Super Bowl Sunday is nearly here.
On February 2, professional football’s biggest and most important game — the Super Bowl — will take place.
The Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks will be battling each other for league supremacy.
Denver enters the game with the league’s number-one offence. Seattle enters the game with the league’s number-one defence.
Denver has one of the best quarterbacks ever to play football: Peyton Manning.
He is the only player ever selected league as the National Football League (NFL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) four times. He’s expected to become the first five-time MVP when the league’s year-end awards are announced on Saturday.
Manning is looking to cement his legacy with another Super Bowl victory. If he wins, he will have as many Super Bowl victories as his younger brother, Eli.
Seattle boasts second-year quarterback Russell Wilson. He is one of the rising young stars in the NFL (National Football League). He is guiding Seattle to the Super Bowl in only his second year in the league. In addition to Wilson, Seattle’s defense and power running game could help them win this year.
The Super Bowl is being played outside in the cold. Usually the game is played in the southern United States or in a domed stadium. This year the game is taking place in the cold-weather New York region. With frigid temperatures expected, weather is bound to be a big part of the game.
Some say cold, windy weather favours the “running game.” Seattle has Marshawn Lynch, a truly powerful runner.
The weather could also favour the strong defence of Seattle. Richard Sherman of Seattle plays defence and is widely viewed as one of the best defensive players in the league. He will be ready to bat down any of Manning’s passes that get thrown up in the cold winds.
Cold weather or not, the game will be sold out. Millions of people around the world will be watching.
Denver or Seattle: one of them will become the 2014 Super Bowl champion this Sunday.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Millions of people around the world will be watching the Super Bowl. However, they won’t just be watching football, they will also be watching the commercials. Companies pay millions of dollars to air 20 second commercials, which have become a large part of the Super Bowl. Just like the football game, people discuss and share these commercials online after the Super Bowl.
Why do you think people are so interested in advertisements? Why do you think companies are willing to pay so much money for such a short period of time? Do you think this focus on commercials takes away from the Super Bowl or adds to its excitement?
Reading Prompt: Demonstrating Understanding
There are a lot of factors that influence whether a team wins or loses the Super Bowl. Many of these are explained in this article. Identify some key elements that make a winning team.
Junior
Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by summarizing important ideas and citing supporting details (OME, Reading: 1.4).
Intermediate
Demonstrate understanding of increasingly complex texts by summarizing important ideas and citing a variety of details that support the main idea (OME, Reading: 1.4).
Grammar Feature: Proper Nouns
What is a noun? What is a proper noun? How can you tell the difference between a noun and a proper noun when you are reading an article?
This article contains several proper nouns. Try to identify all of them and sort them into 3 categories: person, place or thing.
