A world-famous soccer player has retired.
World Cup star Ronaldo, who plays for the Corinthians soccer team in Brazil, is one of the most famous soccer players in the world. People call him “a legend.”
He has won two world cups with Brazil and has played on some of Europe’s best teams. He has scored more goals than anyone in the history of the World Cup.
Tears flowed down his cheeks when he announced recently that he would no longer play soccer, because of injuries. His sons, Alex and Ronald were by his side.
He said that “mentally” he wants to continue to play, but that his body can no longer keep up with what is needed to succeed in soccer.
He was sad because he didn’t want to leave a sport that has made him so happy. Ronaldo is 34 years old.
Ronaldo said that he will continue to promote the sport of soccer. He also intends to create a charity to help poor children and teenagers in the area of Rio de Janeiro where he grew up.
Coaches and players are singing Ronaldo’s praises, calling him one of the top five best soccer players who ever lived. The president of Brazil said that all Brazilians will be eternally grateful for what he has done for Brazil’s reputation in sports.
With a file from: David Silverberg.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
Writing/Discussion Prompt
When a player retires from a sport, they very often read a speech to the press. If you were a world famous athlete who had chosen to retire, what types of things would you say to the press and who would you want to be there?
Reading Prompt
Readers use a special strategy called semantics to help them read new or challenging words. You probably use this strategy all the time already and didn’t know it! Using a semantic strategy means recognizing smaller words or endings that you know and using that knowledge to help you read. Here’s an example, when you read a word like “player” you’re using a semantic strategy if you recognize the word “play”, the ending “er”, or both. Underline all the words in today’s article that have small words inside of them or that have regular endings (ing, er, est, ed).
Primary & Junior
Predict the meaning of and rapidly solve unfamiliar words using different types of cues, including: semantic (meaning) cues (e.g., prefixes, suffixes, base words, phrases, sentences, and visuals that activate existing knowledge
of oral and written language) (OME, Reading: 3.2).
Grammar Feature: The hard C sound (Primary)
In today’s story, the letter “c” is used many times. “C” can make two sounds: a soft “c” sound like when we read the word “ice and a hard “c” sound like when we read the word “cream”. Underline all the words in today’s article that have a soft “c” sound and circle all the word’s in today’s article that have a hard “c” sound.
Grammar Feature: Complete Subjects and Predicates (Junior)
Every sentence has two main parts, a complete subject and a complete predicate. The complete subject includes all the words that tell who or what the sentence is about. The complete predicate includes all the words that tell about the subject of the sentence. In the following example the complete subject is red and the complete predicate is blue.
“The president of Brazil said that all Brazilians will be eternally grateful for what he has done for Brazil’s reputation in sports.”
Copy three of the sentences from today’s article. Underline the complete subject and circle the complete predicate in each one.
