Collection of the Bata Shoe Museum. Image © 2022 Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada.
Rubber sole
Sneakers were the first shoes with rubber bottoms. That made them quiet. They were so quiet that you could sneak up on someone.
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The Story of Sneakers
People started wearing sneakers more than 100 years ago. How did they start?
From the March/April 2023 Issue
Sneaky Sneakers
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Converse were first made in 1917.
Basketball Sneakers
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Then someone made sneakers for basketball. They were called Converse. They are still around today.
Waffle Bottoms
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Nike first sold Waffle Trainers in 1973.
One day a running coach got an idea. He was eating waffles when he thought of it!
He made sneakers with bumpy bottoms. They kept runners from slipping.
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Michael Jordan wore Air Jordans in the 1990s.
Air Jordans
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Then came the amazing basketball player Michael Jordan. A lot of people wanted to wear sneakers like his. They bought Air Jordans.
Since then, sneakers have been for sports and style. What kind of sneakers do you like?
video
(1)
Activities
(3)
Skills Activities
Answer Key
(1)
More About the Article
English Language Arts Focus
Key details
Social Studies Focus
History, culture
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Essential Question
The essential question of this issue is What can sports teach us? The articles below connect to this theme.
- Picture This!: “Flip Out!,” p. 2
- Background Builder: “Sports for All,” p. 8
- Big Read-Aloud: “Ready, Set, Race!,” p. 10
- Fiction: “The Terrible Turtles,” p. 24
- Mini History: “The Story of Sneakers,” p. 30
- Poetry: “Brand-New Ball,” p. 32
Through the above genres, students will discuss:
- What sports do people play? What equipment do they use?
- Why do we play sports?
- What is it like to be on a team?
- How can we try our best?
IMPLEMENTATION SUGGESTIONS
Whole Class
- Our Mini History feature provides an engaging, rich true story of the past. Read “The Story of Sneakers” as a whole class.
Writing Block
- After reading and discussing the article, you can return to it later for your writing block. Have children design and write about a sneaker of the future using our skills page.
1. BEFORE READING
Show a Video (10 minutes)
- Watch “The Big Question: What Can Sports Teach Us?” with children to activate background knowledge about sports and sports equipment. (This video also goes with other articles in the issue.)
Preview Visuals/Text Features (7-10 minutes)
- Point out the images and text features in the article. Call children’s attention to the way the sneakers look and the dates in the captions. Guide them to conclude that these images are from the past.
- Tell children that history describes something that happened in the past. They are about to read about the history of sneakers. Ask them to think about how sneakers have changed over time.
2. READ THE ARTICLE (15-30 minutes)
- Depending on your students’ levels, you may want to read the article aloud once and then have volunteers read each section.
- For each section, ask how sneakers changed. Why did they change?
3. AFTER READING: Focus on Skills
ELA Focus: Main Idea (10 minutes)
- Encourage the comprehension of past and present with the fun Design a Sneaker skills page.
ELA Focus: Parts of Speech (15 minutes)
- Explore sports vocabulary and practice separating nouns and verbs with the Sort and Score activity. (This page also goes with other stories in the issue.)
ELA Focus: Main Idea (10 minutes)
- This version of the Design a Sneaker page allows you to provide the same content at a lower level.
Text-to-Speech