Issue link: http://frankenmuthcvb.uberflip.com/i/1078059
My name is Lori Schuler, and this is my 23rd year teaching in the Frankenmuth School District. Two years ago, I was given the opportunity to create a class to stand opposite of the band class in 7th grade. The only guidelines were that it would be a semester-long class and that most of the work was to be done in class. I will admit I was a little apprehensive at the time about the task in front of me – what if I picked something the students did not like? What if I planned all these activities, readings and projects and they failed? I decided to fall back on what I knew best as a reading teacher – literature. And what better way to sell literature to 12-13 year-olds than through the guise of sports! Hence was born the class I named Sports and Literature. In Sports and Literature, we explore sports and examine the following questions: 1. Why do people play sports? 2. How do sports reflect our values? 3. What is the language of sports? 4. How do sports define our heroes? We read about different sports in short stories, poems and novels and examine themes such as perseverance, teamwork, success and integrity, to name just a few. We also view classic sports movies and look at the same themes. The movies include but are not limited to Rudy, Remember the Titans, Hoosiers, 42: The Jackie Robinson Story, A League of Their Own, and The Sandlot. An unexpected outgrowth of the class came in supporting our local high school football and basketball teams by making cards for them to show our support before important games. My students LOVE this activity! They take pride in sending words of encouragement to their local heroes through messages such as "Fire up, Big Red!" or "Hold that line, Big O!" or "Destroy the Cardinals Friday night!" They raced to volunteer to give us recaps of the games on Monday mornings, and once we started winning in playoff games, we had to keep making cards because the students were convinced they were a good luck charm! In addition, as a parent of a former football player, I know that the boys enjoy receiving and reading these cards on Friday nights. In fact, at almost every graduation party I attended last summer, players who received cards had them proudly displayed at their parties. I feel fortunate to teach in a district where we teachers are given so much creative leeway and support from our administrators. Without it, this class may have never been realized, and our high school teams may not have felt as much love as they do now! Sports & Literature: An Unlikely Combination? Lori Schuler, Rittmueller Middle School 18