It's Fall.
Most educators are thinking about field trips to the pumpkin patch, 1st quarter report cards, students coming off of candy-comas.
Me?
I'm utterly and completely obsessed with college football.
Like ESPN's College Game Day broadcast is on the living room TV at promptly 9am each Saturday morning. I love the analytics, the back stories, the predictions, the signs - you name it, I like it.
But I don't really care about most college teams. I care about SEC teams because I'm a born and raised Southern girl. And I only truly care about one team...the BEST team in my humble opinion.
The University of GeorgiA!!!
To be honest, I don't think I ever had a choice. My dad loves UGA football. He analyzes every play of every game. He scrutinizes the scouting. He picks a part pretty much every aspect of the team. He knows who's coming and who's going. It's impressive, actually.
So why does this even matter? Well, now you know my football-loving heart and what I'm about to show you will make sense...especially if you are in the DAWG Nation too.
My son was a struggling reader. He wasn't making the progress that I always thought he would...he's a reading teacher's kid for goodness sakes. He hated the leveled readers and complained they were "boring". Eventually, I just let him pick out whatever books he wanted. I needed to let go of reading levels and let him find books that spoke to his interests.
Fast forward and my boy is in 3rd grade now. He's a good reader; he reads without complaining. He reads a pretty good assortment of genres. He still works on improving his accuracy and fluency, but his comprehension is sky high.
Watching my boy struggle was heart wrenching, but light came when he was able to dive into topics that sparked his interest. One of his favorites is FOOTBALL; my boy has adopted my love of the Bulldogs. He could read about specific quarterbacks, teams, heck even fantasy football. If it involves the pigskin, he's in.
So HUNKER DOWN is a gift of love to my boy. Created and developed for him and those like him. The kiddos that love football, specifically UGA football.
Activities center around an included non-fiction reading passage that details the history of UGA football, the uniforms, Uga the bulldog mascot, traditions, and the infamous SEC opponents.
The reading passage is most suited for 1st-3rd grade students who can read or be read to and understand the content of the text.
HEADed to GEORGIA gives kids the chance to use their art skills to redesign the team's helmet and use their persuasive or descriptive skills to explain their rendering.
While, DAWG details offers kids the chance to put their gained knowledge to use in an expository writing.
Fact Check Field is a True/False PPT slide that you can use in a game or as a review for kids after they've completed the cut & paste sheet. SEC Logo Match gives students the chance to use context clues or prior knowledge (PPT slide included too).
Between the Hedges is a Fact or Opinion game that requires students to back-up their beliefs.
To wrap it all up, OVERTIME Opinion is a brief writing for students to state their thoughts on UGA football...my students know to have positive points for extra credit ; )
I think I covered all my bases (wrong sport) - the skills I wanted to cover with my boy. He thought his opinion was always fact...sometimes he still does. If he can back it up, it must be believed by everyone. Oh to be 8!
Meanwhile, I'm wrecked from pouring over these activities for hours.
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