When the weather turns cooler and the leaves start to change, Major League Baseball’s (MLB) season is heating up! The sport’s biggest event, the World Series, begins each year in October, where the American League and the National League battle it out in a best-of-seven series to see who will win the Commissioner’s Trophy.

Whether your hometown team is in the running or your students just can’t stop talking about the Series, we’ve got a collection of baseball lesson plans that you can use in the classroom to keep them engaged while teaching them the literacy skills and science concepts they need to know.

• Build background knowledge on baseball with ELA lesson plans
• Discover the science concepts behind baseball

[Build background knowledge on baseball with ELA lesson plans](id-ela)

Even for students who play and love baseball, there’s still plenty to learn about its history and its societal significance! Help them build background knowledge of the sport, its players, and the big game with news articles, fictional texts, and interactive videos.

Assign texts about baseball

Get students engaged in reading and in the World Series with baseball texts like:

• A history of the World Series and some of its most memorable moments.
• An introduction to the MLB’s new rules for the 2023 season, like the pitch clock.
• An article about the exhibition Savannah Bananas baseball team and how they took social media by storm with their in-game antics.

Try a paired text activity using “Casey at the Bat”

Pair a classic baseball poem with a modern fictional story to help students learn about the word choices an author makes when trying to set a tone in poetry and fiction:

• Assign the poem “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Thayer and have students highlight words and phrases that set the scene.
• Have students read the fictional story “Wild Pitch” by Rich Wallace and complete the same highlighting activity.
• Have students use the evidence they found in both texts to answer the question, “What tools do authors use to capture the spirit of sports?”

Learn more about trailblazing baseball player Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson is one of the best-known figures in baseball history. He was also the first Black player to join an MLB team, breaking the color barrier in 1947 when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Teach students more about his life and legacy with:

• A biography about his early life and time in the MLB.
• An article about the history of segregated baseball and the impact of Black players on the sport.
• An essay that explores how we can use significant events in sports to illustrate turning points in American history.

Discover the unifying effects of sports

Sports, including baseball, can bring people together, make them feel included, and challenge injustices. Explore how sports can be a unifying experience with content like:

• An interactive video about Negro League Baseball and how these teams combatted segregation in the sport.
• An article about the impact of Title IX, a law that required girls to receive the same educational opportunities as boys, including the opportunity to play school sports.
• A story about Olympic runner Yiech Pur Biel and his drive to improve sports facilities in refugee camps and raise Olympic aspirations for refugee athletes.

Read a baseball novel in class

Looking for your next in-class nonfiction book or novel? Try a baseball-themed story like:

“Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America” by Sharon Robinson

Sharon Robinson, Jackie’s daughter, wrote a biography about his life and his struggles while fighting for civil rights. This book study contains resources to help you build background knowledge on Robinson, baseball, and civil rights topics, like:

• An explainer article that examines the struggle for civil rights in the United States.
• An obituary for Hank Aaron, another baseball legend who was also a leader for civil rights during his life.
• An article about Willie O’Ree, known as the “Jackie Robinson of hockey,” and how he worked to break barriers in the NHL 11 years after Robinson made his MLB debut.

“Heat” by Mike Lupica

This novel follows Little League pitcher Michael Arroyo, a Cuban immigrant who receives unfair prejudice from coaches who suspect he’s “too good” for his age. Use this novel study to build background knowledge on Little League culture and discrimination:

• Learn more about author Mike Lupica, a sportswriter and sports author.
• Share an interactive video about Roberto Clemente, a Puerto Rican right fielder who left a lasting impact on the game.
• Assign the fictional story “The Return of Sal Caputo” by Timothy Tocher, about a father and son’s shared love of baseball and how they bonded over the experience of watching a one-armed rookie outfielder play the game.

[Discover the science concepts behind baseball](id-sci)

Sports are more scientific than your students might think. Help them explore the laws of motion and concepts like force to understand the mechanics of baseball with these science lessons.

Explore changes in force and motion

The motion of an object depends on the forces acting upon it—like which direction a baseball goes when you pitch or hit it. Help students understand these laws of physics with resources like:

• An interactive video explaining the first law of motion: An object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion, unless acted upon by an outside force.
• An interactive video explaining the second law of motion: The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass.
• An article that looks specifically at how forces act on a baseball in flight and how they affect its trajectory.

Discover Newton’s third law of motion

The third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Help students understand this important concept with resources like:

• An interactive video that explains the third law of motion.
• An article that explains potential and kinetic energy.
• An article that looks at how Newton’s third law works in everyday life, in situations like hitting a baseball, swimmers pushing off the wall to start a race, or jet propulsion.

Host a reading World Series in your classroom

Create some friendly competition in your classroom with the Newsela Independent Reading Challenge! This monthly, gamified event encourages students to practice literacy skills on their own by reading about topics that interest them. They can earn badges and tokens for completing the associated quiz and Power Words activities on articles included in the challenge.

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