Stickball

Stickball for the Cherokee People

The History, Meaning, and Importance of the Game.

Stickball for the Cherokee People

Student Objective: I can demonstrate understanding of stickball in Cherokee culture.

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Success Criteria: Correctly answering text based and comprehension questions on an article and a video about stickball in Cherokee culture.

Slides 3-9: Instructional Integration


- Integrate various modes of delivery

- Integrate text based literacy questions

Instructional Mode: Text

Article on Stickball

The _______ of Stickball

(Read the paragraph below)

Stickball, a Native American game similar to lacrosse and called "anetsa" by the Cherokee Indians, was once played throughout the United States. The game was played by two teams with an equal number of men. The object was to get a tiny, walnut-sized, leather-covered ball through a goal using sticks shaped somewhat like small tennis rackets. The size of the field depended on the size of the teams and the availability of suitable terrain. The Cherokees were among the first to play consistently on a field about 100 yards in length, although some fields were much larger. There was no time limit; the first team to score 12 times won. Any strategy to score was acceptable, including biting, choking, and even banging each other on the head with the rackets. There were no time-outs or substitutions, but if a player was knocked out his opponent had to leave the game also.

What word would best describe what this paragraph is about?

Multiple Choice

Which sentence does the BEST job of stating the main idea of the previous slide?

(Text Based Question - EOC/EOG Type)

• Stickball, a Native American game similar to lacrosse and called "anetsa" by the Cherokee, was once played throughout the United States.

• The size of the field depended on the size of the teams and the availability of suitable terrain

• There were no time-outs or substitutions, but if a player was knocked out his opponent had to leave the game also.

• The Cherokees were among the first to play consistently on a field about 100 yards in length, although some fields were much larger

(Read the paragraph below)








Although a less violent form of stickball is played primarily as entertainment today, the Cherokees once considered anetsa as the "little brother of war," an important training experience for future conflicts. As a precursor to such training, Cherokees sometimes participated in a pregame ritual in which players were scratched with a bone set in eagle feathers until they bled from 100 different wounds. There is evidence that the Cherokees once settled a land dispute with another tribe on the outcome of a stickball game. These contests, often surrounded by much ceremony, were the state's first large-scale spectator sporting events, attracting huge crowds, including local whites, during the nineteenth century. Many whites, in fact, adopted the game, which came to be played by Confederate soldiers and timber workers in the Mountain region of North Carolina. Stickball remains an important link between modern times and early Cherokee society.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence does the BEST job of summarizing the 2nd paragraph on stickball?

(Text based question EOC/EOG type)

• Stickball has always been important to the Cherokee.

• Stickball has long played an important role in the people of western North Carolina.

• Stickball is a popular sport.

• Stickball serves many different purposes for society.

Instructional Mode: Video

Video on Stickball

Success Criteria/Formative Assessment

Slides 12-16
Instructional Integration: Use various levels of Bloom's Taxonomy
in questioning

Multiple Choice

In the picture from 1897, the stickball sticks are hung in the air above the shaman, what does this most likely signify? (Inference Question)

• the sticks are easy to break

• the sticks are sacred and endued with medicine from the shaman

• the shaman is to protect the stick until time for the game

• the sticks are easily accessible for anyone to use.

Multiple Select

What qualities and characteristics are honored in playing stickball? (Choose all that apply)

(Application Question)

• patience and planning

• commitment and dedication

• strength and speed

• courage and stamina

Multiple Choice

The different animals playing stickball is to show the Cherokee quality of acceptance of others who may be different.

(Evaluation/Analysis question)

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

What purpose do the pictures from the 1930's in the video serve?

(Analyzing Question)

• they show how stickball has changed over time

• they show how difficult the game is

• they show the sacredness of stickball to the Cherokee

• they show why the game is so popular.

Multiple Choice

After playing stickball, which Cherokee phrase would most likely be used.

(Application - Integrating Cherokee Language)

• Shiyo Ni-ga-da

  (Hello Everyone)

• A-gi-yo-shi-ha

  (I am hungry)

• O-shi-gwo

  (I am fine)

• Da-gi-yo-we-ga

  Go-i-ga

  ( I am tired today)