Download Sports legends assignment

Discovering History
20th Century Biographies: Sports Legends
Teacher’s Guide
Grade Level: 5-8
Curriculum Focus: Social Studies
Lesson Duration: 2 class periods
Program Description
Discovering History—20th Century Biographies: Sports Legends (30 min.)—This program introduces
five influential athletes and their contributions to American culture in the 20th century. The video
describes Jackie Robinson’s and Babe Ruth’s careers in major league baseball, Joe Louis’ inspirational
influence in and out of the boxing ring, the debunking by Jesse Owens of Hitler’s myth of Aryan
supremacy, and the accomplishments of Gertrude Ederle, who was the first woman to swim the
English Channel.
Discussion Questions
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What role did sports play in American culture during the 1920s?
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What is segregation?
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What was the significance of Joe Louis and Jesse Owens defeating German athletes in the 1930s?
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How are today’s athletes treated differently than the athletes of the early 20th century?
Lesson Plan
Student Objectives
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Identify and discuss how more leisure time and mass media outlets led to an increased interest
in sports.
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Analyze the obstacles that minority and female athletes had to overcome.
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Create a sports page featuring the accomplishments of a sports hero from the first half of the
20th century.
Materials
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Discovering History—20th Century Biographies: Sports Legends video
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Computer with Internet access
Discovering History—20th Century Biographies: Sports Legends
Teacher’s Guide
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Web and print resources about sports during the first half of the 20th century
Procedures
1. Discuss with students the importance of sports in the popular culture of the United States. What
role did sports play in American culture in the 1920s? Why were the 1920s such a turning point?
Explain how radio and movie newsreels enabled fans to see and hear their favorite athletes,
while modern conveniences such as automobiles and home appliances increased the amount of
leisure time that people had to devote to sporting events. Which sports were most popular
during the first half of the 20th century? Discuss examples from the video, such as baseball and
boxing, and mention the growing popularity of college football fueled by University of Illinois’
Red Grange and the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame.
2. Discuss how racism in the early 20th century permeated everyday life, including sports. What is
segregation? Ask students to brainstorm the different places, institutions, and organizations
that were segregated during the first half of the 20th century, particularly in the South. Record
their responses. Examples include:
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Major league baseball
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U.S. armed forces
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Schools
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Theaters
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Restaurants
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Buses
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Water fountains
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Public restrooms
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Hotels
3. Ask the students to consider the obstacles that Jackie Robinson overcame when he desegregated
major league baseball. How did he react to the racial taunts and death threats? What did
baseball fans think about Jackie Robinson when they saw how well he played? What was the
significance of Joe Louis and Jesse Owens defeating German athletes in the 1930s? Discuss
examples from the video, such as Hitler’s belief in Aryan superiority.
4. Ask the students how sports have changed since the mid-20th century. How are today’s athletes
treated differently than athletes of that earlier era? Are there more opportunities for women and
minorities? Are today’s athletes better (or worse) role models than the sports legends of the
previous century? Which sports attract the most fans? Which sports are your favorites? What
issues are common in sports today that did not exist in the early decades of the 20th century?
Possible answers include steroid use, multi-million dollar contracts, and free agency.
5. Have each student choose a sports legend from the first half of the 20th century (who may or
may not have been included in the video). Have students conduct research on their chosen
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.
Discovering History—20th Century Biographies: Sports Legends
Teacher’s Guide
3
sports legends using print and Web resources. The following Web sites are a good starting
point:
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Baseball (PBS.org)
www.pbs.org/kenburns/baseball
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Sports Almanac
www.infoplease.com/sports.html
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1920s (Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920s#sports_figures
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About.com (Black athletes)
http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/athletes
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Digital History (1920s)
www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?hhid=455
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MSN Encarta: African Americans (Sports)
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761587467_5/african_americans.html
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HickokSports.com (Women)
www.hickoksports.com/biograph/biwindex.shtml
6. When the students have completed their research, ask them to each create a newspaper sports
page featuring the accomplishments of their chosen athlete. Ask the students to print out or
copy at least one photo of the athlete or encourage them to create their own illustration as part
of the newspaper layout. Have students include at least three interesting facts about their
athlete.
7. Have students choose a partner. Ask them to share their sports page with their partner and
answer any questions. Then have each student summarize their partner’s project for the class,
including at least three interesting facts.
Assessment
Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students’ work during this lesson.
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3 points: Students were highly engaged in class discussions; produced a complete project
including all of the requested information; accurately summarized their partner’s sports
page and cited three interesting, relevant points.
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2 points: Students participated in class discussions; produced an adequate project, including
most of the requested information; satisfactorily summarized their partner’s sports page and
cited two relevant points.
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.
Discovering History—20th Century Biographies: Sports Legends
Teacher’s Guide
•
4
1 point: Students participated minimally in class discussions; created an incomplete project
with little or none of the requested information; were not able to summarize their partner’s
sports page or recall any interesting, relevant points.
Vocabulary
Aryan
Definition: Used in Nazism to designate a supposed master race of non-Jewish Caucasians
Context: Jesse Owens disproved the theory of Aryan superiority by winning four gold medals at
the 1936 Summer Olympics in Nazi Germany.
bigotry
Definition: Acts or beliefs characteristic of a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to
his or her own opinions and prejudices
Context: After Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, some baseball fans displayed their
bigotry by shouting racial slurs during the games.
civil rights
Definition: The nonpolitical rights of a citizen, especially the rights of personal liberty
guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the 13th and 14th amendments to the Constitution
Context: After he retired from baseball, Jackie Robinson became a strong supporter of the civil
rights movement of the 1960s.
Jim Crow laws
Definition: Ethnic discrimination especially against African-Americans by legal enforcement or
traditional sanctions
Context: Jim Crow laws in the South dictated that African-Americans had to sit in the back of
city buses and give up their seats to white passengers.
segregation
Definition: The separation or isolation of a race, class, or ethnic group by enforced or voluntary
residence in a restricted area, by barriers to social interaction, by separate educational facilities,
or by other discriminatory means
Context: The U.S. armed forces were still racially segregated during World War II.
Academic Standards
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)
McREL's Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K–12 Education
addresses 14 content areas. To view the standards and benchmarks, visit
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/browse.asp.
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.
Discovering History—20th Century Biographies: Sports Legends
Teacher’s Guide
5
This lesson plan addresses the following national standards:
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History—Historical Understanding: Understands and knows how to analyze chronological
relationships and patterns; Understands the historical perspective
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United States History: Era 7—The Emergence of Modern America, 1890–1930: Understands how
the United States changed between post-World War I years and the eve of the Great Depression
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United States History: Era 8—The Great Depression and World War, 1929–1945: Understands
the causes and course of World War II, the character of the war at home and abroad, and its
reshaping of the U.S. role in world affairs
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World History: Era 8—A Half-Century of Crisis and Achievement, 1900–1945: Understands the
causes and global consequences of World War II; Understands major global trends from 1900 to
the end of World War II
The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)
NCSS has developed national guidelines for teaching social studies. To become a member of NCSS,
or to view the standards online, go to http://www.socialstudies.org.
This lesson plan addresses the following thematic standards:
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Culture
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Time, Continuity, and Change
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People, Places, and Environments
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Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
Support Materials
Develop custom worksheets, educational puzzles, online quizzes, and more with the free teaching tools
offered on the Discoveryschool.com Web site. Create and print support materials, or save them to a
Custom Classroom account for future use. To learn more, visit
•
http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/teachingtools.html
Credit
Robyn Kurth, freelance writer
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.