Even though the Winter Olympics have ended, students may still have sports and competition on their mind. We’ve spent the last few weeks cheering for our favorite athletes, countries, and sports. Yet, why is winning so important? Why does losing feel so terrible? Students can use the Write About This app and inquiry-based learning to investigate competition and its’ consequences.
Students can find the above visual prompt in the Write About This gallery by searching the term “basketball”. Have students select the picture and choose an appropriate prompt to start their planning.
- What sports do you have the most fun with? What are your least favorite?
- What’s harder: practicing alone or practicing in groups?
- Tell a story about when you made the game-winning shot.
Have students share their responses and discuss any similarities they hear from each other’s responses. Students can now work to generate their own investigative question for further research. Older students may feel comfortable generating questions such as what were the first sports competitions, how does the body react to winning, what are significant wins in the history of ___, and so forth. Younger students can choose one of the prompts for further research or can be guided with a class question and view Is Winning Everything? From Wonderopolis as part or all of their research (http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/is-winning-everything/). Once students have decided on their investigative question, have them complete a KWL chart. They can then generate their research questions/topics from the “What I Want To Know” column in an I-Chart (http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/printouts/Inquiry%20Chart.pdf). This is a great way for students to organize the evidence they gather during their research! They can take notes in the Write About This app and add their own audio interpretations to their notes as well.
Finally, have students review their original writing response from the Write About This prompt and write a report on their chosen investigative question in the Write About This app. They may want to build upon what they originally wrote and/or tie it in to the investigate response.
So what do you think? Should winning be that important? Let your students investigate it!
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.