Overview of Weeks One Through Three Guiding Question: The Glory of Sports: How do you define sports? Explanation of Goals and Learning Model: Students will begin to explore the meaning of sports by reading and working together to create a class definition of sports that will be refined as the course proceeds. Week One: Glory Week Two: Participation Week Three: Participation (insert image) http://www.famemphis.net/as
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ted-­‐williams-­‐0209-­‐lg.jpg (insert image) (insert image) Week One: Theme Guiding Question (tool and Benchmark): How do you define sports? (38) Reading and Research (tool and Benchmark): (29) • Quote from Bill Russell (on-­‐line) •
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, by Mark Twain (on-­‐line resource) •
The Defender, by Robert Lipsyte (Ultimate Sports, ed. By Donald R. Gallo) Concept Development (tool and Benchmark) (Choose One): Activity One: Forum-­‐Introduce yourself to the class by telling about the sports you like best, either as a participant or a spectator, or both. Tell us your age, grade, and school, too! (35) Activity Two: Journal-­‐Why is sports important to you? (29) Activity Three: Glossary-­‐Define, in your own words, the following words: sports; teamwork; hero; competition; adversity (35) Activity Four: Read about the elements of a short story. Identify these elements in one of the two stories you read for this week. Show What You Know -­‐Applied Learning (tool and Benchmark): Respond to two short stories read this week. Both stories are in sports anthologies. Do the activities that seem to be the sports in the stories fit with your definition of sports? (38) Quiz: Do you know the elements of a short story? Take a sort quiz and if you do not do as well as you would have liked to, study the elements of a short story and re-­‐take the quiz. (38) Essential Resources: Ultimate Sports, edited by Donald R. Gallo Week Two: Theme: Spectators and Fans (Insert Image) http://www.impawards.com/1927/posters/casey_at_the_bat.jpg Guiding Question (tool and Benchmark): Are sports more about participation or observation? (36) Reading and Research (tool and Benchmark): (29) •
Twice Widowed and Now Smitten With Men in Pinstripes, by Jane Heller, NY Times, 10/10/10 (on-­‐line resource) •
Casey At the Bat, by Ernest Lawrence Thayer Concept Development (tool and Benchmark) (Choose One): Activity One (tool): Forum-­‐ What do you think finally got the 80-­‐something year old woman in the story to become a fan of baseball? What does being a fan mean to you? (29) Activity Two (tool): Journal-­‐Share an experience you have had where you were able to convince someone to try something new or to change their mind. How did you do it? Were your tactics like Jane Heller’s? (35) Activity Three (tool): forum-­‐ Discuss the role of the spectator in Casey at the Bat. What is important about the fans? Would the story change if no one were watching the game? (38) Show What You Know -­‐Applied Learning: Choose One •
Write a parody of Casey at the Bat. (35) •
Write an essay about yourself as a sports fan, or someone else as a fan at one of your sporting events. Try to emphasize the fan’s feelings and emotions, as well as that fan’s relationship to the game. (35) Essential Resources: On-­‐line resources Week Three: Theme: Participation (Insert Image) http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/p0temkin/p0temkin1005/p0temkin100500031/707047
4-­‐runners-­‐marathon.jpg Guiding Question (tool and Benchmark): Who is an athlete? Reading and Research (tool and Benchmark): (29) Ballad of a Ballgame, Christine Lavin Superboy, Chris Crutcher, Ultimate Sports, ed. By Donald R. Gallo Concept Development Activity One (tool): Forum: What do you think defines an athlete—who should be called an athlete, or who do you think deserves to be called an athlete? Is the narrator of Ballad of a Ballgame an athlete? Is Clark, the narrator of Superboy, an athlete? (36) Activity Two (tool): Journal: Write about a time in your life when you did not quite measure up, like the narrator of Ballad of a Ballgame. How did you feel? (38) Activity Three (tool): Forum: Short Stories We have read three very different short stories, but each is about a sport. Aside from that, what similarities do you notice among the three stories? Can you identify the elements of a short story in each? (38) Show What You Know -­‐Applied Learning (tool and Benchmark): Consider the three short stories we have read. Choose one element of a short story (see week 1) and describe how each author uses that element in his or her story. (35) Essential Resources Ultimate Sports, ed. By Donald R. Gallo Overview of Weeks Four through Six Guiding Question: How do stories about sports relate to life? Explanation of Goals and Learning Model: Students will read both fiction and non-­‐fiction stories about sports, as well as watch a film based on a true story. Through discussion and reflection students will explore how sports literature can inform our understanding of human nature. Students will demonstrate their understanding through contributions to discussions and their own writing. Week Four: Theme Week Five: Theme Week Six: Theme Overcoming Obstacles Teamwork Finding Oneself (insert image) http://www.kokopelli-­‐
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bstacles 48481.jpg g (insert image) (insert image) Guiding Question (tool and Benchmark): Can involvement in a sport help a person understand themselves and others better? Reading and Research (tool and Benchmark): (36) •
Stealing for Girls, by Will Weaver, Ultimate Sports, ed. By Donald Gallo •
Chariots of Fire, movie (viewed partly on-­‐line and in Face-­‐to-­‐Face) Concept Development (tool and Benchmark) (Chose One): Activity One: Forum: Have you ever observed, in another person, in yourself, or in a piece of literature, that a person taking part in a sport gains a new outlook on a problem or issue with which they have been dealing? (36) Activity Two: Journal: The two pieces of literature for this week each have an account of someone who feels s/he is discriminated against for a reason beyond their control. Have you ever felt this way? What made you feel better about yourself? (38) Activity Three: Research Title IX. Consider how this has had an impact on girls and women since it was initiated. (29) Show What You Know -­‐Applied Learning: We know that short stories have several elements—character, plot, conflict, etc. Write a paragraph or two about the movie, Chariots of Fire, and how these same elements are addressed in the movie. (29) Discuss the impact of Title IX on sports in general and women and girls in particular. (29) Essential Resources: Ultimate Sports, ed. By Donald Gallo Week Five: Teamwork http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/si_online/covers/images/1997/0317_large.jpg (Insert Image) Guiding Question (tool and Benchmark): Which is more important: the individual or the team? Reading and Research: “They Were Commandos: A Season in the Life of the Amherst Hurricanes”, by Madeline Blais, New York Times Magazine, April, 19___ On-­‐line story Concept Development Activity One: forum: Do you think the author, Madeline Blais, supports the team or the individual as most important? Use examples to support your ideas. (29) Activity Two: Journal: Share an experience with teamwork. It does not have to be sports related. How did you feel about this activity? Was the teamwork supportive and successful….or not? (38) Activity Three: forum: Blais use of “Jenandjamila” gives the reader a sense of how close these two basketball players are. How does working toward a common goal bring people closer together? Is it hard to do? (36) Show What You Know -­‐Applied Learning: Choose one: < Blais captures the excitement and sense of place extremely well in this article. It almost seems as though it could be fiction. Write a description of your hometown or of an event in your life, trying to create in your piece that same sort of excitement. (35) < Take one of these characters and imagine them 10 years later. Write a reminiscence from that character’s point of view. (35) Essential Resources Week Six: Theme: Finding Oneself http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bWyMZGz_G0c/S7EJ6gkjgJI/AAAAAAAAAkk/h-­‐
JEuEFbd8k/s1600/sailboat.jpg (Insert Image) Guiding Question: Much of literature is about the search for self-­‐awareness. How do the characters in the stories this week find out more about themselves? Reading and Research (29) “Joyriding”, by Jim Naughton, Ultimate Sports, ed. by Donald Gallo “Sea Changes”, by Tessa Duder, Ultimate Sports, ed. by Donald Gallo Concept Development Activity One: forum: How do Peter and Kevin, in the story “Joyriding” differ in their approach to their “chosen activity? Which character do you think is more like Kirsty, who tells her own story in “Sea Changes”? (36) Activity Two: Journal: Have you ever had to do something to the point where you begin to hate that activity—as Peter seems about to do with piano playing? (29) Activity Three: forum: Show What You Know -­‐Applied Learning Although the parents in this week’s stories are minor characters, their roles are important. Discuss, in a brief essay, the parents in each story. How are they different? Do you think the author was trying to make a point by creating the parents this way? Do the parents of one story seem more realistic to you? How do the parents’ actions influence the children’s behavior? (35) Essential Resources Ultimate Sports, ed. by Donald Gallo Overview of Weeks Seven Through Nine Guiding Question: What makes an athlete a hero and a role model? Explanation of Goals and Learning Model: Week Seven: Competition Week Eight: Heroes Week Nine: Meeting Challenges (insert image) (insert image) (insert image) Week Seven: Competition Guiding Question: Do athletes deserve the burden of being a role model? Reading and Research: “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu”, by John Updike, The New Yorker, October 22, 1960 (29) Concept Development Activity One Forum: Have you ever heard of Ted Williams before reading this article? What impression do you have of this ball player after reading the article? (29) Activity Two: research: Do some on-­‐line research about Ted Williams as a player. Do you think Updike gives the reader a realistic portrayal of him in the article? Did your original opinion of Ted Williams, gained from reading Updike’s article, change after you read more about him? (36) Activity Three: Peer Editing: Each student will read and react to two other student’s essays from week 6. (74) Show What You Know -­‐Applied Learning (tool and Benchmark): < Choose a current sports figure and write a five-­‐paragraph essay about that person. Make the focus of your essay an attempt to convince the reader that your sports figure should or should not be considered a hero or role model. ((35) < Laurence Perrine, literary scholar, said that the purpose of interpretive literature is to “broaden, deepen and sharpen our awareness of life.” Referring to at least 2 pieces we have read this quarter explain how this material has broadened OR deepened OR sharpened your awareness of some aspect of sports life. You can write about a specific character, sport or another topic, like competition or teamwork. Be specific in explaining how each piece enhanced or changed your understanding. (35) Essential Resources Week Eight: Heroes http://www.cocktailmatch.com/users/156/blog/Roberto%20Clemente.jpg Guiding Question: Roberto Clemente is another baseball hero. How does this hero differ from Ted Williams? Can there be different kinds of heroes? Reading and Research: “Clemente”, by David Maraniss, The Washington Post, (on-­‐line) (29) “To An Athlete Dying Young”, A. E. Housman (on-­‐line) Concept Development Activity One: forum: Who do you think is more of a hero: Roberto Clemente or Ted Williams? Why? (38) Activity Two: Journal: What makes a hero? Do you have a hero? Why do you think you do—or do not? (36) Activity Three: forum: What does Housman’s poem mean to you? Does Clemente fit the character of the athlete dying young? Do people have to die young, when they are still at the height of their powers, in order to remain famous? (36) Show What You Know (Completion of Assignment from Week 7) Essential Resources Week Nine: Meeting Challenges (Insert Image) Guiding Question (tool and Benchmark): Are the challenges faced by characters in the stories and articles we have read this quarter unique to sports or more broadly reflective of any challenges in life? (38 or 31) Reading and Research: no new reading Concept Development Activity One: forum: How is literature about sports just like any other literature? How is it different? Activity Two: Journal: Activity Three (tool): Show What You Know Novel presentations at Face-­‐to-­‐Face Essential Resources