Activities:
- Pre-reading – reviewing vocabulary from previous lesson and adding new terms, from the text itself: Olympic games, contest, ancient Greeks, honor, took part, took place, disappear, event,
- Brainstorm with the students what they know about the Olympic Games.
- Read the story below (either together with the class or in small groups).
The Olympic Games
(The text below is based on the two websites listed.)
https://www.dkfindout.com/us/history/ancient-greece/olympic-games/
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ekbZzvZv61Te0YypCk3GZ9UMJvLvPvGGSjqHdLb-MOo/edit?usp=sharing
The Olympics were an important athletics contest that the Ancient Greeks held in honor of their gods. The first recorded games took place in 776 BCE and were held every four years. Tens of thousands of men traveled from across the Greek world to take part. Even wars were stopped while the games took place. The athletes who took part had to be Greek citizens (אזרחים), but they competed individually, not for their cities. Victors won prizes, not money or medals, but wreaths (זרים) of olive leaves.
Today’s Olympic Games do not have the same sports events as in the past. Some sports disappeared from the Games because people got bored watching them. Another reason is that new sports become popular all the time. When this happens, the less popular Olympic sports have to go.
Other popular sports events were similar to summer camp games. Rope climbing, for example, was in four Olympics. There was also a tug-of-war competition (תחרות משיכת חבל). Here, two teams pulled on opposite ends of a rope and the strongest team won. At the time, anybody who wanted to be in the Olympics could compete. In 1908, for example, a team of police officers won the tug-of-war at the Olympics in London, England.
There were also strange shooting competitions(תחרויות ירייה). In one competition,
competitors had to shoot at moving paper deer. In another competition, they shot at paper men who were wearing evening clothes.
But all that is in the past. Today, there are many new competitions. In the Beijing Olympics in China. For example, there was a BMX biking competition for the first time. In the next Olympics, we will again see exciting, new sports. Which new sport do you hope to see?
- Look at the pictures below. When did they happen?
Write today or in the past
More reading texts and exercises for JHS:
https://view.genial.ly/612f5cd84b44700fdd5c54d9