At the beginning of the lesson, teachers may introduce the different types of fan materials to students:
• Fan letters – short letters expressing appreciation and asking favours
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – questions and answers about a team or a player
• Unofficial website introductions – fans explaining what motivated them to create a website/page
• Short talks – brief presentations introducing a sports star Catering for Learner Diversity
The learning activities in this unit focus on fan letters and unofficial website introductions, whereas additional activities that focus on FAQs and short talks are included in the Supplementary Materials Section (pages T70-T71, Supplementary Materials 3-4). Note that both activities will end with a writing task. Depending on students’ abilities and interests, opt for the activity which you consider most suitable for your students. It is suggested that FAQs be done with less advanced students and short talks with more advanced students because of the complexity of the writing task.
Whichever activities teachers select, the lessons revolve around the experience of being a fan. In general, teachers can either follow the strategy of asking students to prepare in advance for a new topic, or can wait for the lesson to introduce it. In the first case, teachers can ask students in advance to bring in fan materials: magazines, books, autographed items, and so on. In the second, teachers can bring in some and proceed to ask the students what they are, so starting a consideration of fans and their activities. Another good focussing activity is to do a quick hands-up survey of students who see themselves as supporters of particular teams or sports players.
Fan Letters Learning Activity Reading and Writing
Teachers can begin the lesson by asking students to share some of the sports stars they know and are in favour of, and ask students the reason why they admire the sports stars.
Students read the sample fan letters and answer the questions that follow. The questions aim to draw students’ attention to the features of fan letters. Teachers can also choose to discuss the questions orally with students.
Suggested answers:
1. Fan letters are usually short.
2. They are written in a conversational/informal style. For example, in Letter A, the writer says “I just want to tell you that…” but not “I would like to inform you that…”.
3. The writer of Letter A wants to thank her/his idol for inspiring her/him about windsurfing, while the writer of Letter B wants to ask her/his idol for one of her/his idol’s used golf balls.
4. Student’s own ideas and writing
Students should choose a sports player to write to. They can do it individually or in pairs. Since the letters are short, some students can be invited to read their letter to the class after they have finished and be given some feedback.
The following are some sports players whom students may be interested in writing to:
Name of sports star Sport played 1. Yao Ming basketball 2. LeBron James basketball 3. Tiger Woods golf 4. Lionel Messi soccer
T8 5. Cristiano Ronaldo soccer
6. Maria Sharapova tennis 7. Roger Federer tennis 8. Wong Kam Po cycling 9. Guo Jing Jing diving 10. Zhang Yi Ning table-tennis Unofficial Website Introductions Learning Activity
Reading and Writing
Teachers may show the following websites on the famous tennis player Roger Federer to students at the beginning of the lesson. Students identify which of the sites are official and which are created by fans.
http://www.goroger.net/ (unofficial) http://www.roger-federer.info/ (unofficial)
http://www.rogerfederer.com/en/index.cfm (official)
Teachers can browse through the websites with students to see what different materials are included.
They can also introduce websites of other players, or ask students to suggest those they would like to look at.
Teachers explain to students that some fans will try to explain why they have created an unofficial website for their star in the introduction of their website. They can go over Text A with students and explain the structure of the text. Students then read Text B on their own and identify its main features.
Answers:
Text B
Having got students interested in fan materials, teachers can proceed to the writing task. This is perhaps the best time in the module to remind students of the perils of plagiarism.
Plagiarism (copying of work from some source) Plagiarism is not allowed because
• it is dishonest – asking to be awarded marks for something we did not do
• it is meaningless – the lesson is offered to help students to improve their English. As one can copy with almost no understanding, the plagiarist is wasting time and damaging her/his own education.
Some people have actually never heard of Celine Chau, one of the world’s best squash players. When I realised this I decided more information about her needed to be available. This is what has inspired me to prepare this website. It has taken a lot of time, but I am sure there are many ways in which it might be improved. If you have any suggestions please email me and I will do my best to implement your ideas.
Celine was born in Hong Kong. She was always interested in racquet games and played tennis and badminton from an early age. A teacher at her secondary school recognising her talent introduced her to squash. She seemed born to play the game and within a year of starting to play it seemed impossible to find anyone who could beat her. Celine moved to Vancouver for her university studies and to find a coach adequate to her needs. She effortlessly wins championship after championship. I think she should be a household name. I hope this website will help to spread the message.
Player’s biography
Reason for building the website
Appeal for interaction with your readers or for their help
T9
As there is so much material about sports on the Internet, it is almost difficult not to copy if students write about very famous teams and players. There is just too much information about them. If students write about less well-known sportsmen and sportswomen, and, when suitable, school and local teams and athletes, they will find it easier to produce original and interesting work.
No matter which learning activity is used, teachers should introduce the success criteria with students before they write. They may consider using the feedback form below for conducting teacher assessment or peer/self assessment for the writing task.
*This is a general list of feedback criteria. Teachers might like to adapt it for use in their own classroom.
Writing Task Feedback Sheet
Give feedback to your own and/or your classmate’s performance by circling the appropriate number under "Needs improvement", "Satisfactory" or "Good", and by completing the “Overall comments”
section.
Needs
improvement Satisfactory Good Content
z Ideas are relevant to the task 1 2 3
z The ideas are well-selected and
interesting 1 2 3
Vocabulary
z Vocabulary is appropriately used 1 2 3
z A range of vocabulary is used 1 2 3
z Sports terms have been used
appropriately 1 2 3
Accuracy
z Grammar is accurate 1 2 3
z Words are correctly spelt 1 2 3
z Punctuation is appropriately used 1 2 3
Style
z An appropriate tone is adopted 1 2 3
Organisation
z Ideas are well-organised 1 2 3
Overall comments:
T10 Answers for Supplementary Materials 4:
1. Strong opening statement • Shaquille O’Neal is one of the best basketball players of recent times
Immediate reaction to the star • He is very tall (at 2.16 metres) – that’s why he’s called Big Daddy
• He is very strong and powerful – that’s why he’s called the Diesel
Some biography; the star’s
career • He was Rookie of the Year in 1993
• He has played for three NBA teams and won four NBA titles
• His strengths are drop kicks and dunks and his weakness is free-throw shooting
Non-sporting details • He has an MBA and has been in films and on television Closing sentence • He will stay classic forever
2. Positive words and expressions:
y strong and powerful y great/amazing/mighty
y one of the best basketball players of recent times y very funny/interesting y played some of the best basketball ever y one of the top scorers y I could watch those games a hundred times y clever man
y brilliant basketball y says many wise things
Tape script for listening exercise (Supplementary Materials 4) CD Track 2: Short Talk by a fan of Shaquille O’Neal
I am a great fan of Shaquille O’Neal. He is one of the best basketball players of recent times. He is also a very interesting person who does many more things than just playing basketball.
The first thing anyone notices about Shaq is how tall he is. At 2.16 metres he is a big, big man, and that’s why some people call him Big Daddy. He is also very strong and powerful. That’s the reason for another nickname: the Diesel.
Shaq is not so young any more, but if you want to see some really great games, watch the recordings of some of his past matches.
Shaq was Rookie of the Year in 1993. He has played for three teams. First, he was with the Orlando Magic. Then he moved to the Los Angeles Lakers, wearing jersey number 34. During that time he and Kobe Bryant played some of the best basketball ever. The Lakers won the NBA title for three years in a row: 2000, 2001 and 2002. And one of the top scorers was always the mighty Shaq. I could watch those games a hundred times and still learn from them. His drop kicks and dunks are amazing. His only weakness is his free-throw shooting.
In 2004 Big Daddy moved to the Miami Heat. Many people said he was no longer a great player, and it is true he was not as good as when he was younger, but he still played brilliant basketball with Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat won the NBA title for the first time in 2006. Not bad for someone who is no longer so good!
Shaq is a clever man and has an MBA. He has been in films and made rap recordings. He is very funny on television and also says many wise things.
New stars and players come along all the time, but some stay classic forever. That’s my opinion of Shaquille O’Neal.
T11 Web Help
There are plenty of sports magazines available on the Internet, e.g.
http://www.sportsfanmagazine.com/
http://www.slamonline.com/
http://www.worldsoccer.com/
http://www.tennis.com/
http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/Default.asp Compilations of fan sites can be found at, e.g.
http://www.soccer-corner.com/Players.England.htm http://www.sportsfansites.com/fan_sites.htm To search for a named player, you might try:
http://www.dynamicwebs.co.uk/directory/tiger_woods.html Team websites can be found, e.g.
http://www.whufc.com/page/Home http://www.westhamfans.org/
Blogs:
http://chinasports.wokpopcorn.com/chinese-sports-stars/
T12