Tag Archives: sports

The Weekly Text, March 15, 2019

Posted on March 15, 2019 | Leave a comment

Another Friday has rolled around, and on this one, for some reason in my school district, we are not required to report to work.

Continuing with posts in observation of Women’s History Month 2019, here is a reading on soccer legend Mia Hamm with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. This is high interest material, especially for girls and young women involved in sports, particularly, obviously, soccer.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Jack Johnson

Posted on February 13, 2019 | Leave a comment

“(originally John Arthur) (1878-1946) U.S. heavyweight boxing champion, the first black to hold the title. Born in Galveston, Texas, his career was marked from the beginning by racial discrimination. He won the national heavyweight crown in 1908 by knocking out Tommy Burns and kept it until 1915, when he was knocked out in Havana by Jess Willard in 26 rounds. After he became champion, a cry for a ‘Great White Hope’ to defeat him produced numerous opponents. He was excoriated by the press for twice marrying white women. In 1912 he was convicted of violating the Mann Act for transporting his fiancée across state lines. He fled to Canada and then to Europe, continuing to fight as a fugitive before surrendering in 1920 to serve a one-year sentence. He died in a car crash. He won 80 of his 114 bouts.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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Muhammad Ali on Not Joining the War in Vietnam

Posted on February 7, 2019 | Leave a comment

[Refusing to be drafted to fight in the Vietnam War;] “I ain’t got no quarrel with the Viet Cong.”

Muhammad Ali

Press conference, Miami, Florida, February, 1966

Excerpted from: Shapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

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The Weekly Text, January 18, 2019

Posted on January 18, 2019 | Leave a comment

This week’s Text is a complete lesson plan on using coordinating conjunctions. I open this exercise with this homophone worksheet on the homophones desert and dessert; while I realize that these two words, properly pronounced, aren’t really homophones, these are nonetheless words that students (and adults for that matter) frequently confuse, so I think it’s worth taking a moment to help them sort out these two words. Should this lesson stumble into another day for any reason, here is an everyday edit on Ludwig van Beethoven–and if you like Everyday Edit worksheets, the generous people at Education World have a yearlong supply of them posted as giveaways.

This structured worksheet of modified cloze exercises is the mainstay of this lesson; here too (contrived for the teacher’s ease of use) is the the teacher’s copy and answer key for the worksheet.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Lesson Plans, Reference Materials, The Weekly Text, Worksheets

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Wayne Gretzky

Posted on December 17, 2018 | Leave a comment

At the beginning of another work week (for me, one of the odder pleasures of getting older is no longer dreading Monday mornings), here is a reading on Wayne Gretzky and the comprehension worksheet that accompanies it. I’ve been producing quite a few new readings and worksheets, particularly high interest stuff, so they’ll be showing up here from time to time.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Posted in English Language Arts, Essays/Readings, Independent Practice, Worksheets

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Joe Montana

Posted on December 1, 2018 | Leave a comment

Here is a relatively high-interest reading on quarterback Joe Montana and a reading comprehension worksheet to accompany it.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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The 1966 NCAA Basketball Championship

Posted on November 10, 2018 | Leave a comment

Here is a reading on the 1966 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship with its attending comprehension worksheet. This is a story of ending an injustice in American collegiate sports, and the undermining of racial prejudice. As such, I suspect that for the right students, this material would be of compelling high interest.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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