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A Lesson on The Football Team Export Lesson as PDF | Save As Favorite
A Lesson on The Football Team Grade: Grade 4
Subject: English Language Arts
Created by: Dawn Rogers
Lesson Length: 2 hours
Keywords/Tags: Reading, writing, football, leadership, character.
Lesson Description: The goal of this lesson is to give students the opportunity to use the reading and writing habits they've been practicing on a regular basis to learn in this passage about a football team. By reading and rereading the passage closely, and focusing their reading through a series of questions and discussion about the text, students will identify what football can do for athletes, how it can help them and what they gain by playing this sport. When combined with writing about the passage, students will discover how much they learn from memoir.
Common Core Standards Covered with This Lesson
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.1: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.1b: Provide reasons that are supported by facts and details.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.1c: Link opinion and reasons using words and phrases (e.g., for instance, in order to, in addition).
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.2b: Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.7: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.3a: Choose words and phrases to convey ideas precisely.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.4a: Use context (e.g., definitions, examples, or restatements in text) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
 
     
     
 
Lesson Content: Reading
Instructions: Please read the following reading passage as many times as needed (aloud and silent) before starting to go through other lesson pages. Understanding the content of this passage is very important since the lesson activities will be all about this content. Feel free to print the passage if needed.

The Football Team

A team is a group of people with a common goal. A school’s football team has two goals. One goal is to win. That is what the team wants to do. The other goal is to build character. Character is what a person values, how a person relates to others. That is why schools have football teams. They want to help students build good values. 

There are many character traits that a football player can develop. One is leadership. The quarterback of the team is a leader. The quarterback makes choices—which play to make, who will get the ball. The quarterback has a big job. The quarterback has to inspire the players to work together. If they are losing, the quarterback has to work even harder, to give the players hope they still can win. 

There is another leader, too. The leader of the defensive group. When the defensive group is playing, that means the team may lose points. So the leader has to keep the team members working together to stop that. 

Each team member builds character. They learn to cooperate. They learn to make good decisions. They work hard. They practice every day. They learn to follow the rules. If a team member does not follow the rules, the entire team suffers. 

Each team member has a position. Each position is part of winning. No one player has the ability to win the game for the team. Only if the team works together does a team win. 
People often say, “There is no I in TEAM.” 

Whether the team wins or loses, at the end of the game they congratulate the other team. That is called sportsmanship. While they fight to win during the game, it is just a game. They cannot be angry with the other team. If they are, they’ll hear from their coach. 

The coach makes sure the team reaches the school’s goal. The coach cares about the whole team. The coach gives each player advice. When the team wins, everyone celebrates. And the coach is glad. But after the season is over, the coach is still happy. The coach gets to see the players as they go to school every day. The character they have built is part of their success in school, too. 

Some coaches say that if you go into a classroom at their school you’ll be able to tell the players. It is not that they are bigger than the other students. It is the ones who are helping other students work. Teamwork is part of their lives. 
 
     
     
 
Task 1: Vocabulary Activity (20 points)
Instructions: Please complete the following vocabulary activity by choosing the correct meaning of each word selected from the passage and use of each word correctly in a sentence.
Vocabulary Questions
Word/Phrase: Quaterback | Tier: 3 | Points: 5
Q1 The author in our story says, "The quarterback of the team is a leader. The quarterback makes choices—which play to make, who will get the ball." What does the word "quarterback" mean in this sentence?
A. The coach of the football team.
B. A soccer player who protects the goal.
C. A football player who usually calls the singles for the plays. *
D. A football player the kicks the ball to the other team.
Which one of the sentence below uses the word "quarterback" correctly?
A. Tim wants to be the quarterback on the soccer team
B. Tom is the quarterback on the football team. *
C. Sam wants his quarterback.
D. The quarterback is the best.
Word/Phrase: Character | Tier: 2 | Points: 5
Q2 The author in our story says, "Each team member builds character." What does the word "character" mean in this sentence?
A. A cartoon character.
B. A written letter/symbol.
C. A funny person.
D. a moral quality of a person. *
Which one of the sentence below uses the word "character" correctly?
A. The student built character while playing sports. *
B. Kyle was a character in the class.
C. Iron Man is Tyler's favorite character.
D. Alex wrote the character on his paper wrong.
Word/Phrase: Leadership | Tier: 3 | Points: 5
Q3 The author in our story says, "There are many character traits that a football player can develop. One is leadership." What does the word "leadership" mean in this sentence?
A. The first boat in a row.
B. A class that is in charge of the school.
C. A child's toy.
D. the action of leading a group of people or an organization. *
Which one of the sentence below uses the word "leadership" correctly?
A. As quarterback, John has shown leadership. *
B. Jenny is in leadership class.
C. Paul's leadership is broken.
D. The leadership is out of position.
Word/Phrase: Cooperate | Tier: 2 | Points: 5
Q4 The author in our story says, "Each team member builds character. They learn to cooperate." What does the word "cooperate" mean in this sentence?
A. a big business.
B. to hate someone.
C. acting together to get to the same end. *
D. to be hardworking.
Which one of the sentence below uses the word "cooperate" correctly?
A. Lucy works for a big cooperate.
B. The teammates cooperate during the game to win. *
C. Abby is a cooperate worker.
D. Greg cooperates Nancy for being mean.
Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.3a, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.4a,
 
     
     
 
Task 2: Discussion Activity (40 points)
Instructions: This discussion forum will have questions for students to respond. Read the posted questions, and respond to each. Students are responsible for posting one initial and and two peer responses for each topic.
  Topic Title Replies
Message Why is the saying "There is no I in Team" so important in sports?
In the story, the author states "Only if the team works together does a team win. People often say, “There is no I in TEAM.”. Why do you think that this saying is so common in team sports?
Sent on: Oct 11, 2014 by: Dawn Rogers		 0
Message What builds character? What kind of character?
The author of this story says "The other goal is to build character." It is commonly stated that while playing sports, athletes build character, what about the sports do you think helps them build character? What kind of "character" do they build?
Sent on: Oct 11, 2014 by: Dawn Rogers		 0
Message In what way would the entire team suffer?
When the author says "They learn to follow the rules. If a team member does not follow the rules, the entire team suffers.", what do you think they mean saying "the entire team suffers"? How do you think that the entire team will suffer?
Sent on: Oct 11, 2014 by: Dawn Rogers		 0
Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.1b, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.2b,
 
     
     
 
Task 3: Writing Activity (40 points)
Instructions: You are to write and post here 500 words essay on what you think football can do for a person, other than what you have read in the story. What are possible risks or issues with playing football? Make sure to provide specific examples.
Standards Covered with This Lesson Activity: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.1, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.1c, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.7,
 
     

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