Whether they realize it or not, most students are introduced to reading coordinates through the board game Battleship. Players must learn to use the X and Y-axis to find the cell they will attack. It is an excellent game for teaching coordinates. However, I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel. I tried playing a live-action version of Battleship with the students in PE. Unfortunately, the turn-based game mechanism was too slow for the students to feel like they were expending enough energy. While the game was still fun, I had students say that this game didn’t feel like gym class.

To make the game faster, I combined it with a tried and true favorite: Capture the Flag. Capture the Flag will be used during the first phase of the game, but the students must use their coordinate reading skills to score. This game will get them running and give them practice at reading and understanding coordinates.

Materials: 

·      An ample open space (such as a gym or field)

·      Lots of rubber disc dots (for gym space, sixty works well with a class of twenty students)

·      Large pieces of paper (25 x 30 inches or bigger)

·      Two sports balls

Minimum Number of Players Needed: This game is fun if you have at least eight students, but an entire class of 20+ works best.

Age: This lesson is best used in Upper Elementary or Middle School. It could be done with younger students if they are more mature, or it is a transition classroom that has begun the study of coordinate planes.