Lesson Plan - Nothing Can Hold Me Back
Learning Objective
Students will learn how an 11-year-old football player who is legally blind perseveres to achieve his goals.
Text Structure
Profile, Sequence
Content-Area Connections
Social and Emotional Learning
Standards Correlations
CCSS: RI.4.1, RI.4.2, RI.4.3, RI.4.4, RI.4.5, RI.4.6, RI.4.7, RI.4.8, RI.4.10, L.4.4, SL.4.1
CASEL: Social Awareness
TEKS: Health 4.11
1. Preparing to Read
Watch a Video: My Story: Isaiah Bingham
After watching, ask: How has Isaiah’s eyesight affected him? How has he kept it from holding him back?
Preview Words to Know
Project the online vocabulary slideshow and introduce the Words to Know.
Set a Purpose for Reading
Point out the As You Read question, and encourage students to think about the difference between “vision” and “sight.”
2. Close-Reading Questions
1. What does Isaiah mean when he says “I prove a lot of people wrong”? Isaiah means that he does things—like riding a bike and playing football, basketball, and baseball—that other people don’t expect him to be able to do because of his eyesight.
(RI.4.1 INFERENCE)
2. What is the section “Beating the Odds” mainly about? This section is mainly about how Isaiah’s mom arrived at the decision to let him play tackle football.
(RI.4.2 MAIN IDEA)
3. What is the meaning behind Isaiah’s nickname? Isaiah’s coach gave him the nickname “Vision” because “even though Isaiah doesn’t have perfect eyesight, he has a clear vision for what he wants out of life.”
(RI.4.1 TEXT EVIDENCE)
3. Skill Building
FEATURED SKILL: Explanatory Writing
Use the skill builder “Go for Your Goals” to have students outline how they might pursue their goals just as Isaiah has. Download it as Google Slides or a PDF.
(W.4.2 EXPLANATORY WRITING)
