The Olympic Games
This task should take 1 hour.
Please read the following information on the Olympic Games and then answer the questions at the end. Please write your answers in full sentences. The Ancient Greek Games Over two thousand seven hundred years ago the Olympics began in Olympia in ancient Greece. The Greeks took part in the Olympic Games to celebrate the Greek gods Zeus and Hera. Only men and boys were allowed to take part, and the events included: wrestling, boxing, long jump, javelin throwing, discus and chariot racing. The games occurred every four years until the Greek Empire was defeated and they were forgotten about. The Modern Olympic Games In 1894, the games were resurrected and the International Olympic Committee was formed. The Games attracted athletes from 14 nations including: Greece, Germany, France and Great Britain. The Olympic Games have taken place every four years since, with athletes from all over the world taking part in different events. The most recent Olympic Games took place in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 206 Nations took part in these Games and there were a total of 306 Events in 28 different sports. Olympic Medals Olympic medals are awarded to athletes who come 1st, 2nd or 3rd in their event. Gold is awarded to the winner who comes 1st, silver is awarded to 2nd place and bronze to 3rd place.
Medals from the 2016 Olympic Games. The Olympic Torch In the Ancient Greek Games a torch was lit outside the Temple of Hera using flames created from rays from the sun. Messengers took the torch around the country so that people knew about the games. Today the torch is lit as it was during the Ancient Olympic Games. The flame travels around Greece and then to the country where the games will be taking place.
An image of the Olympic torch relay.
The Olympic Rings The symbol of the modern Olympic Games is five interlocking rings. The five rings are: blue, yellow, black, green and red. The five rings represent the five continents which took part in the first modern Olympic Games. The Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games are contested by athletes who have a disability and are held shortly after the Olympic Games.
The Paralympic Logo.
The Paralympics has grown from a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948 to become one the largest international sporting events by the early 21st century. The Paralympics has grown from 400 athletes with a disability from 23 countries in 1960 to thousands of competitors from over 100 countries at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Key Vocabulary Please answer the questions below in full Ancient – old/historic. sentences.
Javelin – a long spear designed for throwing. Use the question to help you structure your
Chariot – a carriage which is pulled by a horse. sentence. Resurrected – brought back something which has been E.G. forgotten. When did the Olympic Games begin? Temple – a type of religious building, like a church. The Olympic Games began…. Messengers – a person who carries messages. Interlocking – linked What were the names of the ancient Greek gods that the Olympics were held for? Contested – to take part in a competition.
Veterans – someone who used to be in the armed forces The ancient Greek gods that the Olympics (Army, Navy or RAF). were held for were named….. Competitors – someone who takes part in a sporting competition.
1) When did the Olympic Games begin?
2) What were the names of the ancient Greek gods that the Olympics were held for?
3) Name a sport that men or boys would have taken part in at the ancient Greek Olympics.
4) How often do the modern Olympic Games take place?
5) What do athletes who come first, second or third receive?
6) Where does the Olympic flame travel?
7) What colour are the Olympic rings?
8) When do the Paralympic Games take place?
9) Each country who hosts the Olympics has their own medal design (some previous examples are included below). The next Olympic Games is due to take place in Tokyo, Japan (it will now be held in 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic). Please design your own medal for the ceremony and write an explanation of what you have included on the medal and why.
Medals from the Rio 2016 Olympics
(Brazil).
Medals from the London 2012 Olympics (UK).
Medals from the Beijing 2008 Olympics (China).
A bronze medal from the Athens 2004 Olympics (Greece). Should Video Gaming be an Olympic sport?
For this activity you will prepare a speech to argue that video gaming should be an Olympic sport. Total suggested time for this Have a go at some of the purple tasks! activity = 2 hours.
Task 1 – Please answer the following questions in full sentences. 1) Do you prefer playing online or in the same room as other people? Please explain which you prefer and why, using the word “because.” I prefer playing ______because ______.
2) What is your favourite type of game to play? Please choose one of the options below and explain your reason why this is your favourite…
Sports games – Board games – Video games – rugby, football, scrabble, fortnite, call of netball, rounders, monopoly, snakes duty, dodgeball. and ladders. pokemon.
My favourite type of game to play is______because______.
3) Video gaming uses many skills. Please choose what you think is the most important skill from the box below.
Ability to move hands quickly. Fast reactions.
Be able to do lots of things at once. Work well with other people. Concentration.
Determination (work really hard) to win.
4) Why did you choose this skill?
I picked______because______. Suggested timing on task 1: 20 mins.
Suggested timing on task 2: 10 mins. Task 2 – Should video gaming be an Olympic sport
Please read Emily’s thoughts on why video gaming should be an Olympic sport.
Emily says: “I’m really good at football games. When I say I’m really good, I mean I win in all of the online leagues and none of my friends can beat me. I’m not very good at playing football in P.E, but I could beat most people online. I’d like to be able to show off my skills to the world. Video games should be thought of as a sport and they should be in the Olympics. To play video games you need to practice lots to get better at them which is just like training in sport. You also have to be very good at concentrating and able to move your hands really quickly.”
1) Now, re-read Emily’s statement and underline the reasons why Emily thinks video gaming should be a sport.
2) Do you agree with Emily? Why/why not? Please use the word “because” in your explanation.
Suggested time on task 3: 15 mins.
Task 3 – Planning your speech
You will now start planning your speech. You will need at least three points to support your argument. The table below includes some ideas that you could use.
Video gaming should be an Olympic sport because: 1) Playing games online is much safer than playing sports as there is less risk of getting hurt. 2) You have to concentrate on video games as much as other sports such as tennis. 3) You have to practice lots to be a good gamer, this is no different to football or rugby training.
Aim Higher! Can you think of any other reasons why video gaming should be an Olympic sport? Please write them down now. You should use some AFOREST techniques to support your ideas. A – Alliteration F – Facts O – Opinion R – Rhetorical questions/Repetition E – Emotion S – Statistics T – Triples (rule of three)
Here are some examples that you could use
Facts – Playing fortnite takes more concentration than a game of tennis.
Opinion – I believe that video gaming should be an Olympic sport because to be the best you have to work hard and practice for many hours.
Statistics – 56% of teenagers play video games for 3 hours per day, this is as much time as an Olympic athlete would spend training each day.
Emotion – it is awful that many people are badly injured playing traditional sports, playing games online would be much safer and would save people from suffering.
Task – read the statements above and match them to a point from the table above.
For example the fact that “playing fortnite takes more concentration than a game of tennis” would support point 2 from the table “you have to concentrate on video games as much as other sports such as tennis.”
Can you match the other examples to the points in the table? Suggested timing on task 4: 40 mins.
Task 4 – Writing your speech You will now write your speech to argue that “video gaming should be an Olympic sport.”
You should use the guide and success criteria below to help you.
Paragraph 1: Introduction.
Why are you writing this speech? What do you want the outcome to be? Sentence starter: Hello, my name is… and I am here to argue that video gaming should be an Olympic sport.
Paragraph 2: 1st Point.
Make your first point strong, following your introduction.
Sentence starter: I believe that video gaming should be an Olympic sport because… [then discuss first point]
Paragraph 3: 2nd Point. Make links with your last point and move into another one. Sentence starter: In addition to this I feel that video gaming should be an Olympic sport because… [then discuss second point]
Paragraph 4: 3rd Point.
Make your final point your strongest one.
Sentence starter:
Finally, I believe that video gaming should be an Olympic sport because… [explain your third point here]
Paragraph 5: Conclusion. Summarise your main points in a final bid to convince or persuade your audience. In summary, because of the reasons I have given today, I believe that video gaming should be an Olympic sport and I am asking you to make this an official sport for the next Olympic Games.
Success Criteria Success Criteria Audience Form Structure SPaG Use formal language Write in the 1st person: Five clear paragraphs All spellings correct (check with (so not chatty language I believe, I think… used. dictionary or spellcheck if possible) like you would use with your friends) Use two AFOREST Use the following types of techniques (use the punctuation: examples or think of An exclamation mark your own). A question mark Full stops
Suggested time on task 5: 25 Task 5 – Now please review and self-assess your work. mins. Step 1 – Using the success criteria grid (above) label the elements that you have used in your speech. (You can use the colours from the grid to highlight which elements you have used and where). Step 2 – PIN mark your work. P – Praise. What do you think is the best thing about your speech? What are you most proud of? I – Improvement. Have you included all of the success criteria, could you add anything? Can you think of an extra AFOREST technique you could use? Have you used punctuation correctly? Could you improve your vocabulary by using a thesaurus or online thesaurus? Look for at least 3 words you could improve. N – Next steps. Make any improvements that you have identified.
Suggested timings: 25 minutes
Step 1 (labelling) – 10 minutes.
Step 2 (PIN marking) – 5 minutes. Next steps – 10 minutes.
Suggested timing on task 6: 10 mins. Task 6 – Final task
Finally, make a bullet pointed list of reasons why video gaming should NOT be made an Olympic sport.
Aim higher! Choose one of your reasons why gaming should NOT be made an Olympic sport and write a short paragraph (3-5 lines) in formal language to explain this.
Ellie Simmonds – Paralympic Athlete
Suggested time for activity: 50 mins.
As you may remember from the first Olympics task, the Paralympics is a competition in which athletes with a disability are able to compete against one another. For this task you will read some information about a famous Paralympian, Ellie Simmonds and then answer the questions on her.
Profile
Name: Eleanor “Ellie” May Simmonds
Born: 11th November 1994 in Aldridge, England
Childhood
Ellie was born with a condition called dwarfism, which means that her bones did not grow properly, giving her shorter arms and legs. She started swimming at the age of five and at the age of 10, Ellie’s talent was spotted, and she was entered into a British programme for talented swimmers. When Ellie was 11, she and her mother moved to Swansea so she could be close to the city’s world-class swimming pool. This meant that Ellie now lived a three- hour drive away from her Dad and three brothers and sisters. She trained hard and worked her way up to be chosen as the youngest member of the senior British swimming squad for the 2006 World Championships at the age of just 12 years and three weeks. Achievements
At the age of just 13, Ellie became the youngest British athlete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. There, she won two gold medals in the 100m and 400m freestyle. From that point on, Ellie became very popular with the British public who began to call her “the golden girl of the pool.” On 1st September 2012, Ellie won another gold medal in the 400m freestyle at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. During this final, she took five seconds off the World Record time. Then, just two days later, she took another gold in the 200m Individual Medley where she again broke the World Record. During the same week, she also won a Paralympic silver and bronze medal. Ellie travelled to Rio de Janeiro in 2016 to attend the Paralympics where she once again won the gold medal for the 200m individual medley and at the same time set another world record with a time of 2 minutes, 59 seconds. She also won a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle.
Paralympic Games and Medals
2008 Beijing Games 2 gold medals (100m freestyle and 400m freestyle) 2 gold medals (400m freestyle and 200m individual medley) 2012 London Games 1 silver medal (100m freestyle) 1 bronze medal (50m freestyle)
1 gold medal (200m individual medley) 2016 Rio Games 1 bronze medal (400m freestyle)
Life after the Paralympics Ellie has received many special awards for her achievements in Paralympic swimming, including an OBE in 2009 in The Queen’s New Year’s Honours List and the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2008. Ellie also won another OBE in 2013 for her services to Paralympic Sport and in 2011 an award for Best British Sporting Performance for an Athlete with Disability. In celebration of her two gold medals, two Royal Mail post boxes were painted gold. One in her hometown of Aldridge and one in Swansea, where she’d lived since the age of 11. Ellie also helps to support many charities, particularly Sports Relief with whom she has taken part in many events, raising millions of pounds to help change the lives of some of the UK’s and the world’s poorest people.
Ellie Simmonds in the pool. Ellie’s gold post box in Swansea.
Amazing Fact!
Ellie follows a strict training regime and goes to the training pool every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday morning at 6am and every evening from Monday to Saturday. Sunday is her only day off!
Ellie Simmonds Comprehension Questions
Your task is to answer the following questions in full sentences. Please give as much information as possible in your answers! Question 1 has been done for you.
1) What condition was Ellie born with? Ellie was born with a condition called dwarfism which means that her bones did not grow properly, giving her shorter arms and legs.
2) When did Ellie become interested in swimming?
3) How many Paralympic medals has Ellie won?
4) Why did Ellie become popular with the British public in 2008?
5) I would describe Ellie Simmonds as a ‘determined’ person (determined means to work very hard in order to achieve something). Please explain why. Ellie is determined because…
6) Why was 2016 another amazing year for Ellie?
7) Where were the two post boxes painted gold to honour Ellie’s gold medals?
8) How many times does Ellie usually visit the training pool each week?
The diary of an Olympian!
For your final Olympic task, you will write a diary entry as if you had swum in an Olympic swimming race and won. You will think about describing the scene and how you would have felt at each stage of the race. Please complete the tasks below.
Suggested time on task: 5 mins. Task 1 – Using the senses in description To help the reader to imagine the scene it is helpful to use the five senses in your description. Below there are some descriptions that link to the senses, you should sort them into categories of what you can see, smell, hear, taste and touch (or feel). I have done the first one for you.
The crowd cheered! The strong smell of chlorine stung my nostrils. The water tasted bitter against my tongue. I could see a wave of British flags. Friends and fans were screaming my name. I could feel my rubber cap squeezing my head. The whole world looked blue through the lenses of my goggles. The icy cold water slapped my face as I dived into it.
See Smell Hear Taste Touch (or feel) The crowd cheered! Suggested time on task: 10 mins. Task 2 – How would you feel? Imagine you were swimming in an Olympic swimming race – think about how you would feel before, during and after the race. Choose three words from the table below to describe how you might feel at each stage of the race and explain why you have chosen these using the word “because.”
Before the race. During the race. After the race.
Nervous Focused Thrilled Anxious Powerful Overjoyed Terrified Breathless Happy Trembling Gasping for breath Euphoric Excited Tired Elated Eager Exhilarated Joyous Enthusiastic Exhausted Tired Scared Tenacious Exhausted Keen Determined Achy
1) Before the race I would feel _____ because ______.
2) During the race I would feel _____ because ______.
3) After the race I would feel ______because ______.
Aim higher! Can you think of three more words that you could use to describe how you might feel before, during and after the race? Please list them here:
Suggested time on task: 10 mins.
Task 3 – Planning a diary entry Imagine you competed in a swimming race in the London 2012 Olympics and won! You are going to write a diary entry which describes your day. You should include details on what you could see, hear, smell, touch and taste and how you felt at each stage of the race: before, during and after. You should use the descriptions from Tasks 1 and 2 to help you to plan what you are going to write. There are some features you should include and some facts to help you below.
Audience Form Structure SPaG A diary uses informal A diary should include: You should use three All spellings correct language the date, an opening clear paragraphs: (check with (friendly/chatty) (Dear Diary or Hello!) dictionary or and a salutation (love Beginning – before the spellcheck if from, goodbye or talk race possible). to you soon!) Middle – during the race End – after the race You should write in the Include at least three Use the following first person and directly adjectives to describe types of address the reader. your feelings. punctuation: You should use personal Include at least three •Commas in a list. pronouns such as I and examples of sensory •Full stops. we. description (what you •An exclamation can see, smell, touch, mark. taste or hear).
Facts about the swimming races at the London 2012 Olympics:
The swimming competitions took place from 28 July to 4 August at the Aquatics Centre in Stratford, London. There were 34 swimming events at the London 2012 Olympics. Athletes competed against each other in the following strokes: freestyle (front crawl), breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, and individual medley (a mix of all four strokes). The swimmers competed in races of the following distances: 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m or
1500m.
Please use the points below to make some notes about what you are going to include in your diary entry. Your diary entry should include three paragraphs:
Paragraph 1) Before the race – where are you? How do you feel? What can you see/hear/smell/touch/taste?
Paragraph 2) During the race – what was the race like? How did you feel? What were you thinking? What can you see/hear/smell/touch/taste?
Paragraph 3) After the race – you won! How did you feel? What did you think? What could you see/hear/smell/touch/taste?
Suggested time on task: 30 mins.
Task 4 – Writing your diary entry You will now have 30 minutes to write up your diary entry. You should use the ideas from your planning (task 3) and the boxes below to help you. Hint: in task 5 there is a checklist to help you to PIN mark. You should use this to help you with writing your diary entry.
Opening and paragraph 1 28th July 2012 Dear Diary, Today was the big day, the day I’ve been waiting for…the day of the swimming race!! Where are you? What stroke are you swimming? How are you feeling? What can you see/smell/touch/taste or hear?
Paragraph 2
I climbed nervously on to the starting block and got into position, my legs shaking with fear. The starting signal made a deafening buzz and I leapt forward into the water… How far was the race – 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m or 1500m? What did the water feel like? What did the water taste like? What could you see and hear? How did you feel throughout the race?
Paragraph 3 Eventually I reached my final lap! I swam as fast as I could, and I hurtled towards the end of the pool. Finally, I felt the cold, hard surface of the edge of the pool against my fingers. It was over!
How do you feel when you look up and realise that you have won? How do you feel physically after the race? How do you feel emotionally after the race? What can you see/smell/touch/taste or hear?
Finally, you need to think of an appropriate way to sign off, a bit like a letter! You can use the one below, or one you have thought of yourself! Today was the best day ever! Love…
Suggested time on task: 15 mins. Task 5 – PIN Marking your diary entry
Success Criteria Audience Form Structure SPaG Use informal language Include the date, an Three clear All spellings correct (friendly, chatty). opening (Dear Diary paragraphs used: (check with dictionary or Hello!) and a Beginning (before), or spellcheck if salutation (love from, middle (during) and possible). goodbye, talk to you end (after)* soon!) Write in the first Include at least three *before, during and Use the following types person and directly adjectives to describe after the race. of punctuation: address the reader. your feelings. Commas in a list. Full stops. An exclamation Use personal Include at least three mark. pronouns such as I examples of sensory and we. description (what you can see, smell, touch, taste or hear).
Step 1 – Using the success criteria grid (above) label the elements that you have used in your speech. (You can use the colours from the grid to highlight which elements you have used and where). Step 2 – PIN mark your work. P – Praise. What do you think is the best thing about your speech? What are you most proud of? I – Improvement.
Have you done everything from the grid above? Could you have used more adjectives? Could you have included more sensory description? Could you improve your choice of language with a thesaurus? Can you think of some more sophisticated punctuation you could have used?
N – Next steps. If you have identified something that you have missed out, please add this now. If you believe you have met all the success criteria, please find three words in your work that you could improve using a thesaurus.