1. sports
2. olympics

OLYMPIAN STORIES
TESSA
VIRTUE
SCOTT
MOIR
TEAMWORK
CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM
2014/2015
BRONZE LEVEL
Grades 2-3
www.olympic.ca/education
JUSTIN WADSWORTH
FAIR PLAY
TEACHERS GUIDE
CREATING A
CANADIAN
OLYMPIC LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT
GILMORE JUNIO AND DENNY MORRISON
FRIENDSHIP
DOMINIQUE MALTAIS
DETERMINATION
Each story, featuring a well-known
Canadian Olympian or coach from the
Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, is
brought to life with activities that engage
students in literacy, physical activity,
character and team-building challenges.
JEAN-PHILIPPE
LE GUELLEC
EXCELLENCE
TESSA VIRTUE
AND SCOTT MOIR
Through these values-based Olympian and Coach
stories, students discover that Canadian athletes
reached great success not only through tremendous
physical talents, but also through character and
intelligence. Complementing these captivating
stories is the mental fitness resource Be a Champion
for Life: Energy Gains and Energy Drains. Together,
these resources create a foundation for teachers to
inspire their students to exercise their mind,
body and character.
TEAMWORK
2
BRONZE LEVEL
Grades 2-3
www.olympic.ca/education
The Canadian Olympic School Program (COSP) is
designed in accordance with the founder of the
modern Olympic Movement, Pierre de Coubertin’s,
philosophy of Olympism. By recognizing the value of
Olympians and coaches as role models, the program
engages students with the joy found in effort while
blending sport with culture and education. The
Athlete and Coach stories balance intellectual
instruction, cultural development and physical
education. The heart of the curriculum focuses on
participation, effort and the pride in knowing you
have given your all to the pursuit of excellence.
OLYMPIC VALUES AS
EDUCATIONAL TOOLS
The worldwide Olympic values of friendship,
excellence and respect act as a foundation for
these stories. Each Athlete and Coach story will
focus on the development of a character value
within your students. By engaging students in each
narrative, they have the opportunity to expand their
understanding of this value and to expand their
moral capabilities.
BLENDING
SPORT WITH
CULTURE AND EDUCATION
Each Athlete and Coach story is tailored to three
reading levels: Bronze (grades 2 and 3), Silver
(grades 4 and 5), and Gold (grades 6 to 8). Each
story comes with progressive activities that are
open- ended and tailored to address a diverse range
of learning styles and proficiencies. They focus
on six main facets of understanding: explaining,
interpreting, applying, taking perspective,
empowering and developing self- knowledge. These
critical thinking skills are woven into all three stages
of the learning sequence in order to promote deeper
understanding of the values and concepts.
Through many facets of the 2014-2015 Canadian
Olympic School Program, children and youth can
connect values to their lives at home, at school and
in their local community. Perhaps they can begin to
see their world in new and different ways.
TEACHING GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS
Current curriculum theory emphasizes the importance of reinforcing value
messages through narratives, storytelling, art, posters, drama, and physical
movement. Activities based on the stories, events, ceremonies and symbols
of the Olympic Games have school-wide relevance.
Group sizes for activities will be
indicated by the following icons:
3
Independent Activity
PIERRE DE COUBERTIN
Small Group Activity
Large Group Activity
OLYMPIAN STORIES
TESSA
VIRTUE
SC O T T
MOIR
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir first met at figure
skating class when they were kids. Tessa was
six and Scott was eight. They were coached
by Scott’s aunt. After a year, she decided that
they should try ice dancing together. They
both felt very shy. It took them a year before
they could speak to each other.
Nobody knew that they would become one of the
best ice dance teams in the world. But they both
loved ice dancing.
“We always joke that ice dance chose us,
and it’s true,” says Tessa.
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CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM | 2014/2015
BRONZE LEVEL
Grades 2-3
www.olympic.ca/education
TESSA VIRTUE AND SCOTT MOIR | SOCHI 2014
Over time, they became very good friends. They
pushed each other to work harder. They learned
some very tricky footwork, and won the Junior
National Championships.
In 2008, they won a silver medal at the World Figure
Skating Championships. But Tessa was skating on
injured legs. She was in a lot of pain. The doctors
said she needed surgery.
This was the toughest time in their career. They
wanted to train hard. But Tessa was still in pain.
Would she be ready for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic
Winter Games?
They felt confident when they arrived in Vancouver.
They were swept up in the excitement. Tessa sent a
text message to her mom: “We own this rink!”
After their first skate, they were in second place.
They moved into first place after their short program.
Their last skate was almost perfect. They had won
gold!
“We had dreamed of winning at home,” says Tessa.
“Singing ‘O Canada’ with Scott and 11,000 people
was the best moment of my life.”
After winning gold, they still wanted to skate
together. Tessa needed another surgery. She worked
with experts to get healthy again. Through it all,
Tessa and Scott worked as a team.
Before the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, they
came up with their own idea for their long program.
5
“WE WANTED TO TRAIN AS HARD AS
WE COULD AND TO HAVE A GOOD
OLYMPIC MEMORY TOGETHER.”
SCOTT MOIR
Their music and skate would tell the story of their
skating career, beginning as two children who loved
to skate together.
Before their last skate in Sochi, they helped calm each
other’s nerves. It worked. They had the best skate of
their lives. The scores were counted, and they won silver.
“We went there to win gold,” says Scott. “We didn’t
expect to be so happy with silver. But we got our real
goals. We wanted to train as hard as we could and
to have a good Olympic memory together.”
TESSA VIRTUE AND SCOTT MOIR | SOCHI 2014
ICE DANCING is a figure skating event
at the Olympic Winter Games. A male and a female
skater spin and dance to music. Unlike pairs skating,
there are no throws and jumps. The skaters must stay
within two arm lengths.
JUDGES
6
SCORING SYSTEM:
TECHNICAL ELEMENTS JUMPS, SPINS,
FOOTWORK, LIFTS +
PROGRAM COMPONENTS CHOREOGRAPHY,
INTERPRETATION, PERFORMANCE
PAIRS
OLYMPIC DEBUT: 1908
SHORT PROGRAM:
2MIN:50SEC MAX
FREE PROGRAM:
4MIN:30SEC +/- 10 SEC
TESSA VIRTUE AND SCOTT MOIR
SOCHI 2014
TESSA VIRTUE
SCOTT MOIR TEAMWORK
LEARNING SEQUENCE
CONNECTING—BUILDING A PROCESSING—USING
TRANSFORMING—
Ask the students if they have ever been
on a team and what they liked about the experience.
Some will say they liked playing with friends, working
together for a goal, or having fun.
Teamwork Posters
FOUNDATION FOR NEW LEARNING STRATEGIES TO ACQUIRE AND
USE KNOWLEDGE
Ask the students why some teams are better than
others. Brainstorm a list on the white board/black
board/flip chart/other.
Students read the story with
a partner or individually.
In partner groups, students underline the parts of the
story that talk about Tessa and Scott working together
as a team. Partners draft a sentence that describes
why Tessa and Scott are such a good team. Partner
groups share their sentence, and the teacher makes a
class list.
Discuss as a class what makes Tessa and
Scott a good team.
SHOWING UNDERSTANDING IN A
NEW WAY
Imagine it is the first practice for a new team.
Students pick the characteristic of a good team that
means the most to them, and then draw a poster
to advertise that characteristic. They can be teamspecific if they want to make the poster for a team
that they are on.
For example, their poster might read:
GREAT TEAMS WORK TOGETHER
Gordon Head Soccer-- Working Together
EXTENSION ACTIVITY
Have the students host a poster gallery
to promote teamwork. Invite other
classes to see the posters and to discuss teamwork.
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TESSA VIRTUE AND SCOTT MOIR | SOCHI 2014
OLYMPIAN STORIES
TESSA S C O T T
VIRTUE
MOIR
TEAMWORK
CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM
2014/2015
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
THE CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM WISHES TO THANK AND ACKNOWLEDGE
THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE. WITHOUT THEIR EFFORTS, AND
CREATIVITY, THIS PROJECT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE.
CANADIAN OLYMPIC
COMMITTEE
Eric Boulé
Ty Greene
Derek Kent
Marie-Ève Marleau
Nathaniel Miller
Kate Moorhouse
Olya Ovtchinnikova
Marc-André Plouffe
Sandra Sassine
Paulo Senra
Tys van der Drift
FEATURED ATHLETE
Tessa Virtue
Scott Moir
WEBSITE
Todd Denis
Mark Nadolny
Georgia Sapounas
PHOTOGRAPHS
Winston Chow
Ben Stevenson
INTERVIEWER
Sylvain Leclerc
WRITERS
Bruce Deacon
Marcie Good
Claire Cairnie
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Andy Maier
TRANSLATION
Célyne Malette, Editor
Pascale Seide Legros
BRONZE LEVEL
Grades 2-3
www.olympic.ca/education