ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

If you are a college football fan like we are, this is an exciting time of year.  Football gives us a distraction from the economy, storms, wars, and woes of the world.  It gives us something to cheer for and look forward to each weekend.   Football can also be a “kick off” for teaching some skills in your classroom.

College Goals – It’s never too early to plant seeds of attending college in your students.  Give them a dream and a goal!  One school I visited displayed pennants of the schools where the teachers graduated from in the front hall.  Have the children brainstorm all the colleges and universities in your area.  Talk about why it is important to go to college.  Encourage your students to think about where they would like to go to college.  Give them paper shaped like pennants to decorate with their college dream.

Math – Let children do surveys of favorite college teams.

Graph favorite teams.

Predict who will win the game.  Who was right?  Who was wrong?

Predict what the score will be.  Who was closest?

Let children choose a favorite player and write their number on a jersey.  How many math facts can they think of to equal that number?

Social Studies – Use a map of the United States and locate where games will be played.

Internet Search – Look up team mascots and colors.  Listen to college fight songs.  Do exercises to fight songs.

Team Mascots – Make puppets of team mascots.  Write poems or stories about mascots.

Art – Cut pictures of players out of the newspaper or sports magazines.  Challenge children to write creative stories about favorite players.  They could also write letters to favorite players.

Guest Readers – Invite a local high school football team and cheerleading squad to visit your school to read books.  There’s nothing more motivating to a young child than to see someone in a uniform model how “cool” it is to read!

P.S.  Vanessa from pre-kpages wrote:  "Most districts in my area have "college spirit days" every Wednesday and teachers are encouraged to wear their college t-shirts, sweatshirts, and other gear.  One less day we have to worry about what to wear!"