If they are not going out with their friends or checking out some new app on their smartphones, our students are very likely to be doing some kind of sport. It is also very likely that their love of sports will motivate our students to read exciting stories about young people doing sports.

Sports in the reading club

1 Do a sports-themed month.

• Choose some stories (magazine articles, interviews and a few graded readers) that deal with a sport or a famous sportsperson.
• For example, Mr Football has a project on Famous footballers, focussing on Theo Walcott.

2 Do a sports-themed session.

• Talk about your favourite and least favourite sports.
• Share stories about exceptional people in the world of sports.
  • Here is a great example: Lewis Pugh is a cold-water swimmer. In this TED Talk Video he talks about swimming the North Pole. Watch the video with subtitles and ask your students what they think about it. Ask them why they think Lewis Pugh wants to achieve with these swims?
• Discuss sports at school. Which are the most popular sports at school?

3 Do some sports together! 

I know that your Book Club or reading lesson is not a sports club, but leaving the classroom for an hour can activate words and phrases that would never come up in there. Do some sports together, play football or basketball, go for a long hike or short run, and talk about sports rules. If this is not possible, you could work with the P.E. teacher in school to do some lessons together and teach new vocabulary in a fun and motivating way.

4 Read sports-themed books. 

Do some pre-reading and prediction activities together. Use the illustrations in the readers to initiate the discussion.

Read these blog posts to get more ideas on activities and images:

• 5 + 5 Tips on Extensive Reading in the Classroom
• Using the illustrations in graded readers – practical ideas and activities

Here are five Helbling Red Readers about sports.

• Zadie's Big Day by Martyn Hobbs
• Zadie's Last Race by Martyn Hobbs
• Stubs Grows Up by Paul Davenport
• The Spring Cup by Christian Holzmann
• Mr Football by Janet Olearski

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