Lesson Plan: Next Stop: Olympics

Essential Questions

• What does it take to become great at a sport? 
• What are society’s expectations for boys and girls?

Literature Connection

• Memoir: My Corner of the Ring by Jesselyn Silva
• Novel: Girls Can’t Hit by T.S. Easton 

Make a Connection (5 minutes)

Ask students to think of a challenge they’ve faced—a big math test, a race, a piano recital, etc. How did they prepare? What was the outcome? Would they do anything different if they could go back?

Preview Text Features (10 minutes)

Guide students to locate the story. Preview the text features by asking the following questions:

• Read the article’s title and subtitle. What is Jesselyn’s dream? Do you think it will be easy or difficult to make it come true? Why? Jesselyn’s dream is to participate in the Olympics. This is a competition for the very best athletes in the world, so it will probably take a lot of hard work to get there.
• Look at the photos of Jesselyn included in the article and read their captions. What do they tell you about her? What do you still want to know? The photos tell us that Jesselyn is a boxer, that she’s close with her family, and that she wrote a book about her life. Some questions students may have: Why did she want to become a boxer? How long has she been boxing? How is she preparing to go to the Olympics?

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

• Point out the vocabulary box. Read the words (delicate, spar, opponent, immigrants, siblings) aloud and discuss the definitions.
• Play the Vocabulary Slideshow. 

Make a Plan for Reading

Before students start to read, walk them through a reading plan:

• Set a purpose for reading: Tell students that after reading, they’ll identify cause-and-effect relationships in the story. Point out the activity at the end of the story.
• Encourage students to pause at the end of each section so they can monitor their comprehension. Prompt them to note sentences they think tell them important ideas in each section, as well as any words or sentences they don’t understand.

Guide students to read the article (or direct them to the Presentation View to hear Jesselyn read it aloud). Once they understand it well, discuss the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (15 minutes)

• How did people react when Jesselyn first started boxing? How did their reactions affect her? (cause and effect) People thought that because she was a girl, she was too delicate to box (“Girls are like flowers”). They worried that she would get hurt (“You’ll ruin your pretty face”) and thought it was cute (“The little girl wants to box!”). Their reactions didn’t change how Jesselyn felt about the sport. She loved boxing, and she wasn’t going to stop just because people thought it was strange or silly for her to do a “boys’” sport.
• What kept Jesselyn going when things got tough in the boxing ring? How did she stay motivated? (problem and solution) What kept Jesselyn going was her dad’s support. While sparring, she heard his voice in her head: “Silvas never quit.” She faced opponents who were bigger than her, but she didn’t give up. She continued sparring and got stronger. Later, in her fight at the Junior Olympics, when she was feeling nervous, she again found support in her dad. She looked into the crowd and saw him cheering her on. That kept her positive.
• Why does Jesselyn bring up her grandparents at the end of the article? What comparison does she make between their experiences and hers? (compare and contrast) Jesselyn says that she got her strength from her family. Her grandparents came to the United States as immigrants looking for a better life. We can infer that they faced many challenges during that time. They might have had to learn new customs and maybe a new language. But despite the challenges, they kept going. Jesselyn says “The Silvas are strong. And we never quit.” Just as her grandparents fought to make a better life for themselves in the United States, Jesselyn fights to become the best boxer she can be.

Critical-Thinking Questions (10 minutes)

• What can you learn from Jesselyn’s story? How might the lesson from her story apply to your life? (making connections) Sample answer: The lesson from Jesselyn’s story is that hard work leads to success. When she was 7, it would have been easy to assume that she couldn’t possibly become good at boxing. But she proved everyone wrong. She was courageous, she didn’t care what anyone thought, and she kept fighting—physically and mentally—when things got tough. (Students will have different reasons for how these lessons might apply to their lives.)
• When people learned that Jesselyn wanted to box, they didn't take her seriously. How do you think they might have responded differently if Jesselyn were a boy? Do you think it’s a problem that their reactions would have been different? (critical thinking) Sample answer: If Jesselyn were a boy, people might have taken her more seriously when she expressed interest in boxing. They might even have encouraged her. They might have said things like, “You’ll be great at it!” and “We can’t wait to see you in the ring.” By not responding this way to a girl, people send the message that girls “can’t do” certain sports. (Students’ answers to the second question will vary.)

• Assign students to work in small groups to complete the Spotlight Skill Workout: Cause and Effect activity.
• Go further: Have students work independently to complete our Sequence of Events Skill Builder for this article, available in higher and lower level versions.  (Click here to view all your Skill Builders.)
• Writing prompt: When people ask Jesselyn where she got her strength from, she says “It’s in my blood.” What do you think you have in your blood? Creativity? A sense of humor? Compassion? Leadership skills? Write about a trait that runs in your family. Explain how those in your family display this trait, and explain how you do too. Write in the format of a journal entry.