Pre-class Work

1　Read the article on It's Not Just a Game! and then answer the following questions orally.

1) What's the function of sports and how does it change as time goes by?

2) Name some individual sports and team sports you know and give a comparison between individual sports and team sports and put their similarities and differences into the following box.

3) Give your understanding of the quotation in the article that“play is essential to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth.”And try to illustrate your idea from the perspectives of individual sports and team sports respectively.

2　Conduct the following activities after reading the article.

1) Share your favorite sport with your classmates and tell them the reasons why you like it so much.

2) Share the most unforgettable game you have experienced.

3) Share your opinion and give some suggestions to your friends if they lose a game and feel frustrated.

Ⅰ. Starting Point

Listen to the audio clip and finish the following tasks.

1　Tell anything you know about ice hockey.

2　How many persons were interviewed in the news and what did they say about ice hockey.

3　Summarize the main idea of the news and try to retell it.

4　Give the reasons why the professional hockey team, the Los Angeles Kings hosted this activity and try to list other ways to help youngsters to get to know science and sports.

Ⅱ. What Do You Say

Activity 1　Too Much Too Early?

Read the article and finish the following tasks

Observers of youth sports express concern that widespread participation in organized athletics crowds out the informal, self-organized play essential to a healthy childhood. Children are subjected to the routines, structures, and limitations of games organized and managed by adults. Moreover, clubs are pushing competition and intense skills-development downward to younger and younger ages. An anecdote recounted in the New York Times is iconic:

Nancy Lazenby Blaser was a newcomer to the town of Morgan Hill, Calif., just south of San Jose, when she took her 5-year-old daughter, Alexandra, to the local playground. By happenstance, Alexandra became involved in an informal game of softball with a group of other kindergartners.

“One of the mothers was watching Alexandra and said: ‘Hey, she's pretty good. What team does she play on?’”Lazenby Blaser said.“And I said: ‘She doesn't play on any team. She's 5 years old.’ And the other mother looked at me with this serious expression and said, ‘If she doesn't start to play organized ball now, she won't be able to play in high school.’

“And I laughed and said: ‘Do you know what I do for a living?’”

Lazenby Blaser is the commissioner of athletics for the central-coast section of the California Interscholastic Federation.

“The pressure to start that early, and most of it is peer pressure, gets to most people,”she said.“You start second-guessing yourself, saying, ‘Geez, am I selling my daughter short?’”

Lazenby Blaser's initial visit to the playground was four years ago. Since then, she has had another disquieting thought.“My daughter is 9, and you know what? They may have been right about her,”she said.“I'm afraid she may not be able to play in high school. Her skill level may be below those that have been playing year-round since they were really young.”

1　Have you ever played in the varsity team? If yes, which sport do you take and do you feel proud of being member of it? And why?

2　When did you start playing organized sports and what did you learn from it?

3　In the story, the mother, Nancy Lazenby Blaser, refused to let her daughter Alexandra play organized softball too early but years later she found maybe she was wrong. What's your opinion of it?

Activity 2　Quidditch in Harry Potter

Watch the film excerpt from Harry Potter and then finish the following tasks.

1　Focus on the film.

1) Have you ever watched Harry Potter? What's the main idea of these famous films?

2) Quidditch is a very popular sport in Harry Potter and could you tell the rules and features of it?

3) After watching the film clip, could you retell the plot of it?

2　Focus on the article.

1) In the film, we can see players grow to be very aggressive and violent out of their desire for victory. Do you think it is the side effect of the competition?If so, how can we get rid of it? If not, what's the reason behind it?

2) When you play on the ground, what do you value most, fun, winning, participation, self-overcoming or some else?

Ⅲ. What Do You Think

Activity 1　What Do We Learn from Sports？

1　Read the article and finish the following tasks.

Sport builds character. Menssana in corporesano. Physical, mental, and moral health go together. These are foundational beliefs in modern society. For example, they undergird the European Union's nomination of 2004 as the“Year of Education through Sport,”an intensification of the Union's decades-long“sports for all”policy. Vivian Reding, European Commissioner for Education and Culture, observes:

One in every three Europeans regularly practices a sport. Yet more needs to be done to make sports an integral part of people's education and life... Next to the active support of appropriate projects, and school sport in particular, we intend [in 2004] to sensitize the awareness of European citizens for the values which sport effortlessly and naturally conveys and that are indispensable for a happy and fulfilling life in our community.

Likewise, in the United States these foundational beliefs are officially endorsed by the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, which views itself as a“catalyst to promote, encourage and motivate Americans of all ages to become physically active and participate in sports.”The Council declares:

We place a special emphasis on programs to help our nation's youth lay the foundation for active and fit lives. The... [Council] believes that physical activity and fitness offer important health benefits. And, just as important, we recognize the fact that sports and participating in sport activities help individuals develop character, discipline, confidence, self-esteem, and a sense of well-being.

1)“Sport builds character.”Could you list different characters of human being?

2) Guess the meaning of the Latin proverb“Menssana in corporesano”and try to tell some Chinese sayings with the similar moral.

3) Both European Union and United States make efforts to encourage people especially the youth to participate in sports. Please discuss in your group and try to tell the benefits of sports to human beings as many as possible.

2　Read the article and finish the following tasks.

What are sports supposed to teach?

The list of values and experiences various writers have imputed to sports as the expected or desired effect of participation is long and miscellaneous. The participant purportedly learns or can learn to

• cooperate with teammates;
• display courage;
• play fair;
• be loyal to teammates;
• develop self-discipline and practice self-control;
• respect rules;
• express compassion;
• foster peace;
• exhibit sportsmanship;
• maintain integrity;
• be honest and civil;
• be aggressive;
• become competitive.

What are sports supposed to teach?

• persevere;
• subordinate self to group;
• show leadership;
• engage in hegemonic resistance;
• feel empathy;
• understand ethics;
• respect the environment;
• experience the team as moral community;
• develop perspective-taking;
• reason at a more mature level morally;
• become caring and considerate;
• exercise critical thinking;
• feel self-esteem.

1) Give a comparison between the benefits of sports which the students told previously and the significances of sports in the form and find out the similar and different items.

2) Each group chooses the Top 3 important lessons of sports from the list and tells the reasons.

Activity 2　A Report on the Impact of Organized Sports

Read the following report and then finish the following tasks.

Learning to Play and Playing to Learn: Organized Sports and Educational Outcome(1)

My report examines data on the impact of organized sports on the academic and intellectual achievements of students. The studies surveyed indicate that:

●Children and youth who participate in organized sports are higher achievers in terms of grades and dropout rates, as well as related measures of academic achievement, such as homework completion and educational aspirations.

●Physical activity, including participation in organized sports,produces intellectual and academic benefits that may have long-term positive effects on life chances.

●Participation in physical activity affects key brain functions critical to learning.

●Both boys and girls reap the achievement benefits of participation in organized sports.

●Participants in organized sports are more likely to attend college and to land better jobs with more responsibility and higher pay.

①Regarding the impact of participation in organized sports on students' values and motivations,the data demonstrate that:

●Sports help children and youth feel better connected to school, attend regularly, and connect with a more positive peer network.

●Parents of high school students who participate more in sports have higher expectations for their children.

●Sports participation builds planning skills and provides the experience of failing and trying again(persistence)-experiences that provide a learning process that can translate to greater achievement in school.

②Sports have an important effect on the development of children's peer networks. Research finds that:

●High school youth participating in organized sports view sports as providing a place to meet other young people“who had at least one shared interest.”

●High school girls find participation in sports to be a way to break gender stereotypes, enhancing their sense of possibility.

●Sports participation contributes significantly to youth identity,especially in high school.

③The effects of participating in organized sports are as good or better for children from low-income families as for children from families with more income. The data show that:

●For children who are on the margin (e.g. poor, learning- disabled, obese, gay), sports participation can minimize feelings of difference and isolation and increase the likelihood of attending college.

●Participation in organized sports may provide an opportunity for low-income children that other youth take for granted; as a result, the effects on academics and grades are more pronounced for poor children.

●Sports participation is correlated with improved grades or test scores among African American and Latino students.

●African American and Latina female athletes reported better grades in high school and greater involvement with extracurricular activities than female non-athletes.

④Opportunities to participate in organized sports are not evenly distributed across the student population.The data show that:

●Adolescents from more affluent families are more likely to participate in organized activities than adolescents from low-income families.

●Asian Americans and Latinos are less likely to participate in sports than other ethnic groups.

●Disparities in participation are more pronounced in activities,such as sports and lessons, that require financial investment.

●Opportunities dwindle as students move from elementary to middle and high schools.

●Boys have more opportunities to participate in organized sports than girls, and girls' opportunities to participate diminish more rapidly as they advance from elementary to high school.

⑤Too many young people lack sufficient opportunities to participate in high-quality organized sports.The data show that:

●According to one study, about 75% of children from white middle class backgrounds participated in organized sports activities, while only 40% to 60% of low-income children of color did so.

●Urban girls, especially girls of color, often face higher barriers to participation, including outside jobs, cultural factors, and weaker parental support for sports involvement.

●Latino children report having fewer opportunities for safe outdoor play, and are less physically active than white children.

Based on these findings, I offer a series of recommendations for policy, practice, and research to ensure that organized sports programs fulfill their promise and enable participants to reach their educational goals.

1　In the report, the author talks about their findings about the impact of organized sports on the academic and intellectual achievements of students. Do you have any story to demonstrate any of her conclusions?

2　Divide the class into 5 groups and each group should design a questionnaire to collect the following information needed to know:

①the impact of participation in organized sports on students' values and motivations;

②the effect of sports on the development of children's peer networks;

③Whether the effects of participating in organized sports are as good or better for children from low-income families as for children from families with more income;

④Whether opportunities to participate in organized sports are evenly distributed across the student population;

⑤Whether young people have sufficient opportunities to participate in high-quality organized sports.

Pay attention here, this survey should be designed in accordance with the current situation of China.

3　Each group gives a presentation on the procedure of questionnaire designing and features of their questionnaires and finally the whole class will vote for the best one.

4　According to their findings, the author gives recommendations for further practice, police and research, including:

①Strengthening the quality of programs to foster the attributes that lead to positive educational outcomes.

②Improving access to and sustained participation in high-quality programs particularly for underserved children and youth: girls, low-income children, and youth of color.

③Increasing investment in research and evaluation to improve program quality and opportunities for participation.

But these recommendations here are not detailed, could you give some specific suggestions to help organizers fulfill their promise and participants reach their educational goals.

Ⅳ. Read, Think and Speak

It's Not Just a Game!(2)

Whether you run a race, bounce a basketball, or hurl a baseball home, you do it because it's fun. Some scientists claim play is a natural instinct—just like sleep. That might explain why sports are likely to be as old as humanity.

Some claim sports began as a form of survival. Prehistoric man ran, jumped, and climbed for his life. Hunters separated themselves by skill, and competition flourished. Wall paintings dating from 1850 B.C., that depict wrestling, dancing, and acrobatics, were discovered in an Egyptian tomb at Bani Hasan. The Ancient Greeks revolutionized sports by holding the world's first Olympic Games at Olympia in 776 B.C. But it wasn't until the early nineteenth century, that sports as we know them came into play.(Pardon the pun!) Modern sports such as cricket, golf, and horse racing began in England and spread to the United States, Western Europe, and the rest of the world. These sports were the models for the games we play today, including baseball and football.

All organized sports, from swimming to ice hockey, are considered serious play. There are rules to obey, skills and positions to learn, and strategies to carry out. But Peter Smith, a psychology professor at Goldsmiths, University of London, and author of Understanding Children's Worlds: Children and Play (Wiley, 2009), says,“Sport-like play is usually enjoyable, and done for its own sake.”

Different sports for different folks

Sports come in many shapes and sizes. Both team and individual sports have advantages and disadvantages, but most people find that from an early age, they are drawn toward one or the other. In a team sport like soccer, you're part of a group, striving to be a winning team. That means putting the team ahead of your own accomplishments. You must learn to get along with your teammates and share responsibility. In an individual sport like tennis, you're usually only concerned about your own performance. That can make these sports more challenging.

The ultimate value of sports

Whether it is football or golf, there is little doubt about the value of sports. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP),“play is essential to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional wellbeing of children and youth.”Play not only exercises our bodies, it also exercises our minds. Sports teach us about ourselves and our world. We learn how to negotiate plans, settle disagreements, and how to monitor our attitude.

The skills we learn playing can be applied to school and work. Since organized sports are a hands-on, minds-on learning process, they stimulate our imagination, curiosity, and creativity. The growing science of play is armed with research claims that play, and thus sports, is important to healthy brain development. We use language during play to solve problems, we use thinking when we follow directions to a game, and we use math skills to recognize averages and odds of each sports play.

Sports also raise our energy level and act as antidepressants. Activity increases the brain's level of chemicals called endorphins, which boost mood. When we start moving and having fun, we feel good about ourselves.

Forgetting the fun

In a perfect world, everyone would have fun playing sports. But that's not always the case. Sports can get aggressive and cause scrapes, bruises, and broken bones. They can also hurt us psychologically. David Elkind, professor emeritus of Child Development at Tufts University and author of The Power of Play, says that when young children play self-initiated games such as tag or hide and seek,“misunderstandings and hurt feelings are part of the learning process, and happen in a context of mutual respect. Those that arise in organized team sports, don't have the same supportive network, the sense of competition outweighs the sense of cooperation, and can be hurtful to the child's sense of self and self-esteem.”Playing sports is usually fun, but sometimes we can get frustrated. It might be because of the pressure to win, parents who yell and scream from the stands, or coaches who treat us unfairly. Sports are supposed to bring people together, but they can also drive people apart. When sports are separated into skill level, gender, or ethnicity, some players feel isolated, begin to forget the fun in sports, and even want to quit. Sports may not always be a positive experience, but even when they're not, they give us a dose of how to face life's challenges.

Making sports work for us

Playing sports doesn't mean you have to play on a varsity team. And very few people have what it takes to be a professional athlete. But your school basketball coach or gymnastics teacher has found a way to make play their work. And in doing so, they've found the work best suited to who they are. According to Elkind,“Whenever we combine play with work, as in our hobbies, cooking, gardening, sewing, and carpentry, it is the full utilization and integration of all our interests, talents, and abilities. It's an activity that makes us feel whole.”

Play is so important to our development that the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights has included it as a right of every child. In other words, it's your birth right to play! And there's no better place to play and learn about the world than on a sports field. So regardless of your sport—from swimming to soccer—play to have fun and you'll automatically win!