Physical Education - Team Handball Lesson

Team Handball Lesson Plan 

Team Handball is a great game to play for students of all ages in PE. This lesson plan is geared towards 6-8th grade, can it can be adapted for various grade levels. Read the lesson plan below, and scroll down for a link to make your own FREE editable copy in Google Docs!

Lesson: Team Handball
Teacher: insert teacher name here
Grade Level: Middle School

Instructions for taking attendance  
Paper Instructions:

1. Use the provided paper attendance logs to record attendance. 
2. Please send a note down to the front office with all absent students for each class. 

OR 

Online instructions (will vary according to your school district):

1. insert school website here
2. Find the school’s name
3. Find the teacher’s name
4. Password: insert password here

Notes

• The sub will co-teach with (insert teacher here) during any shared periods. For any shared periods, please proceed with the lesson that (insert teacher here) is currently teaching. 
• Please take attendance as soon as the students enter the gym and go to their spots after dressing out. 
• Dressing out requirements:
  • School required PE t-shirt
  • Shorts or Sweatpants (no yoga pants or leggings)
  • Tennis Shoes and Socks
    • Any student not wearing tennis shoes is not allowed to participate. The student will forfeit all participation and dressing out points. 
• Please make a note of any students that were not properly dressed out.
• Please do not allow students to enter the locker rooms after they have dressed out. They should use the restroom during their dress out time. 
• Students are allowed to get water from the fountains directly outside of the gym at any time.
• If the sub takes the students outside, the sub needs to inform (insert office workers here). 
• The sub will need to have the walkie talkie with them at all times. 
• Please pay close attention to the daily schedule, as it is different on various days. The schedule can be found in the sub folder.

Lesson Plan Intro
For classes that the sub is teaching alone (no co-teachers), please follow the instructions below:

• Students have 5 minutes to dress out and enter the middle school gymnasium. Each student should go to their assigned spot for attendance. 
• Take attendance via the instructions above. 
• Students will run 4 laps around the indoor track for a warm-up.
• Students will return to their spots in the gym. 
• Students will play team handball; see instructions on team handball below. 

Team Handball Instructions
Please note that equipment amounts, field/court sizes, and team sizes will vary depending upon your gym setup. 
Equipment:

• 20 large disc cones (5 for each goal crease)
• 4 Pugg (pop-up) goals 
  • recommended size: 6ft goals for 6th grade, 4ft goals for 7th and 8th. 
• 20-30 jerseys depending on each class size 
• 2 large gatorskin balls

Team Handball Objective:

• The objective of Team Handball is to pass the ball from teammate to teammate until a goal is scored. The team with the highest amount of goals wins. 

Team Handball Instructions:

• Divide the middle school gym into two halves. 
  • Recommended playing size: Approximately 50 ft by 40 ft
• Two goals will be placed at the end of the court (4 goals total). 
• 5 large cones will be placed around each goal to create the goalie crease (see diagram).
• Divide players into teams. 
  • Please do not allow team captains. 
• Distribute pennies to each team.
• Each team spreads out on their half of the court. 
• Paper - rock - scissors to see which team goes first. 
• The game should start on a tipoff.
  • The tipoff should be administered by the sub.
• If teams are not passing the ball enough, incorporate rules such as:
  • three passes are required to score 
  • the ball must be passed to at least 2 girls before the team is allowed to score

Rules:

• Only 3 steps may be taken at a time with the ball in the player’s hands.
• A player may not hold the ball for longer than 3 seconds. 
• If a pass is dropped or intercepted, the other team is awarded a turnover from the spot of the drop.
• After a goal is scored, two players meet in the center circle for a tipoff.
  • The tipoff should be administered by the sub.
• The goalie is the only player allowed in the goalie crease. 
• Each game should last for 7 minutes. Rotate teams around the 4 halves of the courts so that each team is allowed a new opponent each round.

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Diagram:

Recommended Equipment

As an Amazon Affiliate, I may receive a small commission off of any items that you purchase. I only recommend items that I personally use in my own class and completely love!
Click here to see my full list of my recommended Team Handball Equipment in a hyperlinked Google Doc!

Cones

Handballs
Various styles of handballs can be used. My recommendation is linked here. 

Pop Up Goals

This lesson plan is available in my TpT store for purchase. As a thank you for following my blog, I have made an editable Google Docs version of this lesson plan available to you for FREE. Click the link here!