OLYMPIAN STORIES GILMORE JUNIO AND DENNY MORRISON CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM 2014/2015 BRONZE LEVEL Grades 2-3 www.olympic.ca/education
JUSTIN WADSWORTH FAIR PLAY TEACHERS GUIDE CREATING A CANADIAN OLYMPIC LEARNING ENVIRONMENT GILMORE JUNIO AND DENNY MORRISON DOMINIQUE MALTAIS DETERMINATION Each story, featuring a well-known Canadian Olympian or coach from the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, is brought to life with activities that engage students in literacy, physical activity, character and team-building challenges. JEAN-PHILIPPE LE GUELLEC EXCELLENCE TESSA VIRTUE AND SCOTT MOIR Through these values-based Olympian and Coach stories, students discover that Canadian athletes reached great success not only through tremendous physical talents, but also through character and intelligence. Complementing these captivating stories is the mental fitness resource Be a Champion for Life: Energy Gains and Energy Drains. Together, these resources create a foundation for teachers to inspire their students to exercise their mind, body and character. TEAMWORK 2 BRONZE LEVEL Grades 2-3 www.olympic.ca/education
The Canadian Olympic School Program (COSP) is designed in accordance with the founder of the modern Olympic Movement, Pierre de Coubertin s, philosophy of Olympism. By recognizing the value of Olympians and coaches as role models, the program engages students with the joy found in effort while blending sport with culture and education. The Athlete and Coach stories balance intellectual instruction, cultural development and physical education. The heart of the curriculum focuses on participation, effort and the pride in knowing you have given your all to the pursuit of excellence. OLYMPIC VALUES AS EDUCATIONAL TOOLS The worldwide Olympic values of friendship, excellence and respect act as a foundation for these stories. Each Athlete and Coach story will focus on the development of a character value within your students. By engaging students in each narrative, they have the opportunity to expand their understanding of this value and to expand their moral capabilities. BLENDING SPORT WITH CULTURE AND EDUCATION Each Athlete and Coach story is tailored to three reading levels: Bronze (grades 2 and 3), Silver (grades 4 and 5), and Gold (grades 6 to 8). Each story comes with progressive activities that are open- ended and tailored to address a diverse range of learning styles and proficiencies. They focus on six main facets of understanding: explaining, interpreting, applying, taking perspective, empowering and developing self- knowledge. These critical thinking skills are woven into all three stages of the learning sequence in order to promote deeper understanding of the values and concepts. Through many facets of the 2014-2015 Canadian Olympic School Program, children and youth can connect values to their lives at home, at school and in their local community. Perhaps they can begin to see their world in new and different ways. TEACHING GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS Current curriculum theory emphasizes the importance of reinforcing value messages through narratives, storytelling, art, posters, drama, and physical movement. Activities based on the stories, events, ceremonies and symbols of the Olympic Games have school-wide relevance. Group sizes for activities will be indicated by the following icons: 3 PIERRE DE COUBERTIN Independent Activity Small Group Activity Large Group Activity
GILMORE JUNIO AND DENNY MORRISON SOCHI 2014 OLYMPIAN STORY S D N D E I N E I R R F F P I P H INDS H SFRIE D NHIP E I P I FRRIENDS SH F Gilmore Junio lay in bed watching the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games on TV. He wished he was there racing the short-track speed skating. But he had broken his back in a race. He didn t know if he ever wanted to race again. He saw Denny Morrison and his teammates win a gold medal in the team pursuit in long-track speed skating. Maybe he too could win a medal someday. He decided to try long-track DENN Y MO RRIS speed skating. ON GILMORE JUNIO AND DENNY MORRISON 4 CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM 2014/2015 GILM ORE JUNI O BRONZE LEVEL Grades 2-3 www.olympic.ca/education
He trained for the next four years with Denny and the other top long-track skaters. They became close friends. Gilmore was a sprinter. Denny was better in the longer races. Gilmore helped Denny with his starts. Denny helped Gilmore with his endurance. Before the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, both of them raced the 1000 metres at the Canadian Olympic Trials. Denny crashed on the final turn. He slid to the finish in fifth place. Only the top four skaters would race in Sochi. Denny was crushed. Gilmore placed third. He knew that his friend was better in the 1000 metres. He asked the coach if he could give his spot to Denny. The coach said no. Gilmore would race the 500 and the 1000 metres. Denny would race the 1500 metres and the team pursuit. DENNY MORRISON SOCHI 2014 GILMORE JUNIO SOCHI 2014 I DIDN T JUST WANT TO TAKE A SPOT IN THE RACE. I WANTED OUR BEST SKATER TO RACE. GILMORE JUNIO Gilmore believed he could win a medal in Sochi. But he finished tenth in the 500 metres. He wasn t happy. He knew Denny could get a medal in the 1000 metres. I didn t just want to take a spot in the race. I wanted our best skater to race, he said. He spoke to the coach about giving his spot to Denny. This time, the coach said yes. Two days before the race, Denny got a text message from a Russian telephone number. Are you ready to skate the 1000? Was this a bad joke? Who is this? he asked. It s Gil, read the reply. I m serious. 5 GILMORE JUNIO AND DENNY MORRISON SOCHI 2014 GILMORE JUNIO AND DENNY MORRISON SOCHI 2014
Denny ran to meet Gilmore. He was so thankful that his friend was willing to give up his spot. I was full of energy. I could have raced right there, remembers Denny. Denny was still excited when he lined up to race his heat. He started very fast. He skated as hard as he could. He won his heat with the second best time so far. There were still five pairs left to skate. One by one they finished, without skating faster. He was too scared to look at the scoreboard. A coach yelled, Denny! You got silver! Gilmore watched from the stands. He was nervous for his friend. When they announced the winners, he left his seat. He wanted Denny to get the attention, but Denny found him and gave him a big hug. This is your moment, Gilmore said. But Denny wanted Gilmore to come with him to speak to the media. At the end of the night, Denny, all the coaches and Gilmore had a big team hug. They all linked arms in a circle around Gilmore. They jumped around him and cheered. The huge team hug was my favourite moment, recalls Denny. It felt like the medal was a team victory. 6 IT FELT LIKE THE MEDAL WAS A TEAM VICTORY DENNY MORRISON DENNY MORRISON SOCHI 2014 GILMORE JUNIO AND DENNY MORRISON SOCHI 2014 SPEED SKATING Short track speed skaters race around a rink the size of a hockey rink. Each race has lots of skaters. Since there are lots of skaters and a small race track, often the skaters fall. Long track speed skaters race around a bigger 400 metre oval. There are only two people in each race. The times from each race are compared to see who wins. Denny Morrison would only know his placing once all of the other skaters had raced. He had to nervously wait to know if he got a medal. OLYMPIC DEBUT LADIES MEN L APS 500M 1960 1924 1 1/4 1000M 1960 1976 2 1/2 1500M 1960 1924 3 3/4 3000M 1960 7 1/2 5000M 1988 1924 12 1/2 10,000M 1924 25 START 3000M 5000M START 1000M START 500M START 1500M FINISH 1000M FINISH 500M 1500M 3000M 5000M 10,000M START 10,000M
DENNY MORRISON LEARNING SEQUENCE GILMORE JUNIO CONNECTING BUILDING A FOUNDATION FOR NEW LEARNING Friendship Placemat Students will work in groups of 3 or 4 on a placemat activity. On the placemat, in one of the sections, each student is invited to write down the qualities, actions and words of a good friend. Students may choose to use drawings if they prefer. After 5 to 10 minutes, students are asked to stop, and to share their ideas with the members of their group. Students are given another 2 or 3 minutes to add to their ideas after the debrief. PROCESSING USING STRATEGIES TO ACQUIRE AND USE KNOWLEDGE After reading the story as a class or individually, students return to their placemat group to discuss what elements of friendship they saw in the story. They are encouraged to use ideas from their placemat. Class Sharing Students share their ideas with the class. After the class shares aloud, students are invited to add any more words or ideas to their group placemat. TRANSFORMING SHOWING UNDERSTANDING IN A NEW WAY Using the placemats as brainstorming information, each student writes a recipe for a Good Friend. Begin by modeling one with the entire group, using ideas coming from the entire class. GILMORE JUNIO AND DENNY MORRISON SOCHI 2014 7
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Ingredients: a Cup of a Cup of a dash of a pinch of a teaspoon of a teaspoon of A FOR A GOOD Instructions: Enjoy! 9
OLYMPIAN STORIES GILMORE JUNIO AND DENNY MORRISON CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM 2014/2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS THE CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM WISHES TO THANK AND ACKNOWLEDGE THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE. WITHOUT THEIR EFFORTS, AND CREATIVITY, THIS PROJECT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE. CANADIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE Eric Boulé Ty Greene Derek Kent Marie-Eve Marleau Nathaniel Miller Kate Moorhouse Olya Ovtchinnikova Marc-André Plouffe Sandra Sassine Paulo Senra Tys van der Drift FEATURED ATHLETES Gilmore Junio Denny Morrison WEBSITE Todd Denis Mark Nadolny Georgia Sapounas PHOTOGRAPHS Winston Chow Ben Stevenson INTERVIEWER Sylvain Leclerc WRITERS Bruce Deacon Marcie Good Claire Cairnie GRAPHIC DESIGNER Andy Maier TRANSLATION Célyne Malette, Editor Pascale Seide Legros BRONZE LEVEL Grades 2-3 www.olympic.ca/education