I'll Trade You . . .

American sports fans are fiercely loyal to their teams and New Yorkers are no exception. New York fans are considered to be among the rudest, loudest, and yet savviest of the breed. After watching the NEW YORK VOICES "New York Sports: Big Shots and Bad Guys" episode, your elementary school students will research some of the players highlighted in the show for information about their athletic prowess, their importance in the city, and their reputations as Big Shots or Bad Guys. Students will create their own sports cards about each athlete. In doing so, they will have the opportunity to work on their research, summarization and writing skills in an interactive and fun way.

Grade Level:
Grades 2 to 5

Time Allotment:

One class for introductions and brainstorming
One hour to view the video "New York Sports: Big Shots and Bad Guys" from the NEW YORK VOICES series
Two to four classes for students to research, design and create their own baseball cards
One class for presentations

Subject Matter:
New York City, sports, history, media literacy

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

Create their own sports cards
Be able to synthesize important facts and figures about a famous person's life and summarize them concisely
Learn about layout and design
Conduct research online

Standards

National Standards:

MCREL LANGUAGE ARTS, Level 3, Standard 6
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/Benchmark.asp? SubjectID=7&StandardID=6
Uses reading skills and strategies to understand a variety of literary passages and texts (e.g., fairy tales, folktales, fiction, nonfiction, myths, poems, fables, fantasies, historical fiction, biographies, autobiographies, chapter books)

MCREL LANGUAGE ARTS, Level 2, Standard 5 http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/Benchmark.asp? SubjectID=7&StandardID=5
Uses the general skills and strategies of the reading process

MCREL LANGUAGE ARTS, Level 2, Standard 4 http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/Benchmark.asp? SubjectID=7&StandardID=4
Gathers and uses information for research purposes

This lesson was prepared by: Anna Chan Rekate

Overview | Procedures for Teachers | Organizers for Students