Turn any unit into an interactive online event like the 2020 NFL Draft! How much more excited would your students be to tackle a self-paced unit of study if they had the chance to:
- Assemble your dream team of the best Presidents in U.S. history. What did they do to earn your vote?
- Build a roster of the most influential inventors of the 21st century. Why did you select this all-star list of individuals?
- Select your starting lineup of the most deceptive characters in American literature. What makes them such a strong contender for this roster?
- Which all star squad of historical heroes (or fictional characters) would you draft to solve a problem in your community? What makes these folks uniquely suited for this job?
- Etc. Etc. Etc.
This NFL Draft inspired template is fully editable and gives students the chance to become “general managers” to draft the very best of the best — then make an argument for WHY they’ve made these selections (metacognition for the win)!
If you’re stuck for a distance learning plan, this activity can easily be scaled up and stretched out to cover a full week’s worth of at-home learning. Once your students have assembled their dream teams, have each member of the class submit their “draft rosters” via email or LMS. From there, post each student’s roster to a common space where classmates can review one another’s work — and create a Flipgrid assignment where students now become “expert analysts” (like the talking heads on ESPN) where they review the submissions of their classmates and award “draft grades” based on each team’s relative strengths and areas for improvement!
Or if you’re looking to add life (and some friendly competition) to your next online class meeting, host an in-character Zoom call or Google Hangout where rival squads dial in “as general managers” for each competing team. Break students into small groups and put each team “on the clock” to work on their copy of the template and assemble their desired roster of top picks for a set amount of time, then bring all students back together for a LIVE draft one round at a time, where each team takes turns explaining for why their latest selection is the best available choice as you remove names from a shared list of remaining draft picks. Classmates get even the chance to hear one another’s arguments and vote for the winner.
Click here to snag an editable copy of this NFL Draft template and let the games begin!