Year 5 Medium Term Planning – Basketball

Objective Skills Activity

Perform dribbling Dribbling Warm Up
skills with accuracy, Alternate dribbling Shuttle Run
confidence and Ball control Organise children into groups of five or six and place four cones at intervals across the playground.
control. Illegal dribble Children have to run from start to first cone and back, second and back, third and back then fourth and
Double dribble back.
Understand rules Tag the next person.
relating to dribbling Winning team will have all team members returned and sitting down in a line.
– illegal dribble,
double dribble. Activity 1
Discuss what is meant by dribbling. Make sure all children have a basketball and tell the class to travel
sensibly around the area bouncing the ball. Stop and add teaching points:
o Use the fingers not the palm of the hand
o Bounce the ball to waist height
o Keep head and eyes up
Ask children to continue, first practising on the spot and then moving around the space on your whistle.
Introduce whistle meaning change direction.

Activity 2
Discuss why players might swap between their hands when dribbling the ball. Ask children to dribble and try
to use their other hand (non-dominant). Remind children to keep ball at waist height and revise teaching
points as above.
Discuss ‘illegal dribble’ – cannot use two hands at once – and ‘double dribble’ – cannot dribble again once two
hands have been on the ball. Demonstrate.
Practise and evaluate, e.g. how much harder is it to dribble with your non-dominant hand? Why might you
choose to dribble with non-dominant hand or alternate in a match situation?

Extension
Steal the Tail
 If group are sensible enough, give them a band or bib to put down back of their shorts (waistband). Dribble
around hall and try to take someone else’s tail. Do not lose control of your ball. Person at end with most tails
wins. Highlight good dribbling and defence skills throughout.

Cool Down
Shooting Contest!
Line all children up facing the basket. Each child to take a shot near the hoop. If they score, they rejoin the
line. If they miss, they can line up quietly ready to go back inside. The last person in the line wins.
Perform dribbling Dribbling Warm Up
and passing skills Alternate dribbling Mountains and Valleys
with accuracy, Jump stop Split class into four teams. Split playground into two separate playing areas and arrange cones in both
confidence and Bounce pass spaces, some facing up and some facing down. Two teams to play on each area, one team turning cones up and
control. Pivot the other team turning cones down. The winning team will have the most cones up/down after 60 seconds.

Practise a jump stop Activity 1

and bounce pass. Traffic Lights
Recap dribbling skills from previous session – change of hands, direction, control, etc. Reinforce teaching
points – downward pressure, hand shape, waist height, head up. Play the traffic light game. Using three
coloured plastic cones; red for stop, yellow for dribbling on the spot and green for dribbling on the move, the
children respond to the colour held up by the teacher. The teacher should move position so that children look
up to see the colour of the cones from different positions. Let a pupil give the directions.

Activity 2
Introduce the jump stop – dribble, jump (one foot), land on two feet, pivot.
Introduce the bounce pass – dominant leg forward, chest down, eyes on target, push down using thumb and
bounce.
Practise each skill one at a time with a partner and then put both together.
Finally, in pairs on one side of area, dribble to opposite side of area, around a cone and when halfway back
jump stop and bounce pass to partner. Repeat. How many turns did pairs complete in 1 minute?

Cool Down
Shooting Contest!
 Line all children up facing the basket. Each child to take a shot near the hoop. If they score, they rejoin the
line. If they miss, they can line up quietly ready to go back inside. The last person in the line wins.
Perform dribbling, Chest pass Warm Up
passing and shooting Bounce pass Each child to collect a basketball and practise ways of taking the ball around the body e.g. over the head,
skills with accuracy, Pivoting around the waist and through the legs. With a partner, work out a sequence of ball movements synchronised
confidence and with their partner.
control.
Activity 1
Practise pivoting. Re-cap the bounce pass and when it might be used. Teach the chest pass – step with dominant leg, both hands
on the ball, ‘pop’ the ball, aim at chest. Children to practise in pairs.

Activity 2
Play ‘Piggy in the Middle’ in groups of three. Children to choose most appropriate pass – chest or bounce – to
avoid the defender. Discuss faking a pass. Remind children that they are not allowed to travel with the ball.
Reinforce non-contact. If appropriate, introduce dribbling and jockeying to give children decision making
opportunities. Remind children that they can also use pivoting if person in the middle isn’t giving them enough
space. Aim to complete 5 accurate passes, and then swap the person in the middle.

Activity 3
Split class into four teams. Playground split into two playing areas, each with marked out ‘end zones’ at either
end. The aim of the game is to pass the ball to a player in the end zone. Children to play in equal teams with
one nominated player to catch the ball in the end zone to score a goal. Ensure that all children are dribbling
and using both chest and bounce passes. Show children good examples of how to pass and move to receive the
ball in a space. Emphasise that children should show their hands to receive the ball in a good position.

Cool Down
Shooting Contest!
Line all children up facing the basket. Each child to take a shot near the hoop. If they score, they rejoin the
line. If they miss, they can line up quietly ready to go back inside. The last person in the line wins.
Perform dribbling, Dribbling Warm Up
passing and shooting Shooting Tiny jumps on the spot
skills with accuracy, Pivoting Big jumps on the spot
confidence and Chest pass Leg stretches
control. Bounce pass Tiny circles with arms
Big circles with arms

Activity 1
Discuss that you are not allowed to travel with the ball in basketball, i.e. ball in hands and both feet moving.
So how can we change direction? Discuss rules for pivoting. Why might we pivot? Use a child to demonstrate
pivoting. In pairs, practise receiving a pass (alternate between chest pass and bounce pass) and then pivoting
360 degrees and passing back to partner.

Activity 2
Split class into two halves, one facing each basket. Children dribble down to basket and shoot. Teaching
points:
o Bend knees
o Position ball above the head, making a ‘window’ with hands
o Aim for above the ring into the square
Practise dribble, jump stop, shoot.
Challenge children in their two teams – how many baskets can each team score in two minutes?

Activity 3
Children to take part in mini games 3v2. Teacher to introduce ‘marking’ whereby each player marks another in
the opposing team. Encourage children to mark players whenever the ball isn’t in their hands.
Team in possession must try to complete 5 accurate passes within the area without being intercepted. Try to
include at least one of each pass (bounce, chest, overhead). If an interception occurs or the ball leaves the
area, the opposite team gains possession. If the team with 3 players complete 5 accurate passes, 1 team
member and possession switches.

Cool Down
Shooting Contest!
Line all children up facing the basket. Each child to take a shot near the hoop. If they score, they rejoin the
line. If they miss, they can line up quietly ready to go back inside. The last person in the line wins.
Perform dribbling, Dribbling Warm Up
passing and shooting Alternate dribbling Shuttle Runs (see session 2).
skills with accuracy, Cross over
confidence and Overhead pass Activity 1
control in full game Pivoting Keep children in teams. Place two cones in front of each team, one at the halfway line and the other at the
situations. end of the court. Children need to dribble the ball with their right hand up to the first cone, cross over to
their left hand and continue to dribble to the second cone. They must then sprint back to their team with
the ball using their dominant hand to dribble (no need to cross over on the way back).

Activity 2
Teach the overhead pass, to use when a longer pass is required or to send the ball over a defensive player’s
head. Teaching points:
o Both hands
o Step with dominant leg and follow through
o Fingers point where you want the ball to go
Practise the overhead pass in pairs.

Activity 3
Hot Potatoes
Passing game to improve speed and accuracy. Split class into 3 teams of approx. 10 players, each team with an
equal number of balls. The aim is to pass balls from start to end zone as fast as possible. Children will need
to pass accurately and pivot to aim the shot. Repeat but setting a new ball off after the previous ball
reaches a certain point, e.g. the 5th person. Teacher to highlight good passing, pivoting, shooting, etc.
Children to demonstrate in teams.

Cool Down
Shooting Contest!
Line all children up facing the basket. Each child to take a shot near the hoop. If they score, they rejoin the
line. If they miss, they can line up quietly ready to go back inside. The last person in the line wins.
Perform dribbling, Dribbling Warm Up
passing and shooting Cross over Fishermen
skills with accuracy, Shooting One or more children stand in the middle of the area. On the command, the remaining children dribble across
confidence and Passing to the opposite side of the area – ‘safe area’. The fishermen try to catch the ball and put it safely to the
control in full game side. Children who lose their ball become fishermen. Mark out the safe areas with cones or use existing lines.
situations. Play the game to about half the class are court otherwise there will be too many fishermen. Throughout,
highlight good dribbling and defence skills.

Activity 1
Place five or six cones leading up to the basket. Teacher or confident children to demonstrate. Slow dribble
the ball around the cones, then stop still whilst still dribbling then burst around the final cone to take a
shot. Allow children to practise in small teams, ensuring that they do not stop with the ball in both hands
before continuing to dribble (double dribble).

Activity 2
Same as above, but this time allow children to cross over (swap hands) when dribbling up to the basket.
Challenge teams – how many baskets can each team score in 3 minutes?

Activity 3
Split class into four teams. Playground split into two playing areas, each with marked out ‘end zones’ at either
end. The aim of the game is to pass the ball to a player in the end zone. Children to play in equal teams with
one nominated player to catch the ball in the end zone and then shoot. Ensure that all children are dribbling
and using both chest and bounce passes. Show children good examples of how to pass and move to receive the
ball in a space. Emphasise that children should show their hands to receive the ball in a good position.
Encourage children to mark opponent players throughout to make sure they don’t get the ball.

Cool Down
Shooting Contest!
Line all children up facing the basket. Each child to take a shot near the hoop. If they score, they rejoin the
line. If they miss, they can line up quietly ready to go back inside. The last person in the line wins.
Perform dribbling, Dribbling Warm Up
passing and shooting Shooting Key skills warm up. Explain to children that they will be taking part in a series of matches. They can choose
skills with accuracy, Passing their own warm up to practise key skills, which will help them in the matches. Some children may choose to
confidence and practise shooting/dribbling, whereas others might like to play Fishermen or another team warm up. Ensure
control in full game that warm up only last for approx. 5 minutes so that there is enough time for matches.
situations.
Activity
Teacher to explain the rules of the game, including what happens when the ball goes out and if there are any
violations during play. Children to play a series of family group matches, for example:
1 Ocean v Arctic
2 Amazon v Everest
3 Mars v Winner 1
4 Winner 2 v Winner 3

Encourage children to referee/score/evaluate whilst their team isn’t playing. Teacher to highlight skills
throughout.

Cool Down
Shooting Contest!
Line all children up facing the basket. Each child to take a shot near the hoop. If they score, they rejoin the
line. If they miss, they can line up quietly ready to go back inside. The last person in the line wins.