Fantasy Soccer and Mathematics: A Resource Guide for Teachers and Parents, Grades 5 and Up

A great new way to get all kids excited about math!

Fantasy sports are a hit worldwide, and now teachers and parents can take advantage of this phenomenon to give students a reason to look forward to doing math. The games and activities in Fantasy Soccer and Mathematics will get kids excited about learning and practicing math, even if they're not big sports fans. With this fun-filled educational resource, you can teach one math concept or many, and plan lessons that can last for a week or a whole season.

Here's how it works. Students create fantasy teams by picking real-life professional soccer players, and then follow their players' statistics and calculate their teams' total points using algebraic or nonalgebraic methods specifically designed to complement the math skills they're learning. The instructions are easy to follow and the dynamic hands-on games address all learning styles and abilities. The book includes more than 100 scoring systems that give you the flexibility to customize the content according to your students' skill levels.

In addition to the basic Fantasy Soccer game, the book contains easy-to-use lesson plans, reproducible worksheets for extra practice on 46 different math concepts, graphing activities, quizzes, a pre- and post- test, and an answer key. More than just a fun way to learn math, the book's activities also support the NCTM Math Standards.

Review:

"'This is the greatest assignment ever!' Hearing that from one of my students was more than enough to know that I had a great way to get them to enjoy learning mathematics. Thanks for putting this great program together. We LOVE IT!"
-Jeff Thompson, math teacher, Walt Morey Middle School, Troutdale, Oregon

"I have used Fantasy Sports and Mathematics for the past two years in my preservice math education classes. It is an outstanding curricular example of making learning meaningful and connected."
-Tim Van Soelen, education instructor,Dordt College

About The Author:
Dan Flockhart received his multiple-subject teaching credential from California State University, East Bay in 1988. He taught mathematics in grades 5 through 8 for eleven years at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Day School in San Mateo, California, where he incorporated fantasy sports into his math curriculum. He has also taught general studies classes at College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California. He received a master of arts degree in education from Humboldt State University in 2005; the title of his thesis was “Teacher Perceptions of the Effects of Fantasy Football in the Teaching of Mathematics.” Flockhart has enjoyed participating in fantasy sports for over twenty-five years.

In addition to authoring the Fantasy Sports and Mathematics series, Flockhart maintains a Web site, www.fantasysportsmath.com, where teachers can participate in forums and contests and find out more about the series.