Using sports to hook students into reading and writing comprehension
Could a college student be interested in reading and writing about sports?
Most of us have heard over and over again in the media that our students are falling behind in
reading and writing. Poor writing skills are said to be a problem for employers looking to hire
graduates. Without these essential skills, it can be a fruitless future for our students.
The Internet has a huge amount of information resources and could help if used wisely. A parent
or teacher can publish the Internet address and bookmark it for the student. Provide a clear
choice of assignment to read independently or in small groups, as well as perhaps assign a
writing task.
Many websites now offer the ability to post stories, articles, and even photos or video clips. We
took the time to purchase many sports domain names and created a portal web address to bring
them all together in one place for free and easy access. AdventureZONEsports has set up
language translation for English, French, Dutch/German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish and
offers stories, articles and video clips to watch on different sports. The website opens to an
article posting page and links to stories and video clips on different sports. Once a story or
article is successfully written, the article submission feature allows the student to become a
published author. As students' skills improve, they can be proud and excited to show family and
friends their writing online.
The sports collection includes archery, mountain biking, basketball, cycling, dirt bike, dodgeball,
fencing, ice boating, kayaking, land sailing, motocross, mud racing, rafting, rodeo, rowing,
sandboarding, skateboarding, skating, skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, softball, squash, and
waterskiing. Some of these sports are considered different or extreme and people of all ages may
be interested in discovering sports they have never tried. For example, what do you know about
sand yachting, ice boating or sandboarding? Additionally, there are sports like basketball,
cycling, and winter sports that will allow the weekend homework student to participate by
choosing one of the activities and create a written report on the week next. The report can be
edited and submitted with the author's name for publication on the website.
