Architecture of Grace

Sports History

Explore how games got their fields, rules and leagues, and who got to play. Grades K–12.

Course contents Start at the beginning

17units
34chapters
340lessons
5grade bands

Choose a grade band

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Grades K–2

3 units · 6 chapters · 39 lessons

All lessons in this band

Play Has Kinds

Play

Balls, Races, Water, Ice; A Turn Everyone Can See.

Our Field

Place

Park, Gym, Lights; A Rule You Can Say.

Many Games, One Book

Names

Games That Travel; Mats, Rings and Strips.

More to explore on this band

CourseThe Measured StepMartial arts history: rooms, codes and schools, K–12.CourseSocial StudiesHistory, civics, geography and economics, every band.

Grades 3–5

4 units · 8 chapters · 80 lessons

All lessons in this band

How a Diamond Got Lines

Origins

From a Lot to a Diamond; A Scorebook and a Diamond Plan.

An Indoor Winter Game

Origins

A Peach Basket in a Gym; From Y to School Hoop.

School Fields and World Pitches

Origins

The Gridiron Beside the School; A Rectangle the World Can Share.

Time, Water, a Line

Origins

A Clock on a Track; Pool Length and a Tennis Line.

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CourseThe Measured StepMartial arts history: rooms, codes and schools, K–12.CourseSocial StudiesHistory, civics, geography and economics, every band.

Grades 6–8

4 units · 8 chapters · 89 lessons

All lessons in this band

Who Was Written Out

History

Baseball and the Color Line; Amateur Codes and Other Locks.

City Rooms and Civic Nights

History

Boxing and the Newspaper; Basketball in the Neighborhood.

Nations and New Rosters

History

Olympics as a Stage; Title IX and a New Door.

Other Institutions, Same State

History

Disability Sport as Institution; Illinois Rooms.

More to explore on this band

CourseU.S. History 6–8The story of the United States, as a full course.CourseThe Measured StepMartial arts history: rooms, codes and schools, K–12.CourseSocial StudiesHistory, civics, geography and economics, every band.

Grades 9–10

3 units · 6 chapters · 67 lessons

All lessons in this band

School, Work, and the Clip

Institutions

College Sport as Two Sentences; Who Owned a Career.

Numbers and Squares

Institutions

Radio, Television, the Clip; A Record Is an Argument.

Field as Square

Institutions

Protest on a Field; Two Tours, Not One Ladder.

More to explore on this band

CourseThe Measured StepMartial arts history: rooms, codes and schools, K–12.CourseSocial StudiesHistory, civics, geography and economics, every band.

Grades 11–12

3 units · 6 chapters · 65 lessons

All lessons in this band

What a League Is

Argument

A Constitution for a Game; High School Profit and the District.

Bodies, Data, and the State

Argument

Classification, Sex, and Eligibility; The State in the Stadium.

Capstone

Capstone

Pick One Sport and Its Paper; Object and Plan.

More to explore on this band

CourseThe Measured StepMartial arts history: rooms, codes and schools, K–12.CourseSocial StudiesHistory, civics, geography and economics, every band.

Practice every day

Ten short lines a day: key words, places, people and dates from sports history.

Grade

Go

Resource libraryTrusted places to read, watch and explore, chosen for this course.

For the teacher

What the course covers

The course teaches the history of sports as institutions: kinds of play, fields and fair turns for the youngest readers; how baseball, basketball, football, soccer, track, swimming and tennis got their lines and rules in 3–5; who was written out, the Olympics, Title IX, disability sport and Illinois rooms in 6–8; college sport, media, records, protest, leagues and eligibility in high school. It is history, not PE: no play, drill or technique is taught. Every lesson ends with three checks answerable from its reading.

Sources

Every fact is checked against records, rulebooks and newspapers of the time. No play, drill or technique is taught. Everything is original text written for this course.

Share one band

Add the band to the address, like /sports#6-8. Tap Show on the board to show a unit’s short address, big enough for the back row.

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