3 3 11 jim thorpe (social studies)

At Carlisle Indian School, Jim Thorpe became a star in many sports, including football... Jim Thorpe Becomes FamousJim played many sports, but at Carlisle he was best known for footb

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ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02138-6

ISBN-10: 0-547-02138-0

by Robert Hirschfeld

Jim Thorpe

Jim Thorpe may have been the

greatest athlete of the last century He was a star in football, baseball, track, and other sports, too

Jim Thorpe was great

in almost every sport

he played.

Jim Thorpe was

born in 1887 in

Oklahoma He had

a hard life and left

school many times

Finally, his father sent

him to the Carlisle

Indian School

It was one of the

few schools where

an American Indian

could get a college

education then

At Carlisle Indian

School, Jim Thorpe

became a star

in many sports,

including football.

Jim had never competed in sports before Carlisle Then one day, he saw some students trying the high jump

They ran and then jumped as high as they could to get over a pole The other kids couldn’t get over the pole, but Jim did it! From that day on, Jim loved

sports Before long, he became Carlisle’s star athlete

Jim Thorpe was a great runner and jumper at Carlisle.

Jim Thorpe Becomes Famous

Jim played many sports, but at Carlisle

he was best known for football With Jim on the team, Carlisle won the national football championship in

1912 The small school beat some of the best college teams

in the country

Jim Thorpe was a great kicker and runner He also was a star on defense!

That same year, Jim Thorpe went to the 1912 Olympic Games in Sweden

He competed in the pentathlon and the decathlon For these sports you have

to be good at running, jumping, and

swimming You need power, skill, and speed Everyone was rooting for him Thorpe won! The King of Sweden gave Thorpe his medals and said, “Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world.”

To win the pentathlon and decathlon,

Thorpe had to compete in many events.

The next year, newspapers learned that Thorpe once got paid for playing baseball No

competitors in the Olympics were allowed to earn money from sports The people running the Olympics took away Thorpe’s medals Many people thought this was wrong

Thorpe kept his medals for less than a year and then had to give them back.

Thorpe Becomes a Professional

Thorpe was very

upset to lose his

medals, but he

never gave up on

sports He became

a professional

baseball and football

player He also

formed an Indian

basketball team

that played on

courts in New York,

Pennsylvania, and

Ohio People went

to see these games

just because Thorpe

was on the team

Thorpe played for three major league baseball teams, including the New York Giants.

Thorpe was a famous man, but

he was often treated unfairly, like

many American Indians at that time

For example, while he was growing

up, Indians could not vote Thorpe

sometimes spoke out against the way

Indians were treated

Thorpe was proud of being an American Indian.

Jim Thorpe died in 1953 His

daughter, Grace Thorpe, worked for

years to get her father’s Olympic medals back At last, in 1982, the Olympic

Committee returned them to his family The entire athletic world applauded

It took 70 years for the Thorpe family to win

TARGET VOCABULARY Word Builder

Make a word web around the word athlete Copy the web and add other words that

have to do with athletes.

athlete

team

Text to Self Jim Thorpe was a great athlete

Write a short paragraph about him Tell

why you think he was great and what made

him special Use words from the web in

your writing

Write About It

Target Vocabulary <target icon>

athlete

championship

competitor

court

entire

power

professional

rooting

Target Strategy

Question Ask questions before you read, while you read, and after you read

Word Teaser

This word describes an athlete who plays a sport for a living

<professional>

athlete

championship

competitor

court

entire power professional rooting

TARGET VOCABULARY

TARGET STRATEGY Question Ask questions before you read, while you read, and after

you read

This word describes an athlete who plays a sport for a living.

ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02138-6 ISBN-10: 0-547-02138-0

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

Online Leveled Books

Level: N

DRA: 34

Social Studies

Strategy:

Question

Word Count: 528

3.3.11 Build Vocabulary