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Tennis is a lifelong physical activity that is played from young childhood to adulthood. Tennis can be used to meet several of SHAPE America's National Standards and Grade-level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education in elementary school. Specifically, tennis is tied to outcomes relative to "striking with a short implement" in the manipulative skills category in National Standard 1. While the learning outcomes in striking are not specific to tennis, tennis provides a context for their teaching. This article introduces an evidenced-based knowledge packet of 14 instructional tasks to teach tennis to upper elementary students. The focus of this packet is on beginning tennis, which would be taught to upper elementary grades students who are transitioning from learning discrete skills to learning to apply those skills in developmentally appropriate games. The tasks in the knowledge packet are underpinned by Rink's four stages of game development model and the concept of content development.

Softball is taught in many physical education programs throughout the United States. This article describes modifications that maximize learning outcomes and that address the National Standards and safety recommendations. The modifications focus on tasks and equipment, developmentally appropriate motor-skill acquisition, increasing number of trials, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Readers are provided with a continuum of choices for equipment and activity types, as well as a 10-day sample unit for middle school.