Lesson Plan: Staying in the Game

Essential Questions

• How can we make a decision when there is no example to follow? 
• How can physical health affect mental and emotional health?

Literature Connection

• Novel: Wonder by R.J. Palacio (younger readers)
• Novel: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon (older readers)

Make a Connection (5 minutes)

Ask students to think of a difficult decision they had to make at some point. What was at stake? How did they make the decision? In the end, how did the decision turn out? Tell them that in this story, they will read about a teen who had to make a life-altering decision that involved her health.

Preview Text Features (15 minutes)

Guide students to locate the article. Then preview the text features by asking the following questions:

• Read the article’s title and subtitle. What was the big decision Angelica faced? The decision Angelica faced was whether to be the first kid to undergo a new surgery that could fix her heart problem.
• Look at the photos of Angelica that are included in the article, and read their captions. What do they tell you about her? From the photos and captions, you can tell that Angelica enjoys playing sports (volleyball as a teen and softball as a child), that she has supportive friends who visited her at the hospital on the day of her surgery, and that she wears a device around her neck to keep track of her heartbeat.

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

• Point out the vocabulary box. Read the terms (cardiac arrest, skyrocket, implant, monitor, pediatric) 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 problem-and-solution 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 take note of 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. Once they understand it well, discuss the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (15 minutes)

• What were some things Angelica considered when she was deciding whether to have surgery for her heart condition? (key details) Angelica thought that the surgery could change her life in a big way. She knew that with her condition, if she pushed herself too hard during exercise, she could go into cardiac arrest. She wanted to be able to play sports without worrying, just like other kids. On the other hand, she realized that it was a risky operation, and she worried that something might go wrong. She would be the first kid to have this operation, and that scared her.
• What does Angelica’s heart monitor do? How does this help her lead a more normal life? (problem and solution) The monitor measures her heartbeat and sends an alert to her doctors and her mom when it’s too fast. This allows her to focus on her sport instead of worrying about her heart. 
• How did Angelica feel about being the first kid to have the surgery she had? How can you tell? (inference) Angelica felt nervous about being the first kid to have the surgery. In the section “Trying Everything,” she writes, “There was just one catch: The surgery had never been done on a kid before.” When she calls this fact a “catch,” she means that it was a problem associated with an otherwise good idea. 

Critical-Thinking Questions (10 minutes)

• Why do you think the article begins with the moment Angelica goes into surgery? (author’s craft) The article begins with this moment because it’s a vivid and intense scene that draws the reader in. Angelica describes the scene in detail: doctors and nurses rushing around, machines beeping and buzzing, having a mask put over her face, and taking deep breaths. These details help the reader picture the moments before the surgery and what a scary experience surgery can be. Later, it’s easier for the reader to understand why the decision to have surgery was a difficult one for Angelica.
• Angelica wants to be a pediatric heart surgeon when she grows up. Why do you think she wants to help other kids who have heart conditions? (inference) Angelica knows firsthand what it’s like to have a serious heart condition and understands the difficulties that come with it. She can help others who are having experiences similar to those she went through. As a doctor who could relate to her patients, she would be in a unique position to offer support and empathy.

• Assign students to work in small groups to complete the Spotlight Skill Workout: Problem and Solution activity.
• Go further: Use our Sequence of Events Skill Builder, available in higher and lower level versions.  (Click here to view all your Skill Builders.)
• Writing prompt: Imagine that you’re writing a play based on Angelica’s story. Write a scene in which she talks with her parents about the pros and cons of having the surgery. Use information from the article, as well as your own imagination, to create the dialogue. (To see how lines in a play are written, take a look at the play “The Monkey’s Paw” in this issue of Action.)