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Athlete Profiles Provide Teaching Opportunity
Use the profiles in the People section, published first in SIGNews, to encourage your students to learn about sports, deaf Americans. This will give them a chance to learn a about three deaf and hard of hearing athletes who will compete in the Winter Deaflympics.
Content Areas
Language Arts, Social Studies, Physical Education, Deaf Culture, and Deaf Studies
SIGNews Looks at Deaf Athletes
SIGNews, a well known American newspaper published by the CSD, published interviews of athletes for their monthly “Deaf Athlete of the Month” column. Students who read these articles will learn how athletes developed their skills and competed successfully to be part of the American team in the Deaflympics. The articles provide “starting” points for teachers to use for discussion in classes.
Objectives
Students
• Read to find information about American athletes competing in the 16th Winter Deaflympics
• Paraphrase or summarize the main ideas in written entries
• Respond to selected and brief response questions.
• Conduct research on information that was not clarified or explained sufficiently in the reading selection
Skier Amanda Goyne
1. In which Winter Deaflympics sport is Amanda competing?
2. At what age did Amanda learn to ski?
3. Name the mountain where Amanda skied for the first time.
4. How long did Amanda stay on the Sugar Bowl ski team?
5. From what countries do Amanda’s University of Nevada teammates hail?
7. What are considered the most prestigious races in the world of skiing?
8. What medals did Amanda earn in the 15th Winter Deaflympics in 2003?
9. Since this article was published in April 2006, how old is Amanda now? What year is she at the University of Nevada?
10. Because Amanda is deaf, how do you think that she understand her college teachers and classmates? Explain.
11. Why did Amanda enjoy her experience in Sweden?
Skier Jonas Virnig
1. How old was Jonas when he first learned to ski? When did he start to get involved in racing?
2. What accident did Jonas have on the ski slope?
3. How long was Jonas’s break from ski racing?
4. Where does Jonas practice and prepare for the 16th Winter Deaflympics?
5. What does Jonas Virning want to do when he finishes school?
6. What did Jonas mean when he said, “I hope to show the world that a male USA racer can win a medal again!”?
Bonus: Search the Internet for statistics on Deaf ski racers and their medals.
Snowboarder Jeff Pollock
1. On what two things is Jeff Pollock working at the same time?
2. Was Jeff on a ski team before? Explain your answer.
3. What year did he try out and make the American team for the Winter Deaflympics?
4. In what state does Jeff live now? Did he always live there?
5. How old was Jeff when this article was published?
6. What does Jeff like most about the Deaflympics?
7. When did Jeff learn sign language?
8. Thought question: Why do you think racing is not as popular in the United States as it is in Europe?