Lesson Plan: Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push

Essential Questions

• How can we strengthen our relationships with others? 
• What does it mean to succeed? How can failure be important?

Literature Connection

• Novel: Mascot by Antony John
• Novel: Bouncing Back by Scott Ostler

Preview Text Features (10 minutes)

Guide students to locate the story. Then preview text features with the following prompts:

• Think about the title “Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push,” the subtitle (the text beneath the title), and the image included on the title page. Based on these text features, what big challenge do you predict the characters will face? Students might predict that the story will be about facing a challenge related to basketball, perhaps winning a big game or overcoming stereotypes about playing in a wheelchair. The title suggests that the main character will need help or encouragement to reach his dreams or goals.
• Skim through the story and look at the side bubbles that contain questions. Read the headers, such as “Compare and Contrast” and “Interpreting Text.” Are there any skills that you aren’t familiar with? Answers will vary.

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

• Point out the vocabulary box. Read the terms (executive, mumbled, dejected, fundamentals) aloud and discuss their definitions.
• Play the Vocabulary Slideshow

Make a Plan for Reading

• Before students start to read, set a purpose for reading by telling them that they will make inferences about “Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push.” Explain that making an inference means using clues from the text  to figure out something that isn’t directly stated. (You may also consider showing our “Skills in Action: What Is an Inference?” video.)

• Read the story (or visit Action Online and click Presentation View to access an audio read-aloud). Then discuss the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (55 minutes)

• Compare and Contrast (p. 15) Dad has a hard time accepting Chris’s injury. Chris and his mom find it easier. Chris says that he and Mom “learned to live with it,” while Dad “took it hard, real hard.” Mom believes that Dad blames himself for Chris’s injury and finds it difficult to see Chris in his wheelchair.
• Interpreting Text (p. 16) Mom means that Dad likes to really think about what he says before he says it—or at least, before he says it in a way that anyone else can understand.
• Inference (p. 16) Dad reading a newspaper and barely paying attention to the game probably makes Chris feel upset. Chris is excited to see kids who use wheelchairs like him “zipping around” playing basketball. He probably wishes that Dad shared his excitement and supported his decision to play on a wheelchair basketball team.
• Interpreting Text (p. 16) The expression “my heart sank” generally means that the speaker was disappointed. Dad has called Mr. Evans, the basketball coach, and Chris appears to assume it’s not for a good reason. He says he tried not to think of it while doing his homework that evening.
• Inference (p. 17) Mom and Chris may be surprised by Dad’s comments because Dad didn’t show much interest at the Madison-Rosedale game, and he normally tries to avoid thinking about the fact that Chris is in a wheelchair. His choosing to get involved with Chris’s wheelchair basketball team is unexpected.
• Character (p. 17) Dad read a newspaper during the Madison-Rosedale game. Now, at practice, he watches the team go through the drills. He seems more interested and involved.
• Figurative Language (p. 18) Comparing the practice to a collision derby helps you understand that the basketball players are running into each other, which is keeping them from playing well. 
• Tone (p. 18) Dad is being funny. We can tell because he’s smiling. His comment seems playful, not hurtful. It’s as though he’s “roasting” the team, making fun of them in an affectionate way.
• Interpreting Text (p. 19) Dad saying “we” suggests that he feels like he’s part of the team. He has embraced the idea of Chris playing on a wheelchair team, and he wants the team to succeed.
• Plot (p. 19) The team has brought Chris and Dad closer together and given them a way to connect. Dad comes to weekend games and sometimes helps out at practices. This gives Dad an opportunity to share his knowledge with Chris. Also, by being involved with the team, Dad is constantly facing the fact that Chris is in a wheelchair; you sense that Dad has begun to make peace with Chris’s injury.
• Theme (p. 19) Answers will vary, but the title may refer to Chris needing a little push—that is, a little encouragement—to achieve his dream of playing basketball again. Chris gets this push from the invitation to join the wheelchair basketball team, as well as from his dad’s coaching. The title could also refer to Chris dreaming of having a closer relationship with his dad, which also happens with a “push” from getting involved with the basketball team. 

Critical-Thinking Questions (10 minutes)

• Consider the last paragraph of the story. Do you think Chris really believes that Dad said there was no way he could play as well as Chris in a chair? Why or why not? If not, why might Chris say this? (interpreting text) Answers will vary. Students may say that Chris probably doesn’t really think that Dad said he could never play as well as Chris in a chair. It’s possible, of course, but it seems a bit out of character for Dad. Given the way Dad mumbles, it seems likely that Chris has no idea what Dad said—he’s making a joke and expressing confidence in his own abilities.
• How did you feel about Dad while you were reading this story? Was there anything you wished you could tell him? Explain. (making a personal connection) Answers will vary.

• Have students work in pairs to complete the Spotlight Skill Workout: Inference activity at the end of the play.
• Assign students to work independently on our Understanding Character Skill Builder. (Click here to see all your Skill Builders for this feature.)
• Writing prompt: Imagine that you are Chris’s dad. Write a journal entry describing the events in the story as you see them. Explain how you feel about your own basketball career, your hopes for Chris, the car accident, the wheelchair basketball team, and your relationship with Chris.