Read
The Little Engine That Could to the class. Discuss how the engine wanted to get to
the top of the mountain. The Little Engine was determined and set a goal to reach the top of the
mountain and the village beyond it. The engine had to keep trying.
Compare and contrast the Olympic athletes to the Little Engine setting the goal to reach the top
of the mountain.
Explain in simple terms the following history of the Olympic Flame.
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The most revered and visible symbol of the Olympic Games is the Olympic Flame. During the
ancient Games, in Olympia, Greece, a sacred flame burned continually on the altar of the
goddess, Hera.
In the modern era, the Olympic Flame first appeared at the 1928 Amsterdam Games. The idea
for the flame first had been suggested by Theodore Lewald, a member of the International
Olympic Committee, who later became one of the chief organizers of the 1936 Berlin Games.
The tradition of the Olympic Torch Relay, which culminates in the lighting of the Olympic
cauldron at the Opening Ceremony of each Games, dates to the 1936 Berlin Games. Carl Diem,
the noted Olympic historian and head of the organizing committee, created the first torch
relay to symbolize the link between the Ancient and Modern Olympic Games. The flame was
lit in a ceremony at Olympia, Greece. From there, 3,000 runners carried the torch through
seven countries to Berlin. The relay was timed so that the flame arrived at the stadium
at the precise moment required. Ever since, the lighting of the Olympic cauldron has become
the most hallowed moment of the Olympic Games.
The first torch relay of the Olympic Winter Games was organized for the 1952 Oslo, Norway,
Games. The flame was kindled at the home where legendary Norwegian skier Sondre Nordheim
was born. Ninety-four skiers carried the flame to the Opening Ceremony in Oslo's Bislett
Stadium. At the 1994 Lillehammer Games, ski-jumper Stein Gruben literally leaped into the
Olympic arena with the flame.
The youngest person ever to light the Olympic flame was Robin Perry, age 12, who lit the
flame at the 1988 Calgary Olympic Winter Games. It is an honor to be selected as one of
the torch runners that help carry the flame to its final destination.
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Discuss goal setting with students.
Explain what it feels like to accomplish something you've set your mind to doing. Explain how the feeling
they get when they set and achieve their goals is like a torch inside of us to keep us going in the direction
we want to go. Goals, like a torch, can help us by lighting the path in the direction we want to go. Goals,
like a torch's light, help us to keep from getting lost.
Discuss goals that students might set. What are some long and some short-term goals? What do students want
to do when they grow up? Are there goals that need to begin now? How much commitment and determination is
it going to take to reach those goals? What is commitment and determination? Are they different for different goals?
Have the students write about a goal they want to work towards. It might describe what they want to be when they
grow up. Have students draw and color a picture about what they wrote. Share the writing and pictures with the
class. Make a book of the goals or mount them on the wall so others can read them.
Pass out the outline drawing of the Olympic Torch. Color the handle gold, or brown.
Take the yellow tissue and put it on the end of a pencil, twist, put a dab of glue on
the end and glue it on the paper flame. You have a torch of your own to remind you to
always keep the flame of determination and commitment burning while you are working
towards the goals that you set.
Recommended books for literature extensions:
Worth Remembering, Leavitt, Jacalyn S. 2001
Do You Have the Time, Lydia? Ness, Evaline. Dutton, 1971. ISBN 0-525-28790-6
The Three Wishes, Zemach, Margot. Farrar, 1993. ISBN 0-374-37529-1
Dream Tree, Cosgrove, Stephen. Serendipity, 1974. ISBN 0-915-39606-8
Hucklebug, Cosgrove, Stephen. Serendipity, 1974. ISBN 0-915-39607-6
Morgan and Me, Cosgrove, Stephen. Creative Education, 1978. ISBN 0-871-91660-6
Berenstein Bears Get Stage Fright, Berenstein, Stan and Jan Random, 1986. ISBN 0-394-97337-2
Here Comes the Strikeout, Kesslin, Leonard.
Little Red Hen, Boudart, Jennifer (Adapted). Publications International. ISBN 0-785-32134-9
Mistakes are Great, Zadra, Dan.
The Best Mistake Ever, Scarry, Richard.
Six Crows, Lionni, Leo. Knoopf, 1988. ISBN 0-394-89572-X
Horton Hatches the Egg, Suess, Dr. Random House, 1940.
It's Not Bad to Make Mistakes, Lyles, Karen.
The Ant and the Grasshopper, Aesop Fable. Houghton Mifflin, 1991. ISBN 0-395-55028-9
