Should baseball and softball be reinstated as Olympic Sports?

Introduction

On July 7, 2005, Baseball and Softabll were voted out of the 2012 Olympics. These two sports became the first two sports to be voted out of olympic contention since 1936. As the "Great American Sport," the United States did not lead the record on having the largest count of medals in baseball. Baseball in the olympics functioned very similarly to the Major League Baseball Tournaments. The only exception is that all players participating in the Olympics were suppose to be amateurs.

Task

On September 8, 2013, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to bring westling back to the Olympics and not baseball ans softball. Many were dissapointed by this decision. Recently, on December 8, 2014, the IOC decided to approve changes that could possibly open the door for baseball to return to the 2020 Summer Olympics. However, the debate continues.

Your tasks is to write a letter to the International Olympic Committee to persuade them to allow baseball and softball to be part of the 2020 Summer Olympics or to oppose the inclusion of baseball and softabll in the 2020 Olympics. You will cite evidence to support your argument.

Process

Step 1

Assign Roles by numbering 1 -4. Based on the number you are assigned, complete the first task below.

1. Read the Article: Why Baseball should become a Winter Sport? and respond to the question in the title in one paragraph.

2. Examine the History of Baseball Timeline and identify the 10 most significant events in the history of baseball in the United States.

3. Read the article: Secret Ballot Eliminates Baseball, Softball and explain in 1 paragraph why baseball and softball were eliminated from baseball

4. Read the article: US Dominance Caused Softaball's Olympic Demise and explain in 1 paragraph how US dominance impacted Softaball's participation in the olympics

Step 2

After completing your portion, share out your group with your group and go back to your article to do the following:

1. Identify 2 pieces of evidence that are most significat from your article. Evidence can be in the form of a quote, fact, or figure (number).

2. Complete the follwing chart for each piece of evidence

Say

What is the Evidence?

Mean

What does the evidence Mean?

Matter

Why is the evidence important?

3. Share out with your group

Step 3

Using the information from your article and from the articles of your group members, write a letter to the International Olympic Committee arguing in favor or against the inclusion of baseball and softball in the 2020 Olympics.

Evaluation

Conclusion

Take your completed letter, print it and post it somewhere in the room.

Using your 3 dot stickers, place a sticker on the 3 most convincing letters in the room. As a class, we will submit the most persuasive letter to the IOC.

Credits

Resources:

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson875/P…

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303636404579392840235214038

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/baseball/timeline/

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=2103234

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/09/sports/othersports/09rhoden.html

Teacher Page

Standard: RST.6-8.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.

Task:

On September 8, 2013, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to bring westling back to the Olympics and notbaseball ans softball. Many were dissapointed by this decision. Recently, on December 8, 2014, the IOC decided to approve changes that could possibly open the door for baseball to return to the 2020 Summer Olympics. However, the debate continues.

Your tasks is to write a letter to the International Olympic Committee to persuade them to allow baseball and softball to be part of the 2020 Summer Olympics or to oppose the inclusion of baseball and softabll in the 2020 Olympics. You will cite evidence to support your argument.

Differentiation:

ELLs - One modification for ELL is to assign the students to the Timeline to limit the amount of text that they have to independently process through. Also, I might ask ELL students to consider an alternate means of presenting their information. They may be able to complete a ppt instead with a parameter to include at least one visual per slide.