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

A great new way to getall 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 Football 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 football players, following their players' statistics, and calculating their team's total points using algebraic or nonalgebraic methods specifically designed to complement the math skills they are 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 Football 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:

"I had students' eyes light up like never before when I told them we were going to play Fantasy Football in math class! The students who have never been successful at anything in math are now my experts helping other students. They are so proud of themselves!"
--Julie Myers, Lyman Moore Middle School,Portland, Maine

"Playing Fantasy Football and Mathematics from a preservice teacher perspective allows my secondary math methods students to see the power of teaching math with motivational and mathematically sound materials. My students are very engaged in Fantasy Football."
--Dana Pomykal Franz, assistant professor, Curriculum and Instruction, Mississippi State University

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.