Soccer and Basketball

Set a Purpose for Reading/Preview Text Features (15 minutes)  

• Look at page 19 with the class. Point out the labels “Paired Texts” and “One topic, two stories.” Have a volunteer read aloud the headline on page 20 and on page 21. Point out the images that accompany the texts. Then ask students to identify the topic of each story. (The first describes the sport of soccer and how it started, and the second describes the sport of basketball and how it began.)

• Call on volunteers to read aloud the Think and Read box on page 19 and the Think and Write box on page 21. As students read both articles, remind them to look for details that show how the two sports are alike and how they are different.

Introduce Vocabulary (15 minutes)

• We have highlighted in bold three specific terms that may be challenging and defined them on the page: ancient, sensations, and shattered.

• Preview these terms by projecting or distributing our Vocabulary Skill Builder and completing it as a class. You may also play our Vocabulary Slideshow, in which audio and images help students with pronunciation and comprehension.

Reading and Unpacking the Texts

• First read: Students should read the articles one time for general comprehension. 

• Second read: Project, distribute, or assign the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions to the class. Preview them together. Ask students to read the articles again and answer the questions as a class or in pairs. (Alternatively, assign all or part of the Learning Journey Slide Deck, which contains the questions as well as other activities from this lesson plan and a link to the stories.) 

• Follow up with the SEL Focus activity.

Close-Reading Questions (30 minutes)

• Read the first section of the first text, “The Start of Soccer.” Which details from the article show how soccer is “one of the oldest sports in the world”? (main idea) People played games like soccer thousands of years ago in ancient China and Rome. In ancient China,  kids kicked balls filled with feathers. In ancient Rome, soldiers used coconuts as balls.
• Read “It used to be banned in England.” Why is 1863 an important year in the history of soccer? (summarizing/key idea) In 1863 soccer had an official set of rules for the first time. Before 1863 there weren’t many rules, and players would fight each other.
• Read “It’s the most popular sport in the world.” Which details from the section show that soccer is popular? (supporting details/inference) Millions of American kids play the game. Great players like Christian Pulisic and Megan Rapinoe get people excited and interested in soccer. And there are soccer video games that anyone can play.
• Read the first section of the second text, “How Basketball Was Born.” Why do you think James Naismith needed a new indoor game for his students? (inference/main idea)  Naismith needed a new indoor game for his students because it was wintertime and very cold outside. Games with tackling wouldn’t work because the gym floor was hard. Games with kicked balls wouldn’t work because the balls might break windows. So Naismith decided to create a new game.
• Read the heading and text in the next section. How were early basketball games different from basketball games today? (compare and contrast) The first basketballs were soccer balls. The first baskets were peach baskets. Later, nets replaced peach baskets, and orange basketballs replaced soccer balls.
• Read “The first game ended in a fight.” What did James Naismith do after the first basketball game ended in a fight? (cause and effect) He created 13 official rules for basketball.
• Read “It’s played around the world.” What are some different ways that people can enjoy basketball? (key details) People can enjoy basketball by playing it, by being a fan of  basketball stars like Breanna Stewart and LeBron James, and by playing basketball video game series like NBA 2K.

Critical-Thinking Questions (10 minutes)

• Study the photo and caption at the bottom of each text. In what ways are they similar? How are they different? (compare and contrast/text features) The two photos are similar because both photos show a women’s team celebrating a big win. The captions are similar because they both mention a women’s team winning an event a record number of times. The photos are different because one photo shows a soccer team, and the other shows a basketball team. The captions are different because the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team has won 4 times while the University of Connecticut’s team has won 11 times.
• If you could travel back in time and watch an early soccer or basketball game in person, which one would you choose? Explain your answer using details from the texts. (key details/connecting to the text)  Answers will vary.
• Describe two ways that soccer and basketball are similar and two ways they’re different. (compare and contrast) Answers will vary but might be similar to: Early soccer and basketball games were similar because there was fighting. Official rules were created for both sports, and many of those rules are still used today. The two sports are different because soccer has been around much longer than basketball. Nobody knows when soccer started, but we know that James Naismith invented basketball in 1891.

Teamwork

These articles showcase two of the most popular team sports in the world. Unlike some other competitions, team sports require working together and relying on one another. Ask students to think of a time they worked as part of a team to accomplish a goal. This could be a sporting event, group project, family activity, or some other team task. Share an example from your own life to get the discussion started, and invite students to share examples from theirs. Ask: What was satisfying about being part of a team? What was challenging? Identify similarities among the stories.

Featured Skill: Compare and Contrast

• Distribute our Compare and Contrast Skill Builder and have students complete it in class or for homework.  
• Discuss the writing assignment in the Think and Write box on page 21. Remind students to include details from both articles in their paragraphs.