Build Background

• Ask students if they've ever seen a professional soccer game, tennis tournament, or surfing competition, either in person or on television. Encourage them to share their experiences.
• Discuss the amount of dedication and training it takes to become a professional athlete. Have students explain how athletes can inspire others to become the best they can be.

Preview the Book

Introduce the Book

• Give students their book. Guide them to the front and back covers of the book and read the title. Have students discuss what they see on the covers. Encourage them to offer ideas as to what kind of book this is and what it might be about.
• Preview the title page. Talk about the information on the page (title of book, author's name).
• Ask students to turn to the table of contents. Remind them that the table of contents provides an overview of what the book is about. Ask students what they expect to read about in the book, based on what they see in the table of contents. (Accept all answers that students can justify.)

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Summarize

• Explain that one way to understand and remember information in a book is to summarize paragraphs, sections, or chapters mentally or on paper. Review or explain that a summary is a brief overview of the most important information in the text.
• Read page 4 aloud to students and model summarizing.
  Think-aloud: To summarize what I've read, I decide what's important and what isn't. Then, in my mind, I organize the important information into a few words or sentences. For example, the text on page 4 describes how many women in high schools, colleges, and professional sports teams participate in the same sports as men. I will underline this information in my book. The page also describes how women have made an impact in sports and how they inspire others. I will underline the words huge impact in their individual sport and serve as an inspiration. When I look at this important information, a summary of page 4 might be: Women today participate in the same sports as men. Women are competing in high schools and colleges, and on professional sports teams. The impact these women have had on their sports serves as an inspiration to others.
• Invite students to practice summarizing the important information in a familiar story.
• As students read, encourage them to use other reading strategies in addition to the targeted strategy presented in this section. For tips on additional reading strategies, click here.

Introduce the Comprehension Skill: Identify genre - Elements of a biography

• Ask students to explain the difference between a biography and an autobiography (biography: the story of a person's life written by someone else; autobiography: the story of a person's life written by that person). Explain that this book is a biography. A biography includes information about the person's accomplishments, his or her influence on the world, and his or her personality.
• Write the words Accomplishments, Influence, and Personality in a three-column chart on the board. Ask students to explain the meaning of each of these words (accomplishments: a success achieved through practice or training; influence: an effect on someone or something; personality: the qualities that makes each person unique).
• Have students turn to page 5. Read the page aloud while students follow along silently. Ask students to identify which element of a biography this information best reflects (accomplishments). Invite students to identify the information that tells about Mia's accomplishments (she set the record for most goals scored in international competition, her team won Olympic gold, and so on).
• Based on the information about Mia's accomplishments, ask students to describe what her personality might be like (sets goals, doesn't give up, always tries her best, and so on).
• Think-aloud: As I read, I can organize the important information about each person by putting it into the categories accomplishments, influence, and personality. By categorizing the information this way, I know I will understand more about these four females and the events of their lives.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• Show students pictures of familiar individuals from history that had a positive influence on the world (for example: Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Amelia Earhart). Create a three-column chart on the board with the headings Talents, Goals Accomplished, and Effect on Others. Write the name of each individual on the side of the chart. Have students explain what they know about these individuals. Write the information under the appropriate category on the board.
• Discuss the information listed under the heading Talents. Point out that all of the individuals were extremely talented at what they did in their lives. Write the word excel on the board above talents and say the word aloud to students. Explain that the word excel means to be very talented at and know a lot about something. Have students use the word excel in sentences to describe each of the individuals on the board.
• Discuss the information listed under the heading Goals Accomplished. Have students explain the characteristics each of the individuals likely possessed to accomplish such goals (hard-working, never gives up, and so on). Write the word dedicated on the board and say the word aloud to students. Explain that the word dedicated describes these characteristics. Have students use the word dedicated in sentences to describe each of the individuals on the board.
• Discuss the information listed under the heading Effect on Others. Have students explain how each of the individuals had an impact on other people and the world. Explain that each individual left behind something that would be remembered. Write the word legacy on the board. Explain that the word legacy means something left to somebody. Have students use the word legacy in sentences to describe each of the individuals on the board.
• Point to the words excel, dedicated, and legacy. Explain that each of the words is used in and describes the individuals in the book Female Sports Stars.
• For tips on teaching word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read the book to find out more about four female sports stars, stopping after every few pages to summarize the information in their mind. Encourage students to underline or record on a separate piece of paper the important information in each chapter.

During Reading 

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Have students read to the end of page 8. Encourage those who finish before others to reread the text. When students are ready, discuss the important information they identified.
• Model summarizing important information in the book.
  Think-aloud: I made sure to stop after the first pages to summarize the information I'd read so far. First, I decided what information was important to remember. Then, in my mind, I organized the important information into a few sentences. A summary for this chapter might be: Mia Hamm is one of the best soccer players in the world and has won many awards. She learned the importance of teamwork, courage, and strength from her brothers and sisters. Mia has made a positive impact on others through her sport, her support for research on bone marrow diseases, and her work to develop more opportunities for young women to participate in sports.
• Ask students to explain elements of Mia's personality, accomplishments, and influence from the important information they identified in the chapter (personality: courage, strength, caring; accomplishments: started the Mia Hamm Foundation; influence: helped to raise awareness about bone marrow transplants, developed opportunities for young women to play sports).
• Discuss how Mia's personality might have influenced her accomplishments. Facilitate the discussion with questions such as: How would you describe Mia's personality? What characteristics of her personality might have influenced her to form the Mia Hamm Foundation?
• Check for understanding: Have students read to page 14. Invite them to share the important information in the chapter. Ask students to write a brief summary of the chapter on a separate piece of paper or at the bottom of page 14. Have them share what they wrote.
• Invite students to read the remainder of the book. Remind them to think about the important details of the book so they can summarize the information in their mind as they read.

    Have students make a question mark in their book beside any word they do not understand or cannot pronounce. Encourage them to use the strategies they have learned to read the word and figure out its meaning.

After Reading 

Reflect on the Reading Strategy

• Ask students what words, if any, they marked in their book. Use this opportunity to model how they can read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.
• Ask students to explain or show how the strategy of summarizing helped them understand the story.
• Think-aloud: I know that summarizing keeps me actively involved in what I'm reading and helps me understand and remember what I've read. I know that I will remember more about Mia Hamm, Venus and Serena Williams, and Bethany Hamilton because I summarized the information in my own words as I read the book.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the summarize worksheet. Have students read their summaries aloud when finished.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Discussion: Have students reread pages 9 through 14. Ask them to describe how the personalities of the Williams sisters are similar (both are hard-working, set goals, and so on). Have them explain which information from the book reflects these personalities (they started learning the game of tennis when they were young, they studied tennis to improve at the game, they have gone to college to prepare for life after tennis, and so on).
• Invite students to share information about the Williams sisters' accomplishments (winning several tennis tournaments, each starting her own fashion company).
• Ask students to explain how these accomplishments have influenced others (they model the importance of challenging oneself and setting goals).

    Independent practice: Have students use the inside front cover of their book to create a three-column chart with the headings Personality, Accomplishments, and Influence. Have them reread the chapter on Bethany Hamilton and write information that describes each of the elements of a biography on the chart in their book. When students have finished working, discuss their answers.

• Extend the discussion: Discuss the different personality traits that each of the four female athletes possessed, pointing out the similarities. Talk about their motivation for success and the changes they underwent as they experienced that success. Ask students how these experiences shaped the athletes as people, and which personality traits served them well in their lives.

Build Skills 

Grammar and Mechanics: Complex sentences

• Write the following sentence on the board: She went to the store ________there was not enough food in the house.
• Have students read the sentence and suggest words that belong in the blank to complete the sentence (because, since, when).
• Review or explain that a conjunction is a word that joins two parts of a sentence together. Point to the examples students suggested to complete the sentence on the board. Explain that these conjunctions join parts of sentences together to form a complex sentence. List examples of conjunctions on the board (after, although, as, as if, because, before, for, it, once, since, than, that, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, wherever, whether, while).
• Reread the sentence on the board, including a conjunction in the sentence. (She went to the store because there was not enough food in the house.) Underline She went to the store. Explain that this part of the sentence is called the independent clause. Circle because there was not enough food in the house. Explain that the part of the sentence that follows the conjunction is called the dependent clause. Point out that even though both sentence parts contain a subject and verb, the dependent clause does not express a complete thought and is not a sentence on its own.
• Ask students to turn to page 6. Write the following sentence from the book on the board: When her older brother Garrett beat her at backyard games, she decided to dedicate herself to becoming a winner.
• Have students identify the conjunction (when), the dependent clause (When her older brother Garrett beat her at backyard games), and the independent clause (she decided to dedicate herself to becoming a winner). Point out that in this example, the dependent clause comes at the beginning of the sentence.
• Have students read the sentence with the independent clause at the beginning (She decided to dedicate herself to becoming a winner when her brother Garrett beat her at backyard games). Point out that either sentence is correct. However, when the dependent clause is at the beginning of the sentence, a comma often separates the clauses.

    Check for understanding: Have students highlight the following sentence from page 9 in their books: While he waited for them to grow big enough to hold a tennis racquet, he taught himself and his wife, Oracene, how to play tennis by studying videos and books on the subject. Have students underline the dependent clause (While he waited for them to grow big enough to hold a tennis racquet) and circle the independent clause (he taught himself and his wife, Oracene, how to play tennis by studying videos and books on the subject). Ask students to identify the conjunction (while). Repeat the process with the following sentence from page 10: When the girls were young (dependent clause), they would pack the family car with racquets, tennis balls, and a broom, and go to the local park to practice (independent clause).

• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students the complex sentences worksheet. If time allows, discuss their responses.

Word Work: Synonyms and antonyms

• Write the word pretty on the board. Ask students to suggest a word that means almost the same thing (beautiful, lovely). Review or explain that a word that means the same or almost the same as another word is called a synonym.
• Ask students to suggest a word that means the opposite of pretty (ugly, hideous). Review or explain that a word that means the opposite of another word is called an antonym.
• Ask students to explain why the use of synonyms of antonyms is important in writing (they help to describe something in text, they make the writing more interesting, and so on). Have them provide examples of sentences that support their thinking. (For example, in the sentence The massive rock fell down the side of the mountain during the earthquake, the synonym massive allows the reader to get a more accurate impression of the rock than the word big).
• Have students turn to page 20 and read the first sentence again. Ask them to find the word that tells what Bethany's workouts are like (strenuous). Ask them to suggest a word that means the same or almost the same as strenuous (hard, difficult). Ask students to suggest a word that means the opposite of strenuous (easy).
• Show students a thesaurus. Use the example above to explain how a thesaurus is used, writing the synonyms and antonyms for strenuous on the board.
• Check for understanding: Give pairs of students a thesaurus. Ask them to find the word large and name the synonyms listed. If the thesaurus lists antonyms, have them find antonyms for large.
• Have students use the synonym and the antonym in sentences. Invite them to share their sentences. If needed, provide additional practice using a thesaurus.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the synonyms and antonyms worksheet. If time allows, check their responses.

Build Fluency 

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their book independently or with a partner. Encourage repeated timed readings of a specific section of the book.

Home Connection

• Give students their book to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends. Have students practice summarizing each chapter with someone at home.

Extend the Reading 

Writing and Art Connection
Have students choose one of the four female sports stars highlighted in the book. Have them write a paragraph telling why she is inspirational to them. Have students explain the characteristic of the person that stood out as being extraordinary and why they think that person succeeded as she did. Remind them to refer to the elements of a biography in explaining their choice (personality, accomplishments, and influence on others).

Social Studies Connection
Provide print and Internet resources for students to research the history of women's sports. Have them use the chart on page 22 as a reference, adding more "firsts" and interesting facts about women recognized as athletes. Lead a discussion on the progress that is being made to provide women with more opportunities.

Assessment 

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• consistently use the strategy of summarizing to better comprehend the text; demonstrate the skill on a worksheet
• identify elements of a biography; categorize information by element during reading
• correctly identify the parts of complex sentences; write complex sentences during discussion and on a worksheet
• identify, select, and use synonyms and antonyms on a worksheet

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