The Wildcat Weekly: Week 4: Satchel Paige

Dear Parents and Students,

I hope that you all are having a great week. You are going to love our story this week. We are going to be reading about Satchel Paige. He was one of the greatest baseball pitchers that ever lived. Because baseball was segregated, he played in the Negro Leagues. Paige liked traveling the country almost as much as he liked baseball. He could strikeout the best hitters with his crazy pitches and long-legged wind-up. Even when he settled down and started a family, he could not keep away from his first love - baseball.

Activity: Crazy Cards

Work with a family member to create baseball-style "trading cards" for members of your family. On one side, draw a picture of a family. On the other side, draw a picture of a family member that shows a real or imaginary claim to fame - was Grandpa the first person to swim across the Atlantic? Did Aunt Mae eat the most hot dogs in recorded history? On the back, describe your family member and his or her story.

Comprehension Skill: Sequence

Sequence is the order that events happen in a story. When you read, think about what comes first, next, and last. Several events can occur at the same time. Words such as meanwhile and during give clues that two events are happening at the same time.

Comprehension Skill Activity: Play-By-Play

While a member of your family is doing something (cooking, cleaning, playing), try to narrate every action they take as you might hear a sports announcer do it. Try to describe what they do in the exact order they do it.

Lesson Vocabulary

confidence firm belief in yourself; self-confidence

fastball a pitch thrown at high speed with very little curve

mocking laughing at; making fun of

outfield the three players in the outfield of a baseball field

unique having no like or equal; being the only one of its kind

weakness a weak point; slight fault

windup a swinging movement of the arms while twisting the body just before pitching the ball

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Grammar Lesson: Compound and Complex Sentences

A compound sentence contains two simple sentence joined with a comma and a word such as and, but, and or. For example: I went to the game, but Juan stayed home. The comma and the word but joins two simple sentences into one compound sentence. On the other hand, a complex sentence is made up of a simple sentence and another part. The other part has a subject and a verb, but it is a dependent clause, which means it does not make sense by itself. For example: After he finished his homework, Juan came and joined me. "After he finished his homework" does not make sense by itself - it is an independent clause.

Grammar Skill Activity: If, And, or But

Work with a family member to create a graphic organizer. Put a simple sentence in a bubble in the center. Take turns adding new bubbles onto the main simple sentence to create compound sentences. See who can make the silliest sentence.