Buddhist+Baseball

=**Title: Buddhist Baseball**=

Objective:

 * Review and evaluation of learning of buddhist concepts in a "fun" manner
 * Reinforce lessons

Materials:

 * paper & pen/pencil for each student
 * 2x 6 sided die
 * timer or a watch
 * Whiteboard or something to keep score on

Preparation:

 * Write up a "scoreboard" on the whiteboard. (This may serve as an attention getter).

Method:

 * 1) Choose two teams. Have them physically separate. In high school, make sure to split up students who "stick" together. Also balance out the general Buddhist knowledge (if known).
 * 2) Choose a captain for each team. (They may be self selected). Give each student a piece of paper & pencil.
 * 3) Explain the rules (below)
 * 4) Have each team person write up some potential Buddhist questions and answers. Remind them that "easy" questions might not be easy to others
 * 5) Decide on the time and inning limit
 * 6) Decide who goes first
 * 7) Play until the agreed-upon number of innings is up or time is up.
 * 8) Assign each team member a number, this is the order of their batting and their "position" during fielding. There can be up to 11 students per team.

Rules:

 * The objective is to "win" by scoring the most points.
 * The general rules are similar to baseball/softball.
 * The team that is fielding "pitches" a question to the batting team. If the batter knows the answer, they've made contact.
 * Ask the batter for two numbers from 1-6. Have them roll the die. If the first number is rolled, then it's a double (2nd base). If the 2nd number number is rolled, they are safe (they get to go to first base).
 * If another number shows up, then roll two die to determine who on the fielding team gets a question. Then batter asks a question, if the fielder gets it correct, then the batter is out. If incorrect, then the batter advances to first.
 * The teacher may call a time out where the students may write down more questions.
 * The teacher is the referee and final arbiter.

Evaluation:

 * This game can be used to evaluate any lesson by restricting the topic and listening to the answers.

Note:
Appeals to kids who are into sports. Uses peer pressure to reinforce learning. The game could be simplified by having a list of questions already and have the teacher read the questions to the players. This way the game can be played with even students in first grade.

Author:
Mas Nishimura, nish221@gmail.com, San Jose Buddhist Church Bestuin, 2007 ||