1 Touchdown! Helping students “Score” by integrating Fantasy Football with Math.
2 The concept behind it all…Fantasy sports are a hit worldwide with over 17 million participants in the U.S. alone. Fantasy sports are dynamic games in which students create fantasy teams by picking their favorite real-life players, following their player’s statistics, and computing their teams’ total points using algebraic or non-algebraic methods specifically designed to complement the math skills they are learning. Because it’s so fun and helpful!
3 How do you play Fantasy Sports and Mathematics?Fantasy Football is a game where students draft and manage fantasy teams of professional athletes, who earn points for them based on their performance on the field. Each Friday before you leave your team will decide your starting lineup for the weekend. The students’ fantasy teams in room 116 will compete against room 118 with the goal being to accumulate the greatest number of points before Christmas Break (December 13th). Students track their teams’ progress by reading box scores in newspapers or online that I will provide each Tuesday in class. Each week, students compute the points earned by their players and synergize creating a variety of graphs based on their teams' performance. Practice worksheets will be integrated during class that will reinforce concepts.
4 What types of concepts can students practice with the fantasy sports programs?Some of the concepts incorporated (and feel free to include your own): ratio and proportion, cumulative frequency tables, mean, median, mode, and range, fractions, decimals, and whole numbers, critical thinking skills, problem solving Higher level concepts include: summations, factorials, positive exponents, negative exponents, area and circumference of circles, scientific notation, linear equations, absolute value, and data depiction, as well as several worksheets that deal with percentages. Have fun adapting the stats and curriculum to your grade level!
5 Math can be boring! Integrating real life football and following stats of “our team” has made it so much more enjoyable…and I finally understand algebra! Abby and Mary B
6 How does it help? Fantasy Sports and Mathematics brings excitement to the classroom! Students will get the opportunity to draft their teams (I will pass out the top 200 players), decide on starting lineups (within their group), and keep track of their players they started and players they benched. Students will find that Fantasy Football can be fun and engaging while they are learning the standards!
7 Benefits of Fantasy FootballFantasy Football leads to a student-centered classroom rather than a teacher-led classroom. Fantasy sports provide students with decision-making skills, contributing to their social and cognitive development. Fantasy sports can facilitate the transition into the abstract world of algebra. Once students understand how to compute points using a non-algebraic method, teachers have the option of introducing linear equations that include variables. Fantasy sports are based on real-world data, and students can follow their players on television, in newspapers, or online. This allows them to make connections between math at school and math in the real world; research indicates that learning is facilitated when this occurs. The content can be customized according to the skill level of students. The innovative curriculum helps to alter the negative perception many students have toward mathematics. Mastery learning is facilitated because students get multiple exposures to concepts. There is little preparation time once the game begins.
8 Why is Fantasy Football so Fun?Pick 4…should I go with Peyton Manning or Charles? The team is in charge Parent involvement Draft Day with a bowl party Follow your players on-line, TV, newspaper Competition among friends and class A fun way to implement the curriculum Winner gets a Free Pizza Party and snacks bought by the other two teachers-
9 How it works in my class? Cavender vs Lissauer vs FerrellDraft day (sometime after Labor Day) Every Thursday you pick your roster Draft 15 players On Tuesday we go over your team points for the week and work on math skills that integrate football Keep track of points based on the point system (enhance learning skills with the curriculum and players’ stats.) Work on integers, algebra, number and computation cumulative frequency, and plots Create a Team Pennant Team with most points at the end of season wins (cumulative frequency) Season ending “pizza party” for the winners (bought by the losing teacher)
10 Point Break Down TD=6 pts FG=3 pts XP=110 rushing/receiving yards =1 pt 25 passing yards=1pt A thrown interception is -3 points Defense points are awarded as such: 0-10 points allowed =10 points 11-20 = 8 points 21-30 = 6 points Over 30 points you lose 3 points A sack=1 pt A Defensive interception= 3pts
11 What you need to do? Do a bit of research to find out what players you want You will draft a total of 15 players (You will start 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 Defense, 1 Kicker) Your team will create a customized pennant to display as we keep a running total (stack graph) of points-Cavender vs Ferrell vs Lissauer Each Thursday, during Workshop time, you will pick a starting lineup
12 Figure out how many points you would get for the following scenarios.Your QB throws for 312 yards and 3 touchdowns… Your RB has 25 rushing yards and 2 TD’s, he also has 47 yards receiving and a TD. Your defense wins and has 3 int’s, 4 sacks and your kicker kicks 3 field goals and 4 extra points
13 Sample assignment questions• Q: If a quarterback had annual quarterback ratings of 88.64, , 76.75, and 93.53, what would be his average rating for the last five years? A: The answer is Add the scores from each of the years and divide by 5. Charles just earned you 20 points. Create a prime factorization tree to display his points Create a line point representing your team points for the week Write a ratio of your starting QB to your starting RB points Find out how many total feet your RB’s gained together Create a stack graph of your team points
14 Measurement Jamal Charles gained 131 yards rushing. How many feet did he gain? How many inches? How many centimeters? 131 x 3 = 393 feet 393 x 12 = 4,716 inches 4,716 x 2.54 = 11, cm. (2.54 cm. = 1 in.)
15 Division with Whole NumbersIf the New England Patriots spent 7,200 minutes practicing in training camp, how many hours did they spend practicing? Answer 7,200 / 60 = 120 hours
16 How many points did you end up with?Position Passing Yards TD’s Rushing Yards Receiving Yards Defense Total points allowed Interceptions Sacks QB 267 3 14 1 WR 7 114 2 87 23 72 RB 141 37 99 17 DEF 21 4 K 3 FG’s 2 XP
17 Cross-curricular extensionWith MTSS being at the forefront of education, we have adapted lessons that fit around FFB. Within any given week students’ read stories about their team or players and work on paraphrasing, graphic aids, prefix/suffix, and any other form of text structure we introduce.
18 Research Middle school instructional practices often are not developmentally appropriate for young adolescents (Eccles, Wigfield, Midgley, Reuman, MacIver & Feldhaufer, 1993). Students at this age possess the ability to reason, evaluate, and become autonomous. However, many school environments consist primarily of rote learning and other low-level cognitive processes, as well as tightly controlled environments. At the same time, social relationships take on new importance for adolescents, yet many teachers enforce work in isolation (Eccles, et al., 1993). Students will never truly engage in learning if they are not allowed independence in the classroom (Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier, & Ryan, 1991). In response, Fantasy Sports and Mathematics addresses the social and cognitive needs of middle-school students in large part because it is based on a pedagogy that is student-centered. Students work collaboratively in groups to draft players, compute their weekly points, check their peers' answers, and create their graphs. Consequently, students become active learners. This socially interactive classroom approach provides for higher levels of thought processes (Barwell, Leung, Morgan, & Street, 2002). When students are allowed to work in small groups, student achievement increases (Burns, 1988).
19 Research Scaffolded instruction improves transfer of responsibility (Gallimore & Tharp, 1990). As students gradually learn, teachers withdraw so the transfer of responsibility for learning lies with students. This transfer holds students accountable for their learning and is characteristic of a mastery-goal structure which leads to lower incidences of avoidance strategies (Turner, Meyer, Anderman, Midgley, Green, & Kang, 2002). Fantasy Sports and Mathematics places responsibility for learning on students. The teachers' role is as a guide, and students rely on their peers for assistance. The teachers' role is less so students can become active learners and negotiate their own mathematical meanings. Students in autonomous classroom environments enjoy mathematical tasks more than students who are in authoritative classroom formats (Deci, 1975; Deci & Ryan, 1987).
20 Research Increasing students' interest in mathematics and becoming aware of the importance of mathematics in life are among the least emphasized goals of high school teachers (Weiss, 1990). Teachers' favorite instructional methods are lecture, discussion, and textbook work, while their least favorite pedagogical methods are use of hands-on materials, use of computers, and group work. Fantasy Sports and Mathematics attempts to bridge this dichotomy between teacher attitudes and characteristics of standards-based curricula by providing hands-on activities along with the inclusion of technology, both of which are student-centered activities that promote a higher level of student interest (Weiss, 1990). Indeed, interest and achievement influence each other (Schiefele et al., 1995).
21 Research Visual imagery is a major factor in information processing (Bishop, 1989). Meaning is constructed cognitively as verbal, visual, or a combination of both (Kosslyn, 1983). The ability of students to understand and solve problems may be influenced by the method in which the material is presented. Most individuals' schemas are more powerful for pictures than for words (Larkin et al., 1987). Student understanding may be facilitated if the schemas involved in the learning process are associated with pictures or diagrams because the cognitive load associated with visual aids does not entail as much working memory as does the cognitive load with words (Lowrie et al., 2001). A major difference between Fantasy Sports and Mathematics and traditional math units is that many practice worksheets are designed to use in conjunction with a graph, thereby addressing the visual learners. In addition, Fantasy Sports and Mathematics' hands-on features (graphing, the use of newspapers, and the use of technology) address all learning styles. The inclusion of all learning modalities helps to shift the environment from a transmission model to a knowledge construction model, a goal of NCTM (NCTM 1989, 1991).
22 Testimonies "What a fun way to engage sports-lovers in mathematics!" Danica McKellar Actress and author of “Math Doesn’t Suck” and “Kiss My Math” "Each year I have roughly 83% of my students meet or exceed state standards in math and I know it's because of fanstasy football. Thank you so much! My students enjoy math so much more now!!" KellyLynn C. 4th grade Las Vegas, NV
23 continued "My kids are having a BLAST with this! I have honestly never had a math class where students are engaged for an entire hour doing their fantasy football calculations. I even had a substitute one day and she wrote me a note saying she couldn't believe how there was no messing around and everyone was engaged the whole time." Donene R. Teacher - 5th grade Kuna, ID "I am very excited...so excited, that I almost didn't have time to have my own fantasy football league!! Also, just to share a quick story...I had a girl in my Algebra class misplaced...she should be in Geometry...which in our curriculum is higher than Algebra...well, when she figured this out, she begged me not to have her switch classes...she said, "I am so excited about Fantasy Football, my team looks great!" I thought that was really cool!!" Dan C. Teacher – 9th grade Pittsburgh, PA