Uncommon Champions

Content Objectives

Students will:

• Learn about the concept of uncommon champions – people who achieve in the face of adversity.
• Access prior knowledge and build background about types of adversity that people may face.
• Explore and apply the concepts of ways people recover from problems, rehabilitate themselves and accomplish goals of theirs.

Language Objectives

Students will:

• Demonstrate an understanding adversity, rehabilitation and accomplishment.
• Orally use words that name types of disabilities.
• Extend oral vocabulary by speaking about various historical figures who are known as uncommon champions.
• Use key concept words [professional athlete, obstacle, goal, disability, prevent, handicap, physical, mental, rehabilitation, physical therapy, compensate, wheelchair, seeing• eye dog].

Other

Explain

• Use the slideshow to review the key concept words.
• Explain that students are going to learn about uncommon champions:
• What makes a person an uncommon champion?
• What are some disabilities or other obstacles that may prevent someone from accomplishing things?
• What is the difference between a "regularâ€? champion and an uncommon champion?
• What is the purpose of accomplishing goals?

Model

• After the host introduces the slideshow, point to the photo on screen. Ask students: What are some examples of uncommon champions? (Stephen Hawking, Terry Fox, Jim Abbott, etc.)
• Ask students: What obstacles have they struggled to overcome? (physical and mental disabilities, etc.)
• Say: Sometimes people are born with disabilities and thus they have more obstacles to overcome in order to achieve thier goals. What are some tools that help uncommon heroes accomplish their goals? (wheelchairs, Braille, seeing eye dogs).

Guided Practice

• Guide students through the next five slides slides showing them pictures of famous uncommon champions. Always have them discuss who the person is and what accomplishment they are famous for.

Apply

• Play the games that follow. Have them discuss with their partner the different topics that appear during the Talk About It feature.
• After the first game, ask students to discuss people they know who suffer from a disability or other large problem. After the second game, ask students to discuss whether these people overcame their problems in order to accomplish a goal. Have them discuss ways they could help or have helped these people.

Close

• Ask students: How would being disabled affect your life?
• Summarize for students that being disabled is not a problem but sometimes it can be a challenge and thus one has to work harder to accomplish things. Encourage them to try keeping their eyes closed for an hour to experience what it would be like to be blind.