Build Background

• Write the words sports legend on the board. Ask students to explain the meaning of a legend (a person who is famous for a certain talent or skill).
• Ask students to identify names of sports and athletes they would consider to be legends in their sport. Discuss the dedication it takes to become and remain a professional athlete in these sports.
• Write the following names on the board: Jim Thorpe, Mildred Didrickson Zaharias, Jackie Robinson, and Jesse Owens. Ask students to tell what they already know about these accomplished athletes.
• Create a KWL chart on the board and hand out the KWL worksheet to students. Review or explain that the K stands for the knowledge we know, the W stands for the information we want to know, and the L stands for the knowledge we learned. As various topics are discussed, fill in the first column (K) on the board with information students know about American sports legends. Have students complete the same section of their KWL chart.
• Ask students what they would like to know about American sports legends. Have them fill in the second box (W) of their chart. Write their questions on the class chart.

Preview the Book

Introduce the Book

• Give students their copy of the book. Guide them to the front and back covers and read the title. Have students discuss what they see on the covers. Encourage them to offer ideas as to what type of book it is and what it might be about.
• Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, author's name).

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Ask and answer questions

• Discuss with students how asking questions about a topic before reading and looking for answers as they read can help them understand and remember the information in a book.
• Direct students to the table of contents. Remind them that the table of contents provides an overview of the information in a book and how it is organized. After previewing the table of contents, use it to model asking questions.
• Think-aloud: I can use the table of contents to think of questions I would like to have answered about American sports legends. For example, one chapter is titled The Other Babe: Mildred Didrikson Zaharias. When I think of famous people in sports who are named Babe, I think of Babe Ruth, the baseball player. The chapter title leads me to believe that Mildred was a great baseball player like Babe Ruth. I'll have to read the book to find out. I'll write this question on the chart.
• Have students look at the other chapter titles. Have them write any questions they have based on the covers and chapter titles in the W hurdle of their KWL chart.
• Have students preview the rest of the book, looking at photos, captions, the glossary, and the Do You Know? sections. Have them add any additional questions they have on their KWL chart. Invite students to share their questions aloud. Write shared questions on the class chart.
• 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: 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 a 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 4. 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 Jim's accomplishments (he played professional baseball, was the biggest football star of his day, and performed legendary feats in track and field). Write this information on the board in the Accomplishments column.
• Think-aloud: Jim Thorpe seems to have accomplished a lot in his sports. Words like professional, star, and legendary feats lead me to believe that he was very talented. Even though he possessed a natural ability in each sport, someone who accomplished enough to be labeled legendary likely strived to always do their best. This describes what Jim Thorpe's personality might have been like. 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 athletes and the events of their lives.
• Based on the information about Jim's accomplishments, ask students to describe what his personality might have been like (set goals, didn't give up, and so on). Write the information from the think-aloud and discussion in the appropriate columns in the chart on the board.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• As students preview the book, ask them to talk about what they see in the photos. Reinforce the vocabulary words they will encounter in the text.
• Explain to students that they may not always locate context clues that define an unfamiliar word. Model how students can use the glossary or a dictionary to locate a word's meaning. Have a volunteer read the definition for gridiron in the glossary. Have students follow along on page 6 as you read the sentence in which the word gridiron is found to confirm the meaning of the word.
• Have students locate each of the remaining content vocabulary words in the glossary. Read and discuss their definitions as a class.
• For tips on teaching word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have students read the book to find answers to their questions about American sports legends. Have them write what they learned in the L box of their KWL chart.

During Reading 

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Have students read to the end of page 11. Remind them to read for information about American sports legends that will answer questions on their KWL chart. Encourage students who finish early to go back and reread.
• When they have finished reading, have students circle any questions on their KWL chart that were answered and add any new questions that were generated.
• Model answering a question and filling in the third box (L) on the KWL chart.
  Think-aloud: I wanted to know if Mildred Didrikson Zaharias was a great baseball player like Babe Ruth. I found out that she was a very accomplished athlete in several sports during a time when women were expected to be dainty and ladylike. She was talented in basketball, track and field, and golf. However, the book does not indicate that she was a great baseball player. I'll write what I learned in the L box of my KWL chart. I also read about the female basketball team that Babe started. This made me want to know more about the success of that team. I will write this question in the W column of my KWL chart.
• Have students write answers for the questions they circled in the L box on their KWL chart. Invite them to share the information they learned and the questions they generated as they read the book. Record shared responses on the class KWL chart.
• Discuss elements of Jim Thorpe's accomplishments, influence, and personality from the information in the chapter (accomplishments: Olympic gold winner, world record holder, professional baseball and football player, statue in his honor at the Football Hall of Fame, became the first president of the American Football Association; influence: set new world records for other athletes to aspire to, led teams to championship games, helped to popularize professional football; personality: determination, dedication, humility, strength). Write this information in the appropriate columns in the chart on the board.
• Discuss how Jim's personality might have influenced his accomplishments. Facilitate the discussion with questions such as: How would you describe Jim's personality? What characteristics of his personality might have influenced him to excel in so many different sports?
• Check for understanding: Have students read to the end of page 13. Have them write answers they found while reading in the L box of their KWL chart and additional questions they raised in the W box. Invite them to share the information they learned and the questions they generated as they read the book. Record share responses on the class KWL chart.
• Invite students to share information about Mildred Didrickson Zaharias's accomplishments (Olympic gold medalist, won an unprecedented seventeen golf tournaments in a row, golf and track-and-field Hall of Fame memberships). Write this information in the Accomplishments column in the chart on the board.
• Ask students to explain how these accomplishments have influenced other people (they model the importance of challenging oneself and setting goals). Write this information in the Influence column in the chart on the board.
• Ask students to describe the personality of Mildred "Babe" Didrickson (hard-working, dedicated, determined, and so on). Have them explain which information in the book reflects these qualities (lifted weights when it was unheard of for women, went back on the pro golf tour a few weeks after cancer surgery, and so on). Write this information in the Personality column in the chart on the board.
• Have students read the remainder of the book. Remind them to look for answers to their KWL chart questions and use information learned to identify the elements of a biography (accomplishments, influence, and personality). Encourage them to add new questions they might have to their KWL chart 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.
• Think-aloud: I wanted to know more about the female basketball team that Babe Didrikson started and whether or not it was successful. I did not find an answer to that question. However, I did learn that Babe was very successful at golf, becoming a member of the Hall of Fame in this sport.

    Have students circle the questions on their KWL chart that were answered by reading the book and underline the information in the book that answers those questions. Then have them write answers they found while reading in the L box on their KWL chart. Ask students to share questions they added to their KWL chart while reading, and ask them what questions were answered in the text.

• Reinforce that asking questions before and during reading, and looking for the answers while reading, keeps them interested in the topic. It also encourages them to keep reading to find the answers to their questions and helps them understand and remember what they have read.

Reflect on the Comprehension Skill

• Discussion: Have students reread pages 14 through 19. Invite students to share information about Jackie Robinson's accomplishments (led the minor league in batting and his team to a championship, became a Major League Baseball player, won the National League batting title and Most Valuable Player Award). Write this information in the Accomplishments column in the chart on the board.
• Ask students to explain how these accomplishments have influenced others (his efforts made it possible for all people, regardless of race, to participate equally in American sports). Write this information in the Influence column in the chart on the board.
• Ask them to describe the personality of Jackie Robinson (determined, courageous, and so on). Have them explain which information from the book reflects these qualities (first African-American to play Major League Baseball, he endured discrimination from fans and other players, and so on). Write this information in the Personality column in the chart on the board.

    Independent practice: Have students use the inside front cover of their book to create a three-column chart with the headings Accomplishments, Influence, and Personality. Have them reread the chapter on Jesse Owens (pages 20 through 23) 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.

• Enduring understanding: In this book, you learned about the determination of four athletes to become successful and the challenges they faced as they pursued success. Now that you know this information, explain how personality traits can have an effect on a person's accomplishments and influence on others.

Build Skills 

Grammar and Mechanics: Dash

• Review or explain that a dash is a punctuation mark (--) used to indicate a break or omission. It is also used to clarify information within a sentence.
• Direct students to page 10 in the book. Write the following sentence on the board: But half the population--the female half--might nominate another candidate. Ask students how the dash is used in this instance (to clarify which half of the population).
• Have students read to the end of page 10 to identify another use of a dash. Write the following sentence on the board: She often scored thirty points when twenty was considered a respectable total--for the whole team! Ask students how the dash is used in this instance (to add a thought to the end of the sentence).
• Review or explain that hyphens are used in compound adjectives, adverbs, and nouns, such as single-handedly. Point out that hyphens are shorter in length, and are used to connect two or more words together. Remind students not to confuse a dash with a hyphen.
• Instruct students to reread the first paragraph on page 10 and identify a word that contains hyphens (rough-and-tumble). Point out that the dashes on page 10 and on the board are much longer in length than the hyphens are.

    Check for understanding: Have students find and circle the dashes on page 18, and have them explain how the dash is used in each instance (the first dash is used to clarify the Dodgers' record; the second dash is used to clarify why the pitch was not in time).

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

Word Work: Homophones

• Write the following sentence on the board: Jim Thorpe turned down professional sports to play one more season of college football. Circle the word one. Ask students to explain what the word refers to (a number, an amount).
• Write the following sentence on the board: Jim won four of the five events in the pentathlon. Circle the word won. Ask students to explain what the word means (came in first place).
• Write one and won on the board. Explain that words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings are called homophones. Repeat the process for too and two (page 6), and four and for (page 7).
• Invite students to share other homophone pairs they may know. Write these pairs on the board.
• Check for understanding: Write the homophones for, four, too, two, one, and won on the board. Have students use each word in a sentence on a separate piece of paper. Invite them to share their sentences aloud.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the homophones worksheet. If time allows, discuss 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 explain their KWL chart with someone at home.

Extend the Reading 

Writing and Art Connection
Have students choose one of the four sports stars highlighted in the book. Have them write a paragraph telling why he or 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 was a success. Remind them to refer to the elements of a biography in explaining their choice (accomplishments, influence on others, and personality).

Science and Social Studies Connection
Have students use the Internet to research places where the Olympics have been held. Have them make a map showing the countries that have hosted the games.

Assessment 

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• consistently ask relevant questions about a topic prior to and during reading; locate answers to their questions and write them on a worksheet
• identify elements of a biography; categorize information by element during reading
• correctly identify the use of dashes as punctuation; distinguish dashes from hyphens during a discussion and on a worksheet
• accurately identify and understand the use of homophones during discussion and on a worksheet

Comprehension Checks

• Book Quiz
• Retelling Rubric

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