Olympics Essay

There is still so much to be learned about the Olympics.  After having my students to watch some of the Olympic activities as an assignment, in this lesson, I have them to synthesize the information they have learned so far about the Olympics into a culminating writing assignment - a 3 paragraph informative essay in which they write about the history of the Olympics, a particular Olympic sport, and a particular Olympic athlete.  I show student the attached writing rubric to show them how their essays will be scored.  (See attached student sample of an Olympics essay and a scoring rubric as resources.)

Students chose to write about Olympians such as Wilma Ruldolph, Jesse Owens, Michael Phelps, Gabby Douglas, and LeBron James to name a few.  In researching about these famous Olympians, they find a common thread - all of them encountered challenges in their lives which they had to overcome.  We discussed Wilma Rudolph for an example. She was a very sickly child, having battled many childhood diseases such as measles, mumps, and her greatest challenge - polio.  However, she did not let these diseases stop her from making history as an Olympic athlete in track and field.  I also review with my students the writing rubric by which they will be graded.  I believe this helps them to include the important elements in their writings and fine tune their organization, support and development, writing style, and be mindful of conventions.