Let's Dance--March Madness Activities for Students

There is nothing that kids like better than a teacher and school who embrace their interests.  It's March Madness, people, and that means basketball.  Lots and lots of basketball.  I will try to hide the feelings of chagrin resulting after Duke's loss today.  Crud.  Bracket broken.  There goes my billion.

While it's too late for my Blue Devils (I still harbor some bitterness. Where the heck is Mercer anyway?!?), it isn't too late to dig into the fun that comes with the crazed season of tournament time. There are still a great plenty vying for their chance at divine hoopster glory.

The one thing about basketball is that it holds a variety of options for learning extensions.  Trajectory, probability, addition, mapping, writing, researching....you name it!  There are so many resources out there to help you design your lessons in a way that will not only interest them, but most importantly, meet your standards!  Here are a few that I love...

This one from Fabulousclassroom is recently updated to include 2014 resources, ideas, and
webquests.  Good ones!  If you're looking for ready-made quests that get kids digging into the 'net (pun intended), this is the place. Excellent stuff designed for middle and high school, primarily, but any of these can be tweaked to fit your classroom's needs.

This link from Education World offers quite a few resources and ideas for ways to use the tourney for educational purposes.  There is a wide variety of age levels addressed here, and I very much appreciate the sweet list of "additional resources" at the bottom.

This resource from Math Pages, is terrific for gleaning ideas for math extensions. There are plenty of ideas for tapping into your math standards.  This is meant for high school math students and showcases the use of such web tools as Google Earth and Glogster, among others, for showcasing knowledge and findings.

Here is an awesome Pinterest page by Krista Schmidt that has a TON of super ideas for classrooms, down to the coordinating bulletin board.  It's a Pinterest-a-palooza of basketball.

Finally, this Quia Class Page has some excellent ideas and links for creating your own class challenges. While this one is made for a particular 6th grade class, it offers some top-notch ways to really involve all of your students in the whole tournament.  And the links at the bottom?? More ideas spinning through my head than I can count! Seriously.  Take a peek.

Dig in and have some fun.  Don't fight the naturally competitive nature of kids.  Embrace it and mold it in a healthy way.  Use it to your advantage and by all means, have some FUN!