This unit focuses on sports, and on real-life and fictional athletes. Students discuss dreams, and what it takes to be successful, both in sports and in life.

UNIT TEXTS

• Game by Walter Dean Myers
• Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates by Jonah Winter
• “Top of the World” from Real Kids, Real Stories, Real Change: Courageous Actions Around the World by Garth Sundem 

Students begin the unit by reading the beautifully illustrated nonfiction text Roberto Clemente, which presents a poetic portrait of the gifted Puerto Rican baseball player. Next, they dig into Real Kids, Real Stories, Real Change: Courageous Actions Around the World, a collection of true stories about kids changing their communities and making a positive impact. From this collection, they will read the short story “Top of the World,” about a young Indian girl who climbed Mount Everest despite being told that “girls can’t climb mountains.” The unit’s core novel is Game, by Walter Dean Myers. This novel tells the story of a New York City high school basketball team, and the struggles of its star player. Students analyze whether the protagonist is out for himself or playing for his team. 

FLUENCY TOPICS

Gambling on sports, pressures of early sports specialization, recruiting of high school athletes, mixed martial arts and other controversial sports 

FOCUS

Literary analysis

• Analyzing elements of fiction: character, setting, plot
• Tracing a theme in fiction

Reading comprehension

• Summarizing and clarifying as components of Reciprocal Teaching
• Using 5Ws (who, did what, when, etc.) as a scaffold for summarizing
• Using and citing evidence from a text

Decoding

• Identifying base words and chunking compound words
• Identifying noun and adjective suffixes

Debate

• Should Drew follow Coach House’s plan?

English language development

• Summarizing most important aspects of information (orally and in writing)
• Interpreting figures of speech in context to make inferences about character