make connections to their prior experiences. Encourage students to demonstrate their response.

Teacher Prompt: “What is the best location to send the ball to help your partner be successful at receiving it?”

Student responses may include:

“Sending the ball high on the wall gave my partner time to get into position to receive it.”

“Sending it to the wall so it bounced off the wall toward my partner helped them get to it more easily.” 

Teacher Prompt: “What did you do to increase your chance of success in receiving the ball?”

Student responses may include: 

“I made sure I was facing the wall.” 

“I kept my eye on the ball as it came to me.” 

“I tried to keep my arms soft so I could cradle the ball and absorb the force.” 

Teacher Prompt: “Which games or sports have you played or know about that use similar rules and strategies to the ones used in this game?”

Student responses may include:

“It’s a bit like volleyball with the rallying.” 

“If we used a net, it is a lot like badminton or Sepak Takraw.” 

“It’s like Wall Ball without the bounce.” 

“It’s like squash or racquetball without the racquet.”

Action 

• Introduce Sit Volleyball to help students learn about how this sport is played around the world. Consider using photos to make connections to parasports and the Special Olympics and how varying rules, boundaries, and equipment of a game can provide an equitable opportunity for every student.   

• Explain to students that they are going to practise their sending and receiving skills by playing Sitting Volleyball on Mini Courts. 

• Divide badminton or volleyball courts into two or three mini courts. Mark each court using cones, pylons, lines, or floor markers.  

• Have students remain in their pairs. Assign two pairs per court. Have each pair select to play on one side of the court and sit within the boundary lines on their side of the court. 

• Have pairs on each court decide which ball they will use to play. Pairs may change their ball at any point during play.  

• Pairs start with catching and tossing the ball to simulate the flow of a volleyball game and to become familiar with moving while sitting.  

• Pairs count the number of consecutive times they can pass the ball over the net. Pairs can decide the rules of their game based on their abilities (e.g., allow the ball to bounce before catching it, progress to an overhead or forearm pass, choose a combination of catching, tossing, or volleying).  

• A rally ends when the ball hits the floor and a player cannot retrieve it. 

• After a period of time, pause play. Use the following teacher prompts for pairs to reflect on their success and generate ideas of ways to increase their success.
  • “What does a successful rally look like between two pairs?”
  • “How do you adjust the force applied to the ball to send it to various areas of the court?”
  • “How do you move to be more successful at contacting the ball when receiving it?”
  • “What strategies are you and your partner using to be successful in this game? What additional strategies might you use to be more successful?” 

• Resume play, having pairs apply the strategies they identified.  

• After another period of play, decide how they might change the game to enhance the fun, inclusion, and participation for everyone. Include the variations in additional rounds of play as time permits. 

• Create a static stretching circuit by selecting and displaying visual instruction cards around the activity area, considering students’ various needs and abilities. 

• Have students remain in their pairs, rotating through the circuit to perform each movement for a designated length of time.   

• Inform students that they can choose to perform any of the movements from a seated or standing position and move through the range of motion that is comfortable for them.  

• Encourage students to perform stretches at their own pace. 

• Allow sufficient time for transitions between stations to accommodate the varying abilities and needs of students.  

• Review the lesson’s learning goals with students.  

• Using the Thumbs Up Strategy (consult Teaching Strategy Descriptions), have students assess their ability to work cooperatively to send and receive an object over a net.  

• Provide students with different position options when playing (e.g., kneeling on one/two knees, sitting on a chair). 

• Increase the number of pairs per court for a game of 6–8 students per side. 

• Have pairs pass the ball on their side a certain number of times before sending it over the net.

CRRP and Disability-Centred Movement Strategies Embedded in the Lesson 

• Activities are designed to accommodate the needs of the student, giving them the opportunity to engage in the activity in a way that best suits their needs (e.g., choice of dynamic movements and static stretches, having sufficient time for transitions between circuit stations, performing movements either seated or standing). 

• Sequencing and progression of skill development is designed to ensure that the task is achievable and allows the student to practise skills in a consistent way before introducing additional skills (e.g., students practise skills against the wall before progression to a court, the height of the net is lower to help them better execute the required skills, having option to catch and throw helps the student become familiar with the game and be successful). 

• Students are able to choose the equipment and devise the rules of play that best suits their needs and abilities to maximize their participation and success.   

• All students are encouraged to use nonverbal cues to demonstrate their understanding, creating an inclusive space.  

• Small group discussion reinforces specific instructions for executing the required skills to increase success at sending and receiving. 

• Purposeful groupings allow students to engage in the activity that best suits their needs and abilities (e.g., working 1 to 1, with another pair, option to play with more than one other pair). 

• The Cool Down activity focuses on movements that can be performed standing or sitting to accommodate student choice in what they are comfortable with.  

• Through the use of teacher prompts and whole group discussion, the student has opportunities to share their experiences with games with which they are familiar with that use similar skills. These experiences are integrated into the learning to be inclusive of all students’ diverse abilities and cultural backgrounds.  

• Providing the student with the choice of how to play and adding variations allows them to use movement skills and strategies acquired through their specific movement experiences, which fosters inclusion and cultural appreciation. 

• Language supports include:  

• visual aids (e.g., visual instruction cards)  

• modelling tasks 

• instructional cues with no more than 1or 2 steps 

• a practice round to provide a visual understanding of how to play the game