Template for Assignment 1: Tiered Lesson

Name & Student Number: Daniel Barker: 2186451

Curriculum (Learning) Area of Lesson: Physical Education
Specific Topic of Lesson: Volleyball
Year Level/s: 10

Lesson Context
The following lesson takes place during a year ten physical education unit specifically focussed on
volleyball. The lesson would be the fourth of the unit meaning that the students would have already
spent some time developing their understanding of the game and familiarising themselves with the
common techniques. The overall aim of the unit is for students to improve their knowledge of strategic
and tactical gameplay elements whilst also developing their motor skills in order to execute on these
strategies. This should all be taught with the ‘teaching for transfer’ mindset and students should be
constantly made aware of the interconnectedness of all net/wall games. As students will have some
prior knowledge of the defensive shots (e.g. set, dig) this lesson will introduce the spike, or attacking
shot. The intended learning outcome is for the students to gain an understanding of how to effectively
create an attacking opportunity as well as the benefits this can bring their team.

Learning Objectives
Moving our body
Develop, implement and evaluate movement concepts and strategies for successful outcomes with and without equipment
(ACPMP101 - Scootle )
Learning through movement
Devise, implement and refine strategies demonstrating leadership and collaboration skills when working in groups or teams
(ACPMP105 - Scootle )
Transfer understanding from previous movement experiences to create solutions to movement challenges (ACPMP106 -
Scootle )

As a result of engaging with the lesson, students will:

understand that (Concepts, principles, “big ideas”. No more than 1 or 2 for a single lesson. Make sure your
objectives are statements that work in the form, Students will understand that…)

- Attacking shots can have a significant tactical impact on a net/wall game

- There are several key factors that go into setting up an attacking shot

know be able to (do)

- The impact attacking shots can have on - Perform an effective attacking shot
gameplay - Set up a teammate for an attacking shot
- The correct position to set the ball in - Position themselves in a way that allows for an
order to allow an effective attacking shot effective dig-set-spike sequence to occur

Essential Questions

1. How can an attacking opportunity be created?

2. What are the strategic implications of playing an attacking shot during a net/wall game?

Preassessment of Individual Student Readiness

The preassessment used for this lesson will come in multiple forms. The first of which being a
worksheet to be completed at the beginning of the lesson (see appendix). This will only be a quick
activity with the students spending no longer than 5-10 minutes working through it individually. As
seen in the appendix the questions are designed to gauge the students understanding of how
attacking shots are created and then used during gameplay scenarios prior to the lesson.

The second form of pre assessment will be a combination of both current and prior observation. As
this is not the first lesson of the unit, the teacher will have some prior knowledge of each student’s
ability level and overall understanding of the sport. To add to this the class warm up will have a
specific focus on creating attacking shots which will allow the teacher to make further adjustments to
groups before getting into the more intense learning activities.

Ideally by the end of the lesson the students will be able to reflect on the worksheet they completed
and use it as evidence of their learning and new understanding.

Lesson Plan
Lesson Sequence Explanatory notes

Lesson Introduction – teacher centred

Teacher will:
- Introduce the lesson topic (attacking
shots in volleyball)
- Explain intended learning outcomes and
goals of the lesson
- Brief description of lesson structure
Students will:
- Sit and listen

Activity 1:
Attacking play worksheet – student
centred
(see appendix)
Teacher will:
- Explain the task
- Observe participation and provide
assistance where necessary
Students will:
- Complete the worksheet to the best of
their ability

Activity 2:
Warm up 3v3 – student centred guided Activity 2:
discovery Activity two allows students to group with their
For this warmup the students will participate friends and participate in small games as a warmup.
in small sided 3v3 games of volleyball where By allowing students to choose their own groups they
no score is kept, and the gameplay is very will effectively differentiate themselves into skill level
informal. This activity is designed simply to which gives the teacher a way of visualising where
get the students moving, engaged and students see themselves at.
focusing on the desired gameplay outcomes.
Teacher will:
- Reinforce the strong focus on setting up
for attack
- Challenge the students to create as many
attacking opportunities as possible
- Question students regarding the drill
1. What made attacking easier?
2. What was important when setting up
the attack?
3. What types of sets were easier to
attack than others?
The goal is too observe students creating a
dig, set spike scenario.

Activity 3:
Skill breakdown task – setting up for Activity 3:
As discussed throughout the activity breakdown this
attack
is heavily differentiated so that students are
This activity will not be competitive and will
maximizing their engagement and opportunities to
instead be the main skill acquisition section of
develop understanding. For example if tier 1 was
the lesson. This will also be the main area for
asked to do the job of tier 3 they would likely never
differentiation.
arrive at the attacking shot and therefore not gain the
intended knowledge from the exercise.
The class will be put into specific groups of
three based of off preassessment for this
task. These groups will be given a task specific
to the tier, with these being 1, 2 and 3.

Tier 1
The first tier will be the easiest and is
designed to be achievable for the students on
the lower end of performance while still
providing opportunities for them to
demonstrate understanding with regards to
the strategic implications.

This task will see students set up in a triangle

formation with one student being behind the
service line and the other two side by side at
the net. The server will throw the ball to their
teammate at the net who will perform a dig
to the other group member at the net. They
will then catch the ball and throw it up for the
digger to execute a spike (attacking shot).

The focus for this tier will be the perform an

accurate dig to their teammate and then
quickly reposition so that they are ready to
become the spiker. The teammate in the
setting position who receives the dig can also
be demonstrating their knowledge of setting
up for attack with the position they put the
ball in for the spike.

Tier 2
Tier two is designed for the students who are
capable of performing each shot individually
but struggle to string them together.

The activity will be run in the same way as tier

one however with the key difference being
the student in the setting position. Instead of
catching the dig and throwing the ball up for
the spiker they will be performing a set. They
will be allowed to let the ball bounce once
after the dig to allow them to get into better
position.

Tier 3
The tier three students are the very high
achievers and more than likely have had
experience with net/wall games prior to this
unit.

The activity will consist of the same end goal

however getting there will be made much
more difficult. This time the server will need
to perform a serve instead of a throw, which
will be received by the digger. The dig is
performed as normal however the setter
cannot let the ball bounce and must
immediately set the ball back to the spiker
without hesitation. If students are able to
complete this entire sequence it will
demonstrate not only great physical ability
but also a great understanding off positioning
and strategic implications.
 (Diagram in appendix)
Activity 4:
Activity 4: Activity four once again gives the power to the
3v3 small sided games students and allows them to differentiate themselves
The final progression of the class will be to by deciding whether or not to use their catches. With
return to our 3v3 small sided games from the the games being small sided the students also don’t
warmup. This time a scoring system will be in feel the pressure of all their peers watching them
place allowing students to receive bonus take the easier option which will allow them to focus
points if the play ends with an attacking shot. more on obtaining the intended outcomes.

The differentiation used within this game will

be the choice of the students as they will
have the option to use one ‘catch’ throughout
the rally. This will allow students to self-
assess and determine whether or not they
need to use the catch as well as extending the
duration of rallies to provide less down time
between points.

Lesson Closure/ Check for Understanding

Lesson conclusion
Teacher will:
- Prompt students will takeaway questions regarding strategic benefits of attacking and how to
create those opportunities
- Provide feedback regarding progression throughout the lesson
- Reinforce areas that may have been lacking throughout the lesson (e.g. set placement etc)

Students will:
- Answer questions
- Develop deeper thinking
- Internalise feedback and think of ways to improve during the next lesson

Explanation:
Differentiation is a crucial part of effective teaching (Tomlinson, 2008). This is no different within a
physical education setting. However, there is often a larger gap between understanding and execution
within this example. Look no further than a math class for proof, generally speaking if a student
understands the concept, they are usually going to be able to execute it. A PE setting is vastly different
with this regard as students are often aware of the concept but unable to perform it due to the hand eye
coordination or physicality required (Jarvis, 2017). For this reason, the differentiation throughout the
designed lesson focusses specifically on allowing those students who are less capable physically to
demonstrate and develop their understanding, whilst also providing the physically capable students a
challenge they can strive to complete.

Another strategy that was used during the differentiation process was done so that all students are
working on the same aspects and have the same end goals while completing an activity differently. This
allows all students to contribute to questioning between activities and involves the entire class. Take
activity 3 for example, the exercise can be described to the class in one simplified way using tier 1
instruction. Once this is done it is easy enough to discuss with individual groups the further modifications
you would like them to implement to increase the difficulty. An article by Macqueen discusses some of
the inequities that grouping students can bring, however by running the class this way the entire group
receives information together. For the most part this leaves the students unaware they are even being
differentiated, which can lower stigmatisation, feelings of inadequacy from the lower performing
students and overall help combat some of the negatives that come with differentiation (Macqueen,
2012).

References
Jarvis, J. M., Pill, S. A., & Noble, A. G. (2017). Differentiated pedagogy to address learner diversity in
secondary physical education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 88(8), 46-54.

Macqueen, S. E. (2013). Grouping for inequity. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 17(3), 295-
309.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2008). Goals of Differentiation. Educational leadership.

 Appendix

Preassessment worksheet:
Volleyball lesson worksheet
Q1. What is an attacking shot?

Q2. How can this benefit a team tactically?

Q3. Where should the setter position the ball for a spiker to be successful?

Q4. Where should an attacking shot be hit to?

Q5. What are three keys to effectively set up for an attack?

Activity 3 diagram: