“Serena Williams is the greatest American athlete of her generation. As a six-time US Open champ and the best player in the world by an incredible margin, the odds are in Serena’s favor. History is a moment away. As she prepares for a calendar year Grand Slam at age 33, we celebrate the most amazing things from her illustrious career.” T. Ziller, SBNation
ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post
Serena wins Wimbledon 2015. Photo al.com
Excerpt: 15 reasons Serena Williams is the greatest-By Tom Ziller, SB Nation
“Serena Williams is approaching a monumental feat: if she wins the US Open in Queens, she’ll have completed a calendar year Grand Slam, tennis’ first since Steffi Graf in 1988. As a six-time US Open champ and the best player in the world by an incredible margin, the odds are in Serena’s favor. History is a moment away… As she embarks on (more) history, it’s worth celebrating what makes her story so compelling and her legacy so amazing.
Serena: power and grace. Photo-stylenews.peoplewatch.com
In the past 14 calendar years, she has won at least one Grand Slam title in 11 of them and a total of 20. That’s an average of 1.4 Grand Slam titles per year for almost a decade and a half.
Serena: mental toughness. Photo.- Wimbledon al.comtiff
Serena finished 2014 having been ranked No. 1 for every week of the year. She will finish 2015 the same. No one other than Serena has accomplished this feat since Steffi Graf in 1996.
Serena. Photo- Annie Leibovitz-Vogue
She’s been an incredible doubles player, too: her and Venus Williams have paired up to win 13 Grand Slams (their first in 1999 and most recent in 2012) and three Olympic golds. Serena also has two mixed doubles Grand Slams dating back to 1999.
Serena and Venus. Photo Time
She has taken more crap from professional complainers than every other tennis star combined. Just consider the list of outrages she’s been forced to stomach: criticism that she was not serious enough about tennis due to having interests outside tennis (such as fashion);
The beauty of Serena. Photo New York Magazine
discussions of her body type in the respect that it is unlike the traditionally lithe bodies of other female tennis stars;
Serena. Photoradaronline.com
the God-forsaken controversy around the crip walk; the double-standard-from-Hell debate around her angry comments to a line judge…
Serena. Photo- uptownmagazine.com
She makes all too many people uncomfortable because she is atypical and atypically brilliant. When the natural order of things is disturbed by an athlete as powerful (both on and off the court) as Serena, the apple cart gets wobbly.
Serena. Photo-ew,com
Her Instagram feed is part requisite celebrity selfie slideshow, part cultural scrapbook and — most importantly — part F.U. to the body type police.
The Diva at the Oscars 2015 after party. news.com
Using the hashtag #strongisbeautiful and some amazing photos, Serena puts the haters in [their] place.”
ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post
I. Pre-Reading Activities
KWL Chart
The K-W-L chart is used to activate students’ background knowledge of a topic in order to enhance their comprehension skills.
Directions: Have students use the KWL chart to list the information they already know about tennis star Serena Williams. Later in the Post- Reading segment of the lesson, students can fill in what they’ve learned about the topic.
KWL Chart from Creately.com
II. While Reading Tasks
Word Inference
Directions: Students are to infer the meanings of the words in bold taken from the article. They may use a dictionary, thesaurus, and Vocabulary Word Chart By Ellteaching 2.0 for assistance.
- Serena Williams is approaching a monumental feat.
- As she embarks on (more) history, it’s worth celebrating.
- Serena has competed in 60 Grand Slam singles tournaments.
- Henin was the only player who actually rivaled Serena.
- She’s been an incredible doubles player, too.
- Those on-court accomplishments are fantastic.
- There’s also a certain je ne sais quoi about Serena’s attitude, outlook and personality.
- Serena first graced the top of the rankings 13 years ago.
- She is winning 90 percent of her matches against the very best contemporary players.
- She has taken more crap from professional complainers than every other tennis star combined.
ELLteaching 2.0 vocabualry chart
Reading Comprehension: Word Recognition
Directions: Students choose the correct word to complete the sentences taken from the article. They are to choose from the options presented.
Serena has competed/completed in 60 Grand Slam singles tours/tournaments since going pro. She has won 21 of them. This includes her relatively/relatives lean early years. (She won just a single Grand Slam title in her first four years: the 1999 U.S. Open.) Since 2002, she has won 20-of-46 tournaments she has entered. That’s 43 percent.
Serena’s all-time record/recording against the current members/member of the WTA top 10 is 66-7, or a 90 percent winning percentage/percentile. She is winning 90 percent of her matches/misses against the very best contemporary players.
She’s been an incredulous/incredible doubles player, too: her and Venus Williams have paired up to win 13 Grand Slams (their first in 1999 and most recent in 2012) and three Olympic golds. Serena also has two mixed/mix doubles Grand Slams date/dating back to 1999.
Grammar Focus: Using Adjectives to describe pictures
Directions: Have students choose a picture (or two) from the article and write a descriptive paragraph using adjectives.
III. Post Reading Tasks
WH-How Questions
Directions: Have students use the WH-question format to discuss or to write the main points from the article.
Who or What is the article about?
Where does the action/event take place?
When does the action/event take place?
Why did the action/event occur?
How did the action/event occur?
KWL Chart
Directions: Have students fill in the last column of the KWL chart if they used one in the pre-reading segment of this lesson.
Discussion/Writing Exercise
Directions: Place students in groups and have them answer the following questions. Afterwards, have the groups share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the following discussion topics.
1. The following two statements were taken from the article. Rephrase each statement in your own words, then discuss the meaning with the members of your group.
“She has taken more crap from professional complainers than every other tennis star combined. Just consider the list of outrages she’s been forced to stomach: criticism that she was not serious enough about tennis due to having interests outside tennis (such as fashion); suggestions of match-fixing; discussions of her body type in the respect that it is unlike the traditionally lithe bodies of other female tennis stars; suggestions that she’s been at times completely unfit…the God-forsaken controversy around the crip walk; the double-standard-from-Hell debate around her angry comments to a line judge.”
“Needless to say, Pete Sampras, Steffi Graf, Roger Federer, Bjorn Borg and Chris Evert didn’t get a touch of this scandal following them. She makes all too many people uncomfortable because she is atypical and atypically brilliant. When the natural order of things is disturbed by an athlete as powerful (both on and off the court) as Serena, the apple cart gets wobbly. Serena has fought through it all with characteristic aplomb. She shouldn’t have had to.”
1-Minute Free Writing Exercise
Directions: Allow students 1 minute to write down one new idea they’ve learned from the reading. Ask them to write down one thing they did not understand in the reading. Review the responses as a class. Note: For the lower levels allow more time for this writing activity.
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