English/Language Arts
Explore origin stories
Author Whiting tells the story of the origin of both the ancient and modern day Olympics. Have students brainstorm other stories they have heard, seen or read that reveal something’s origin. See if you can chart common characteristics of origin stories. Following discussions, have students use the idea of origin stories as a seed for their writing journals. Have them write a factual origin story. Or have them write a creative origin story for something fictional. After sharing, spend a class for closure discussing the potential value and appeal of origin stories.
Social Studies
Explore culture - gender roles
Students read that an ancient Greek businessman “offered his daughter in marriage” to the winner of the first marathon. Use this factoid to launch a discussion of the change in women’s roles over time in the Olympics. For extension, parallel the Olympic change to societal change and Title IX.
Explore geography
This Minute takes the reader through multiple places in Greece - Athens, Marathon, Olympia - and London. Take it a step further and have students explore all of the sites of modern day Olympic games and find them on the globe. Which continents are most represented? Do any countries appear to have an advantage?
STEM
Explore the collection & organization of data
If your students could use some practice with organizing and compiling data for analysis, use this Minute to start them off by looking at number of athletes, number of venues, number of participants, etc. Give students choice about which numbers they wish to explore, and then challenge them to choose, and justify their choice, how to best display their information. Should it be on a bar graph? A coordinate plane? Once the data is charted for display, have student see if they can infer a correlation between two or more data sets.
Health & Wellness
Explore athletic options in competition
Have your students explore all the different athletic events represented in the Olympics. Which events are the best fit for your students talents and abilities? Incorporate a little critical thinking and writing and ask your students to write about what attributes they have that would make them a great competitor in an Olympic event.
Research Skills
Explore media messages - sports
As readers learn from this Minute, even in ancient days athletes were revered as heroes within the community. Have your students look at athletic sponsorships and see if they can find the connection between sports and constructed media messages. What does it mean when an athlete always sports a brand-name logo on their apparel?
Explore origin stories
Author Whiting tells the story of the origin of both the ancient and modern day Olympics. Have students brainstorm other stories they have heard, seen or read that reveal something’s origin. See if you can chart common characteristics of origin stories. Following discussions, have students use the idea of origin stories as a seed for their writing journals. Have them write a factual origin story. Or have them write a creative origin story for something fictional. After sharing, spend a class for closure discussing the potential value and appeal of origin stories.
Social Studies
Explore culture - gender roles
Students read that an ancient Greek businessman “offered his daughter in marriage” to the winner of the first marathon. Use this factoid to launch a discussion of the change in women’s roles over time in the Olympics. For extension, parallel the Olympic change to societal change and Title IX.
Explore geography
This Minute takes the reader through multiple places in Greece - Athens, Marathon, Olympia - and London. Take it a step further and have students explore all of the sites of modern day Olympic games and find them on the globe. Which continents are most represented? Do any countries appear to have an advantage?
STEM
Explore the collection & organization of data
If your students could use some practice with organizing and compiling data for analysis, use this Minute to start them off by looking at number of athletes, number of venues, number of participants, etc. Give students choice about which numbers they wish to explore, and then challenge them to choose, and justify their choice, how to best display their information. Should it be on a bar graph? A coordinate plane? Once the data is charted for display, have student see if they can infer a correlation between two or more data sets.
Health & Wellness
Explore athletic options in competition
Have your students explore all the different athletic events represented in the Olympics. Which events are the best fit for your students talents and abilities? Incorporate a little critical thinking and writing and ask your students to write about what attributes they have that would make them a great competitor in an Olympic event.
Research Skills
Explore media messages - sports
As readers learn from this Minute, even in ancient days athletes were revered as heroes within the community. Have your students look at athletic sponsorships and see if they can find the connection between sports and constructed media messages. What does it mean when an athlete always sports a brand-name logo on their apparel?
© Karen Sterling, 2018 - May be used for educational purposes without written permission