LESSON 24 TEACHER’S GUIDE

Champions On Ice by Nancy N. Ragno

Fountas-Pinnell Level S Narrative Nonfiction Selection Summary Jayne Torvill and Chris Dean started their ice-skating career as youngsters at a rink in Nottingham, England. In 1975, the two became partners in ice dancing. After winning four world championships, they competed in the Olympics, where their original interpretations won them gold medals and a perfect score.

Number of Words: 1,880

Characteristics of the Text Genre Text Structure

Content

Themes and Ideas

Language and Literary Features Sentence Complexity Vocabulary Words Illustrations Book and Print Features

• Narrative Nonfiction • Third-person person narrative organized in six short chapters. Text begins in 1984 at Sarajevo Olympics, the apex of the skaters’ amateur careers, then loops back to follow chronology of skaters’ lives and early careers • Olympic skating and ice dancing • Olympic gold medalists Torvill and Dean • Ice dancing choreography and music • The importance of teamwork • Risks and sacrifices are sometimes necessary to achieve success. • Dedication and determination, especially when one is young, can lead to success. • Figurative language: Jayne loved the feeling of sailing over solid ground; shower of ice; like an intruder; orchestral voices • A variety of sentence lengths, with some long and complex sentences • Exclamations, dashes, questions, italics • Words and phrases associated with ice skating/dancing: lobes, skid-stop, compulsories, paso doble • Many multisyllable words, some of them challenging, including place names and nonEnglish terms: Sarajevo, Ravel, Bolero, innovation, concentration • Photographs with captions • Thirteen pages of text, easy-to-read chapter headings • Table of contents • Sidebars, chart, timeline

© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. Permission is hereby granted to individual teachers using the corresponding (discipline) Leveled Readers to photocopy student worksheets from this publication in classroom quantities for instructional use and not for resale. Requests for information on other matters regarding duplication of this work should be addressed to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, Attn: Contracts, Copyrights, and Licensing, 9400 SouthPark Center Loop, Orlando, Florida 32819. Printed in the U.S.A. 978-0-547-30579-0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0940 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company retains title to the materials and they may not be resold. Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited. Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format.

4_305790_AL_LRTG_L24_ChampionsOnIce.indd 1

12/17/09 10:04:23 AM

Champions On Ice

by Nancy N. Ragno

Build Background Help students use their knowledge about ice skating and especially Olympic figure skating to visualize the selection. Build interest by asking questions such as the following: Have you ever seen pair skating or ice dancing? What do you think it would be like to perform in such competition? Read the title and author and talk about the cover photograph. Tell students that this selection is narrative nonfiction and deals with the careers of skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean. Ask students what they would expect to read in narrative nonfiction about these skaters.

Introduce the Text Guide students through the text, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some suggestions: Page 3: Explain that the book opens in 1984 during the Olympic Games in Sarajevo, at the pinnacle of Torvill and Dean’s amateur careers. Ask: Why do you think the author begins the selection at the pinnacle of the duo’s amateur careers? What made the skaters amateurs? Page 7: The sidebar says the Olympic ice dancing event has three parts: compulsory dances, an orginal dance, and a free-skating dance. Ask: What makes the compulsory dance different than the others? Page 10: Have students look at the photograph of Torvill and Dean skating a dance called a paso doble. Explain that the dance imitates a bullfight. Ask: In what ways do the dancers’ poses suggest the participants of a bullfight? Page 13: The text says the Olympics judge gave Torvill and Dean perfect scores for their interpretation of the music that accompanied their routine. Ask: What kinds of things do you think dancers do to interpret the music they dance to? Now go back to the beginning and read to find out how Torvill and Dean became Olympic champion skating partners.

Expand Your Vocabulary compulsory – obligatory; required, p. 7

lobes – semicircles cut by a skater into ice, p. 4

interpretation – a result of explaining the meaning, p. 8

Grade 4

2

timing – the regulation of occurrence, pace, or coordination to achieve a desired effect, p. 12

Lesson 24: Champions On Ice

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

4_305790_AL_LRTG_L24_ChampionsOnIce.indd 2

12/17/09 10:05:14 AM

Read

Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their understanding of the text as needed. Remind students to use the Analyze/Evaluate Strategy about the ways that Torvill and Dean broke with tradition on the ice.

and to think

Discuss and Revisit the Text Personal Response

Invite students to share their personal responses to the text. Suggested language: Have you ever taken a risk and tried a new way of doing things like Torvill and Dean? How were Torvill and Dean able to break new ground?

Ways of Thinking As you discuss the text, help students understand these points: Thinking Within the Text

Thinking Beyond the Text

Thinking About the Text

• Jayne Torvill and Chris Dean both learned to ice skate when they were young in Nottingham, England.

• Making sacrifices is sometimes necessary to achieve success.

• The first paragraph of every chapter gives a clue to the chronological sequence of events.

• The pair became partners when Chris’s skating teacher brought them together in 1975. • Torvill and Dean both made sacrifices to train for the Olympics. The pair took risks and broke with tradition.

• Having a strong bond and the same goals is important for performing your best as a team. • Taking risks can help one to meet his or her goals.

• The narrative of the text tells about Jayne Torvill and Chris Dean and has a beginning, middle, and end. • The special box, “The Career of Torvill and Dean,” at the end of the book summarizes the career of the skaters and indicates important events.

© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.

Choices for Further Support • Fluency Invite students to use a choral reading to deliver a passage from the text. Remind them to use rising and falling tones as necessary to convey meaning and punctuation. • Comprehension Based on your observations of students’ reading and discussion, revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go back to the text to support their ideas. • Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using examples from the text. Remind students that breaking multisyllable words such as compulsories (p. 13) and interpretation (p. 13) into syllables makes them easier to read, pronounce, and write.

Grade 4

3

Lesson 24: Champions On Ice

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

4_305790_AL_LRTG_L24_ChampionsOnIce.indd 3

11/4/09 10:14:15 PM

Writing about Reading Critical Thinking Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 24.9.

Responding Have students complete the activities at the back of the book, using their Reader’s Notebook. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the comprehension skill.

Target Comprehension Skill Compare and Contrast Remind students that they can compare characters by looking for parts of the selection in which the characters act the same. They can contrast characters by looking for parts where the characters respond to a situation differently. Model how to add details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think Aloud” like the one below: Think Aloud

Jayne Torvill and Chris Dean both always maintained their love of skating, both before and after winning the gold medal. So that could go in the middle oval. After winning the gold medal, they retired and turned professional. These are ways to compare and contrast the lives of Jayne Torvill and Chris Dean before and after winning the gold medal.

Practice the Skill Have students share examples of other selections with characters that can be compared and contrasted.

Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new understandings.

Assessment Prompts • What does it mean for a skater to cut lobes in the ice? • The first paragraph on page 7 is mainly about _______________________________. • According to pages 10 and 11, what changes did Torvill and Dean make in their “bullfighting” routine as a result of their research into the paso doble dance?

Grade 4

4

Lesson 24: Champions On Ice

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

4_305790_AL_LRTG_L24_ChampionsOnIce.indd 4

12/17/09 10:06:38 AM

English Language Development Reading Support Pair advanced and intermediate readers to read the selection softly, or have students listen to the audio or online recordings. Remind them that Torville and Dean took risks and tried new approaches to ice skating, and this eventually helped them win them the gold medal. Idioms The text includes some idioms that might be unfamiliar. Explain the meaning of expressions such as pinnacle of their amateur careers (p. 3), hooked (p. 4), and grand finale (p. 11).

Oral Language Development Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’ English proficiency. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student. Beginning/Early Intermediate

Intermediate

Early Advanced/ Advanced

Speaker 1: Who is this selection about?

Speaker 1: Where did Torvill and Dean learn to skate?

Speaker 1: What did Torvill and Dean do that was different than other skaters?

Speaker 2: Torvill and Dean Speaker 1: What sport did the pair participate in? Speaker 2: ice dancing (or ice skating) Speaker 1: What was their accomplishment? Speaker 2: an Olympic championship

Speaker 2: Torvill and Dean learned to skate at a rink in England. Speaker 1: What did they do when they became partners?

Speaker 2: They took risks and tried new things. They changed the sport of ice dancing forever.

Speaker 2: They worked hard to meet their goals and won the Olympic gold medal.

Lesson 24 BLACKLINE MASTER 24.9

Name

Date

Critical Thinking

Champions on Ice Critical Thinking

Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.

1. Think within the text How did Chris and Jayne solve the timing problem they had with their free dance music? They started on their knees and only moved their arms for the first part of the dance.

2. Think within the text What dance tries to copy a Spanish bullfight? The Paso Doble tries to copy a bullfight.

3. Think beyond the text Compare and contrast Jayne’s first time ice skating to Christopher’s first time ice skating. Skating came naturally to Jayne the first time she was on the ice. Chris fell and had to get back up a lot the first time he tried to skate.

4. Think about the text What purposes do the subheads serve in this nonfiction selection? The subheads tell the main idea of each section. They also spell out the sequence of events in Jayne and Christopher’s career.

Making Connections Jayne and Christopher took great risks—and the risks were worth it. Describe a time when you took a risk. What was the outcome? What did you learn from the experience? Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

Critical Thinking

11

Grade 4, Unit 5: Change Is All Around

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

11_4_246253RTXEAN_L24_FR.indd 11

Grade 4

5

3/23/09 1:46:38 AM

Lesson 24: Champions On Ice

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

4_305790_AL_LRTG_L24_ChampionsOnIce.indd 5

7/28/09 3:24:50 PM

Name

Date

Champions On Ice Thinking Beyond the Text Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in two or three paragraphs Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal knowledge to reach new understandings. On page 10, the author says that “Originality could be risky, but they decided to take the risk.” Why is originality important in ice dancing? How could it be risky? How did Torvill and Dean take risks? Do you think the risks they took were worth it? Why or why not? Support your response with details from the text.

Grade 4

6

Lesson 24: Champions On Ice

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

4_305790_AL_LRTG_L24_ChampionsOnIce.indd 6

7/28/09 3:24:51 PM

Lesson 24 BLACKLINE MASTER 24.9

Name

Date

Critical Thinking

Champions on Ice Critical Thinking

Read and answer the questions.

1. Think within the text How did Chris and Jayne solve the timing problem they had with their free dance music?

2. Think within the text What dance tries to copy a Spanish bullfight?

3. Think beyond the text Compare and contrast Jayne’s first time ice skating to Christopher’s first time ice skating.

4. Think about the text What purposes do the subheads serve in this nonfiction selection?

Making Connections Jayne and Christopher took great risks—and the risks were worth it. Describe a time when you took a risk. What was the outcome? What did you learn from the experience? Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.

Grade 4

7

Lesson 24: Champions On Ice

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

4_305790_AL_LRTG_L24_ChampionsOnIce.indd 7

7/28/09 3:24:53 PM

Student

Lesson 24

Date

BLACKLINE MASTER 24.13

Champions on Ice • LEVEL S page

13

Champions on Ice Running Record Form

Selection Text

Errors

Self-Corrections

Accuracy Rate

Total SelfCorrections

On the evening of February 14, Jayne and Chris waited in the sidelines for their turn on the ice. The compulsories and original dance had both gone well the previous week, and they had picked up several sixes (perfect scores). Roars of applause erupted after each of the other teams finished. Jayne and Chris were nervous. They knew they were taking a huge risk and were breaking with tradition. Would the audience and judges be responsive? Would they approve? When Jayne and Chris skated out and took their positions with knees on the ice and arms outstretched, a hush fell across the audience.

Comments:

(# words read correctly/103 × 100) %

Read word correctly

Code ✓

cat

Repeated word, sentence, or phrase

®

Omission

— cat

cat

Grade 4

Behavior

Error 0

0

Substitution

Code cut cat

1

Self-corrects

cut sc cat

0

Insertion

the

1

cat

Error

1413985

Behavior

ˆ Word told

1

8

T cat

1

Lesson 24: Champions On Ice

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

4_305790_AL_LRTG_L24_ChampionsOnIce.indd 8

7/28/09 3:24:53 PM