Celebrate the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics with us. Here are three prompts and one BONUS prompt for your 5th-12th graders to enjoy as the festivities get underway! Some are light and fun. Others involve controversies and get your students thinking. Be sure to download the colorful worksheet in #1.
On your mark . . . get set . . .
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1. Let’s Pack
You’re packing to go to Paris, France, for the 2024 Summer Olympics, but you can pack only 26 things. It’s a good thing there are 26 letters in the alphabet because you are going to pack one item for every letter in it. What will you pack that begins with “A”? With “B”? With “Z”???
Download this colorful worksheet to help you pack. >>
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2. Let’s Tweet
You have a friend or relative in the Olympics this year whom you would like to encourage with some tweets. Write two or three to your friend, some before and some after his or her events.
Note: Tweets have to be concise because they are only 280 characters long. Every letter, punctuation mark, and space is considered a character. Stay within the limit.
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3. Let’s Participate
Here’s a list of all the sports in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics from the official Olympics Website. There are over forty! Click on any of the icons to learn more about each sport and the athletes involved in it.
List five adjectives to describe the sport of your choice at the Olympics.
Next, answer one of the following questions in a paragraph:
- Which sport is your favorite to watch? Explain your choice.
- If you could participate, which sport would you choose? Explain your choice.
- Which sporting event do you think should be added to the list of sports? Explain your choice.
- According the The Washington Post, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) seems to be warming up to the idea of esports (video game sports) such as auto racing. Do you think virtual sports should be included in the Olympics? Explain your view.
Bonus Olympics Prompts
Answer one of the following questions:
- If you had a friend or family member in the Olympics, how would you encourage him or her without actually being in the stands or even in the country?
- Imagine that you are an Olympic athlete facing a competition without spectators or family present. How would you get yourself into the best mental condition to compete?
- Do you know someone who is going to the Olympics this year? If so, write their story as you know it.
- Laurel Hubbard from New Zealand is a biological male who competed in men’s weightlifting events until 2013. Hubbard is now the first transgender male to compete in the Olympics in a women’s category, according to the BBC. We’re talking about weightlifting here, and the International Olympics Committee (IOC) allows “transgender athletes to compete as a woman if their testosterone levels are below a certain threshold.” Belgian weightlifter Anna Vanbellinghen believes this is not fair to women competing in women’s events. She sees that a biological male has a competitive advantage over a female. What is your view of transgender males competing in women’s sports? Is there an equitable way for transgender males to compete in sports without cutting women athletes out of competitive opportunities?
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Enjoy these other prompts on the Olympics:
Read how Jesse Owens proved Hitler wrong. >>
Learn how a tiny tick almost stopped this champion. >>
Looking for fun middle school prompts? Follow this link. >>
Would you like engaging high school prompts. Follow this link. >>
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