I have been teaching for 11 years now, and trying to create new things can be a difficut thing to do sometimes. I usually like to add new material into my curriculum around the beginning of the year. A lot of new teachers like to see what you can do with just simple pieces of equipment. We were using hula hoops and gator skin balls one day for an activity, and I wondered if I could make another activity for these items. I had pool noodles set aside for the next day’s activity, and then it hit me – what about billiards? I wanted to make this activity have a good duration, where students weren’t bored in five minutes, but also make it a competition. I decided to call the activity Corner Pocket.
I used this PE activity for grades PreK – 2nd but it can be modified and used for all ages – elementary physed, middle and high school. It is great for students to practice their striking skills.
Materials:
How To Play
Spread hula hoops all over the floor and have students hit their ball from a cone. Students use the pool noodle like a pool stick. If they sink their ball into the pocket (hoop), they get to collect it and wrap it around their cone. We had a couple of students who were very good at doing this activity!
Video
I’ll usually post lessons in the morning to Twitter/Facebook. This acticity was very popular! It has racked up almost 44,000 impressions on Twitter and teachers have been sending in pictures of their students playing. I always create lesson visuals for other teachers to see how we do things. This activity has definitely made it into my Top 5 of creations.
🎱Corner Pocket🎱
— Drew Burris (@project_physed) October 4, 2021
Ss are working on striking in #physed today. If a ball rolls into a pocket (hoop), collect it to put around your cone. Most pockets collected wins. pic.twitter.com/bPew3NgLCr
The field of Physical Education has some creative teachers in it, just check Twitter out!
Guest Posts
Thanks @project_physed for the Corner Pocket activity! To fit my smaller (and squarish) space and classes of up to 27 kids we set up a circle instead. My students in grades 2-5 are loving it!! #PhysEd pic.twitter.com/Xhqvj1Y0l6
— Ms. Bird (@CHR_ACTIVities) October 13, 2021
Corner Pocket #whatchaknowjoe Activity of the Day from @project_physed #PhysEd https://t.co/YwfQuzK3pm
— Joe Crossland (@jcrossland15) October 6, 2021
About the Author:
Drew Burris is in his 11th year of teaching Physical Education at Ridge View Elementary in Warrensburg, MO. He has been published on PE Central, published in The Great Activities Magazine, won the 2015 Star of the Classroom, won the 2016 CTA Teacher of the Year, won the 2018 MOSHAPE West Central District Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year, and presents at MOSHAPE (Missouri SHAPE Convention) every year. Drew says the best part of his job is seeing the students learning and also having fun being physically active. Drew has a website: projectphysed.weebly.com with all his and other physical educators content on it. Twitter handle is @projectphysed.
