Standards Correlations

R.1, R.2, R.3, R.4, R.7, W.3, SL.1, L.4, L.6

Learning Objective

Students will identify cause-and-effect relationships  in a text about a Deaf football team that defied expectations by winning a state championship.

Key Skills

cause and effect, text features, vocabulary, central idea and details, compare and contrast, critical thinking, narrative writing

Complexity Factors

Purpose: The article challenges stereotypes and offers a glimpse into Deaf culture.

 

Structure: The article is written from the first-person point of view.

 

Language: The language is conversational.

 

Knowledge Demands: Basic knowledge of sports, deafness, and the concept of stereotypes will be helpful.

Levels

Lexile: 600L-700L 

Guided Reading Level: Q 

DRA Level: 40

SEL Connection

This article and lesson promote social awareness and self-awareness skills.

Lesson Plan: From Underdogs to Champions

Essential Questions

  • Why do we make assumptions about people who are different from us?
  • What role does language play in our everyday lives?

Literature Connection

  • Biography: Silent Star by Bill Wise
  • Novel: Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly
  • Novel: Left Out by Tim Green 

1. Preparing to Read 

Build Background Knowledge (10 minutes)

  • As a class, view our video “Two Minutes With . . . Gio Visco.” Then discuss: What does the video tell you about Gio? What do you find most interesting about him? What else would you like to know?
  • Tell students that the word Deaf is capitalized in the article because Gio is using it to identify himself as part of the Deaf community. Let students know that while deaf with a lowercase D is an adjective that describes someone with the condition of not hearing, Deaf with an uppercase D describes members of the Deaf community. Like members of a religious group or people from a certain city or country, Deaf people are a group that shares a culture: customs, a history, and a language (ASL or another form of sign language).

Preview Text Features (10 minutes)

Guide students to locate the article in their magazines or at Action Online. Then preview the text features by asking the following questions:

  • Based on the article’s title and subtitle (the text beneath the title), what do you think the article will be about, and why do you think Gio’s football team was considered underdogs? (Hint: Read the definition of underdog in the red circle on page 21.) Answers will vary. Sample answer: The article will be about Gio’s football team and how they won a state title when people didn’t expect them to. Maybe the team faced some challenges or difficulties along the way.
  • Read the image caption labeled “Secret Weapon.” What does the word weapon refer to? How is its meaning here different from its usual meaning? In the caption, the word weapon refers to Gio—or to his amazing speed. The word usually refers to a physical object used in fighting. Here, it shows that Gio’s speed is a powerful tool that can help the Cubs as they fight to win games. 

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

  • Point out the vocabulary box. Read the terms (demolished, interpreter, access, underestimated, determined) aloud and discuss their 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 analyze 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 take note of sentences they think tell them important ideas in each section, as well as any words or sentences they don’t understand.

2. Reading and Unpacking the Text

Read the article. (Higher- and lower-Lexile versions are available on the Story page at Action Online. Click Presentation View to access an audio read-aloud.) Then discuss the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (15 minutes)

  • How was Gio’s experience playing on a hearing basketball team different from his experience playing on a Deaf football team? (compare and contrast) When Gio was on the hearing basketball team, he often felt left out and like he constantly had to prove himself because of his deafness. On the Deaf football team, his fellow athletes recognize and respect his abilities.
  • What made last year’s championship game especially important to Gio? (cause and effect) In last year’s championship game, the Cubs were facing the same team that had beaten them in the championship game the year before. The earlier loss was disappointing, and the thought of beating that team was exciting. 
  • Based on the article, how did winning the state championship affect Gio and his community? (cause and effect) Gio felt proud of his team and community, and the football team’s big win helped the school get a new football field. The whole school community felt very proud and happy.

Critical-Thinking Questions (10 minutes)

  • What are some advantages that a Deaf football team might have? What are some challenges? (critical thinking) Answers may vary. Sample answer: A Deaf football team might benefit from being able to use ASL to communicate across a field without being understood by the other team. The players might also benefit from not being distracted by sounds from the crowd. Challenges might include missing out on vocal encouragement from the crowd and having to look at each other to communicate.
  • At the end of the article, Gio says that the Cubs will probably continue to be underestimated and that one championship season can’t change that. What do you think it would take for other people to see the Cubs as the talented, skillful athletes they are? (critical thinking) Answers may vary. Students might say that a few more championship titles would probably  change the way people see the Cubs, or that hearing people need to have more education about Deaf culture.

3. Skill Building and Writing

  • Assign students to work in small groups to complete the Spotlight Skill Workout: Problem and Solution activity.
  • Go further: Use our Central Idea and Details Skill Builder, available in higher and lower level versions.  (Click here to view all your Skill Builders.)
  • Writing prompt: In the article, Gio tells the story of how he worked toward a goal (helping the Cubs get another chance at a state championship) and reached it. In a paragraph or two, tell the story of a time you set a goal for yourself and reached it. Explain why the goal was important to you, what you did to work toward it, and how you felt when your work paid off. 

Learn Anywhere Activity

An enrichment activity to extend the learning journey at home or in the classroom

Project the task below on your whiteboard or share it with students in your LMS.

Compare Two Stories

“From Underdogs to Champions” is an underdog story—a story about a person or group that succeeds against all expectations. History (especially sports history) is full of exciting stories like this, and popular fiction books and movies are too. 

Choose an underdog story that you’re familiar with (some popular book and movie examples are listed below). Then use our Venn diagram to compare the story you chose with “From Underdogs to Champions.” If you have trouble thinking of ways the stories are similar and different, consider these questions: Where do the stories take place? When do the stories take place? What is the underdog in each story trying to win or do? What challenges does the underdog in each story face? How do the stories end?

Some popular underdog stories:

  • Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova (book)
  • Cool Runnings (1993 movie)
  • Ghost by Jason Reynolds (book)
  • The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (book)
  • The Hunger Games (2012 movie)
  • The Karate Kid (1984 movie)
  • The Karate Kid (2010 movie)
  • Kung Fu Panda (2008 movie)
  • Left Out by Tim Green (book)
  • The Mighty Ducks (1992 movie)
  • The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (book)
  • The Outsiders (1983 movie)
  • Rudy (1993 movie)
  • Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017 movie)

Language-Acquisition Springboard

Review acronyms and initialisms to boost fluency.

After reading the article, direct students’ attention to the places where Gio refers to his school as CSDR. Ask, “What does CSDR stand for?” Students will likely remember that the term stands for California School for the Deaf, Riverside. Ask, “Why do you think Gio calls it CSDR?” Students will likely answer that CSDR is quicker and easier to write. 

Tell students that many words and phrases in English have shortened forms to speed up communication. The shortened form of a term using its initials (the first letter of each word) is called an initialism. Some examples are FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), mph (miles per hour), and ASAP (as soon as possible). Ask students to name another initialism that stands for an important term in “From Underdogs to Champions.” (ASL, which stands for American Sign Language)

An acronym is an initialism that can be pronounced as a word. Examples include FOMO (fear of missing out), BOGO (buy one, get one), and PIN (personal identification number).

Ask students to think of some more examples of initialisms and acronyms. If they need help, remind them that these are very common in texting! (Examples include BRB, BTW, IRL, MADD, MVP, NASA, NBA, SWAT, and YOLO.)

Tell students that when they encounter an acronym or an initialism and aren’t sure how to pronounce it (as individual letters or as a word), they can ask themselves, “Can I easily pronounce it as a word?” If they can, they probably should!

Looking for more ELL support? Download our full lesson plan and scroll to p. 5 to find questions that will help your ELLs respond to the text at the level that’s right for them.

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