Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on Basketball Rules

A little piece of basketball history was made yesterday. The original rulebook for basketball was sold at an auction for $4.3 million. This is a record for any kind of sports memorabilia or history. The historic document outlined the rules of basketball in 1891. It was written by Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian. He drew up the sport’s first 13 rules on two pages and signed them both. The buyers were David and Suzanne Booth, two avid basketball fans from Kansas, USA. The document was sold by Ian Naismith, 71, the grandson of Dr. James Naismith. He told reporters: “After expenses, about $3.8 million will go into the Naismith International Basketball Foundation.” He was clearly very proud of what his grandfather achieved, saying: “We gave the game to the world.”

James Naismith originally wrote the rules to create a new winter sport for boys at a school in Massachusetts, where he was a physical education teacher. He had a two-week deadline to think of a new sport. He was more than a little surprised at how quickly his sport took off. He lived to see it introduced at the 1936 Olympics. His grandson expressed how jaded he had become at the game’s commercialization. He told reporters: “I’m tired of all the lying…The game is about integrity, sportsmanship…The game now is being hurt by money. Nobody ever has enough.” He frowned on current salaries in the sport, particularly with “coaches making $5 million a year”. The previous record for sports memorabilia was $3 million for the baseball hit by Mark McGwire when he broke the single-season home run record in 1998.

WARM-UPS

1. BASKETBALL: Walk around the class and talk to other students about basketball. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

piece / history / auction / drew up / rules / avid / fans / documents / being proud / winter sports / deadlines / Olympics / jaded / commercialization / frowned / home run

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. MEMORABILIA: What would you like to have? Complete this table and share what you wrote with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

Memorabilia	What?	Why?
Sports
Music
Movie
Politics
Technology
History

4. HURT: Students A strongly believe sport is being hurt by money; Students B strongly believe it isn’t. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. CHANGE: What needs to change most about basketball (another sport)? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the things that most need to change at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

rules
coach’s salary
player behaviour
cost of tickets to attend games

equality between men and women
length of games
video technology to help referees
government funding

6. RULES: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘rules’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	The first ever set of basketball rules were sold for $43 million.	T / F
b.	The rules of basketball were written in 1891.	T / F
c.	The man who invented basketball was from Los Angeles.	T / F
d.	The great-grandson of basketball’s creator sold the rules.	T / F
e.	Basketball was originally devised as a winter sport.	T / F
f.	The man who thought up the rules of basketball did so in two weeks.	T / F
g.	The man’s grandson is disillusioned with basketball today.	T / F
h.	The previous record for sports memorabilia was for a soccer shirt.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	piece	a.	enthusiastic
2	outlined	b.	preceding
3.	drew up	c.	obviously
4.	avid	d.	time limit
5.	clearly	e.	bit
6.	create	f.	became popular
7.	deadline	g.	charted
8.	took off	h.	created
9.	integrity	i.	devise
10.	previous	j.	honesty

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	A little piece of basketball	a.	week deadline
2	a record for any kind of	b.	basketball fans
3.	He drew up the	c.	very proud
4.	two avid	d.	history was made
5.	He was clearly	e.	winter sport
6.	create a new	f.	on current salaries
7.	He had a two-	g.	sports memorabilia
8.	His grandson expressed how	h.	for sports memorabilia
9.	He frowned	i.	sport’s first 13 rules
10.	The previous record	j.	jaded he had become

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

A little ____________ of basketball history was made yesterday. The original rulebook for basketball was sold at an ____________ for $4.3 million. This is a record for any kind of sports memorabilia or history. The ____________ document outlined the rules of basketball in 1891. It was written by Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian. He drew up the sport’s first 13 rules on two pages and ____________ them both. The buyers were David and Suzanne Booth, two ____________ basketball fans from Kansas, USA. The document was sold by Ian Naismith, 71, the grandson of Dr. James Naismith. He told reporters: “After ____________, about $3.8 million will go into the Naismith International Basketball Foundation.” He was ____________ very ____________ of what his grandfather achieved, saying: “We gave the game to the world.”

expenses
signed
proud
auction
clearly
piece
avid
historic

James Naismith originally wrote the rules to ____________ a new winter sport for boys at a school in Massachusetts, where he was a ____________ education teacher. He had a two-week ____________ to think of a new sport. He was more than a little surprised at how quickly his sport took off. He lived to see it introduced at the 1936 Olympics. His grandson expressed how ____________ he had become at the game’s commercialization. He told reporters: “I’m tired of all the lying…The game is about ____________, sportsmanship…The game now is being hurt by money. Nobody ever has enough.” He ____________ on current salaries in the sport, particularly with “coaches making $5 million a year”. The ____________ record for sports memorabilia was $3 million for the baseball hit by Mark McGwire when he ____________ the single-season home run record in 1998.

integrity
previous
physical
broke
jaded
create
deadline
frowned

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

A little piece of basketball history was made yesterday. The original rulebook for basketball _____________________ $4.3 million. This is a record for any kind of sports memorabilia or history. The _____________________ the rules of basketball in 1891. It was written by Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian. _____________________ first 13 rules on two pages _____________________. The buyers were David and Suzanne Booth, two avid basketball fans from Kansas, USA. The document was sold by Ian Naismith, 71, the grandson of Dr. James Naismith. He told reporters: “After expenses, about $3.8 million will go into the Naismith International Basketball Foundation.” He _____________________ of what his grandfather achieved, saying: “_____________________ the world.”

James Naismith _______________________ to create a new winter sport for boys at a school in Massachusetts, where he was a physical education teacher. He had _____________________ to think of a new sport. He was more than a little surprised at how _______________________. He lived to see it introduced at the 1936 Olympics. His grandson expressed how jaded he had become at the game’s commercialization. He told reporters: “I’m _____________________ …The game is about integrity, sportsmanship…The game now is _____________________. Nobody ever has enough.” He frowned on current salaries in the sport, particularly with “coaches making $5 million a year”. The _______________________ memorabilia was $3 million for the baseball hit by Mark McGwire when he broke the single-season home run record in 1998.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘basket’ and ‘ball’.

basket

ball

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

little
kind
drew
avid
expenses
world

create
physical
quickly
jaded
current
hit

STUDENT BASKETBALL SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about basketball in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

BASKETBALL DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘basketball’?
c)	Did anything in the article surprise you?
d)	Where is basketball on the list of great world sports?
e)	Are you surprised basketball isn’t more popular worldwide?
f)	Do you know all the rules of basketball?
g)	How has basketball spread into popular culture (fashion, music, etc)?
h)	What do you think of people who spend such money on memorabilia?
i)	What sports memorabilia would you really like to have?
j)	What do you think the Naismith International Basketball Foundation does?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Would basketball be a good winter sport?
c)	Do you think the USA will always be the world’s best basketball nation?
d)	Do you think basketball (or other sports) have suffered because of commercialization?
e)	Do you think there’s a lot of lying in sport?
f)	What do you think of basketball coaches earning salaries of %5 million a year?
g)	Which sport has the most integrity and sportsmanship?
h)	Will basketball be much different 100 years from now?
i)	Would you like to be a top basketball player / sports person?
j)	What questions would you like to ask the boss of world basketball?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

A little (1) ____ of basketball history was made yesterday. The original rulebook for basketball was sold at an auction for $4.3 million. This is a record for any kind of sports (2) ____ or history. The historic document outlined the rules of basketball in 1891. It was written by Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian. He drew (3) ____ the sport’s first 13 rules on two pages and signed them both. The buyers were David and Suzanne Booth, two (4) ____ basketball fans from Kansas, USA. The document was sold by Ian Naismith, 71, the grandson of Dr. James Naismith. He told reporters: “After (5) ____, about $3.8 million will go into the Naismith International Basketball Foundation.” He was (6) ____ very proud of what his grandfather achieved, saying: “We gave the game to the world.”

James Naismith originally wrote the rules to create a new winter sport for boys at a school in Massachusetts, where he was a (7) ____ education teacher. He had a two-week deadline to think of a new sport. He was more than a (8) ____ surprised at how quickly his sport took (9) ____. He lived to see it introduced at the 1936 Olympics. His grandson expressed how jaded he had become at the game’s commercialization. He told reporters: “I’m tired of all the (10) ____ …The game is about integrity, sportsmanship…The game now is being (11) ____ by money. Nobody ever has enough.” He frowned (12) ____ current salaries in the sport, particularly with “coaches making $5 million a year”. The previous record for sports memorabilia was $3 million for the baseball hit by Mark McGwire when he broke the single-season home run record in 1998.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	peace	(b)	apiece	(c)	piece	(d)	piecemeal
2.	(a)	memorize	(b)	memorabilia	(c)	memorable	(d)	memorial
3.	(a)	up	(b)	in	(c)	out	(d)	down
4.	(a)	avidly	(b)	aphid	(c)	aphids	(d)	avid
5.	(a)	expanses	(b)	expensive	(c)	expenses	(d)	expanse
6.	(a)	cleared	(b)	clears	(c)	clearly	(d)	clarity
7.	(a)	physicality	(b)	physical	(c)	physique	(d)	psychic
8.	(a)	little	(b)	lot	(c)	loads	(d)	tiny
9.	(a)	up	(b)	off	(c)	down	(d)	in
10.	(a)	lying	(b)	laying	(c)	allaying	(d)	alloys
11.	(a)	painful	(b)	injured	(c)	wounded	(d)	hurt
12.	(a)	in	(b)	over	(c)	along	(d)	on

WRITING

Write about basketball for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about the rules of basketball. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. BASKETBALL: Make a poster about basketball. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. SOLD: Write a magazine article about the people who bought the rules. Include imaginary interviews with them.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to the head of world basketball. Ask him/her three questions about basketball. Give him/her three ideas on how to make it more popular around the world. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	piece	a.	bit
2	outlined	b.	charted
3.	drew up	c.	created
4.	avid	d.	enthusiastic
5.	clearly	e.	obviously
6.	create	f.	devise
7.	deadline	g.	time limit
8.	took off	h.	became popular
9.	integrity	i.	honesty
10.	previous	j.	preceding

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	A little piece of basketball	a.	history was made
2	a record for any kind of	b.	sports memorabilia
3.	He drew up the	c.	sport’s first 13 rules
4.	two avid	d.	basketball fans
5.	He was clearly	e.	very proud
6.	create a new	f.	winter sport
7.	He had a two-	g.	week deadline
8.	His grandson expressed how	h.	jaded he had become
9.	He frowned	i.	on current salaries
10.	The previous record	j.	for sports memorabilia

GAP FILL:

Original basketball rules sell for record

A little piece of basketball history was made yesterday. The original rulebook for basketball was sold at an auction for $4.3 million. This is a record for any kind of sports memorabilia or history. The historic document outlined the rules of basketball in 1891. It was written by Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian. He drew up the sport’s first 13 rules on two pages and signed them both. The buyers were David and Suzanne Booth, two avid basketball fans from Kansas, USA. The document was sold by Ian Naismith, 71, the grandson of Dr. James Naismith. He told reporters: “After expenses, about $3.8 million will go into the Naismith International Basketball Foundation.” He was clearly very proud of what his grandfather achieved, saying: “We gave the game to the world.”

James Naismith originally wrote the rules to create a new winter sport for boys at a school in Massachusetts, where he was a physical education teacher. He had a two-week deadline to think of a new sport. He was more than a little surprised at how quickly his sport took off. He lived to see it introduced at the 1936 Olympics. His grandson expressed how jaded he had become at the game’s commercialization. He told reporters: “I’m tired of all the lying…The game is about integrity, sportsmanship…The game now is being hurt by money. Nobody ever has enough.” He frowned on current salaries in the sport, particularly with “coaches making $5 million a year”. The previous record for sports memorabilia was $3 million for the baseball hit by Mark McGwire when he broke the single-season home run record in 1998.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - c

2 - b

3 - a

4 - d

5 - c

6 - c

7 - b

8 - a

9 - b

10 - a

11 - d

12 - d

Breaking News English

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13-Page PDF
Handout - with
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Original Basketball Rules Sell for Record (13th December, 2010)

WARM-UPS

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

WHILE READING / LISTENING

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

AFTER READING / LISTENING

STUDENT BASKETBALL SURVEY

BASKETBALL DISCUSSION

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

WRITING

HOMEWORK

ANSWERS

Original basketball rules sell for record

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Sean Banville's Book

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My 1,000 Ideas e-Book	Breaking News English HOME \| HELP MY SITE \| 000s MORE FREE LESSONS	My 1,000 Ideas e-Book

Breaking News English

PRINT

13-Page PDF Handout - with all-skills activities

LISTEN

MP3 (2:14 - 1,071KB)

Original Basketball Rules Sell for Record (13th December, 2010)

WARM-UPS

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

WHILE READING / LISTENING

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

AFTER READING / LISTENING

STUDENT BASKETBALL SURVEY

BASKETBALL DISCUSSION

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

WRITING

HOMEWORK

ANSWERS

Original basketball rules sell for record

Help Support This Web Site

Sean Banville's Book

Thank You

13-Page PDF
Handout - with
all-skills activities