Gail Devers A Runner’s Dream Emergent Reader Activity
BEFORE READING
Take a picture walk through the book. Invite children to comment on the photographs. Encourage them to share any information they can about track and field events, the Olympics, or Gail Devers. Call attention to the table of contents, glossary, and index of the book. Tell children that these features will help them better understand what they read, as well as locate specific information.
READING
Set a purpose for reading by asking children to read to find out what “going for the gold” means when talking about Gail Devers.
Use questions such as these to guide the reading:
• Is this a true story? How do you know?
• How did Gail Devers overcome serious problems?
• Would you describe Gail Devers as determined? What makes you think so?
• Do you think Gail Devers made her dream come true? Why or why not?
WORKSHEET & Sample PDF Activity
Sample PDF Activity
AFTER READING
Have children summarize the story. Help them use the table of contents to organize their retelling. Ask volunteers to share what they most admire about Gail Devers.
Response Activities
Future Olympic Stars
Materials: paper, pencil
Have children write about a sport for which they would like to win an Olympic gold medal. Ask them to illustrate themselves either winning the medal or participating in the sport. You might want to gather the illustrations in a display of Olympic Stars of the Year 2021.
Gail Devers in the News
Materials: paper, pencil
Review with children facts from the book about Gail Devers. Invite children to write a newspaper headline about one of Gail Devers’s accomplishments.
PHONICS FOCUS
Identifying Consonant Digraphs ch, sh, th
Write coach, both, and dash on chart paper. Underline the ending digraph of each word. Discuss with children the sound each digraph stands for. Assign groups of children one of the digraphs. Have them look for words in the story that contain that digraph. As children share their findings, record them in the appropriate space on the chart.
MINI LESSONS
• READING STRATEGY
Using Sequence
Explain that in a biography, a true story about someone’s life, the order of events is very important. Review the story with children and have them list key events on separate sheets of paper. Mix up the papers and encourage pairs of children to work together to reorder them.
• LANGUAGE PATTERN
Identifying Nouns with -er
Reread page 3 with children, calling attention to the words singer, player, runner, and winner. Point out that these words name people who do certain things, such as a person who sings. Ask children to find other nouns that end in -er (teacher, sprinter, hurdler). Ask children to add more nouns that end with -er to the list.
