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Director: Gavin O'Connor

Writer: Eric Guggenheim

Stars: Kurt Russell,  Patricia Clarkson,  Nathan West

Teaser: The 1980 United States olympic hockey team pulled off one of the most famous underdog victories in sports history by beating the powerhouse and perennial Gold medal champion Soviet Union. This movie shows their journey starting with the idea to use college players not professional players.

Teaching Idea: Show the movie in class and task student with researching and summarizing one underdog story and presenting to the class the following day.

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Speech By: Eric Thomas
Video by: Matthew Howell
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsSC2vx7zFQ

Teaser: Dedicate 6 mins of your time for a quick story that can supply endless amounts of inspiration and insight on what it takes to be successful

Teaching Idea: Have a class discussion centered around what each students consider "success". The point of this will be to show students that success is different for everyone and that no matter what students want to attain in their lives, the only way to achieve success is through hard work.

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By: Jeff Strand
Published: March 2014
Genre: Fiction
Approx. Interest Level: 6-8
Text Level: Middle School
Grade Level Equivalent: N/A
Guided Reading: Y
DRA: 60
Lexile: 740L

Teaser: A sixteen year old boy is sent off to camp to teach people survival skills. Little did he know, armed killers would arrive and the term "Survival Camp" becomes all too literal.

Teaching Idea: Task students with writing a short story of any kind which is centered around a character overcoming an obstacle. This will give students valuable practice with creative writing.

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By: Gloria Whelan
Published: March 1991
Genre: Historical Fiction
Illustrated by: Leslie Bowman
Approx. Interest Level: 3-5
Text Level: Elementary School
Grade Level Equivalent: N/A
Guided Reading: N
DRA: 30
Lexile: 740L

Teaser: Blindness is an obstacle that is very difficult overcome. Hannahs blindness was keeping her out of school in Michigan in late nineteenth century. Will she be able to overcome her obstacle?

Teaching idea: Blindfold students and ask them to perform tasks without vision. This will give them a better idea of what blindness can feel like and give them a better sense of the obstacle the character is challenged with.

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By: Paul Galdone
Published: January 19
Genre: Folklore
Approx. Interest Level: Prek-2
Text Level: Low Elementary
Grade Level Equivalent: 1.8
Guided Reading: I
DRA: 16
Lexile: 340L

Teaser: Three determined billy goats must use their wits to sneak past a big ugly troll in order to continue their journey up the mountain.

Teaching Idea: Split the students into groups and ask them to put themselves into the goats shoes and come with a strategy for sneaking past the goat. Students will then share their strategies with the class.

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By: J.K Rowling
Published: January 1997
Genre: Fiction
Approx. Interest Level: 4-8
Text Level:  Upper Elementary-Middle School
Grade Level Equivalent: N/A
Guided Reading: V
DRA: 50
Lexile: 880L

Teaser: The first installment of, arguably, the greatest fiction series ever written! Dive into this magical world and you will not regret it.

Teaching Idea: Throughout the reading process I will have students take notes when they come across examples of the power of friendship. After reading we will have a discussion in which each student will be asked to share a few examples they noted while reading.

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By: Marcus Luttrell & Patrick Robinson
Published: June 2006
Genre: Autobiography
Approx Interest level: 9-12
Text Level: High School
Grade Level Equivalent: 7.2
Guided Reading: N/A
DRA: N/A
Lexile: N/A

Teaser: Three U.S Navy Seals stranded in Afghanistan, surrounded by al Qaeda soldiers without communication. One Navy Seal, the author of this book, miraculously survived the failed operation.

Teaching Idea: Break the class into groups, give them each a poster and assign each group a character and ask them to list personality traits on the posters that drove the characters to perform heroic acts.

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By: Mike Lupica
Published: April 2006
Genre: Sports Fiction
Approx. Interest level:5-8 or 9-12
Text Level: Middle/High School
Grade Level Equivalent: 5.3
Guided Reading: V
DRA: 50
Lexile: 940L

Teaser: A New York boy with a deep love for baseball faces the adversity of losing a family member while still chasing his MLB dreams.

Teaching Idea: Start a classroom discussion with examples of how the character attacked his obstacles. I would then push the discussion towards students coming up with their own examples or experiences related to things they have overcame.

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By: Yann Martei
Published: September 2001
Genre: Fiction
Approx. Interest level: 9-12
Text Level: High School
Grade level equivalent: N/A
Guided Reading: N/A
DRA: N/A
Lexile: 830L

Teaser: A 16 year old boy on a boat with no company except that of tiger for 227 days. Is survival possible?

Teaching idea: I would ask the students to reflect on the story and make a connection from either text to another text or text to self. It is important for readers to be able to connect fictional stories to other stories and/or real life experiences.

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Escape From Slavery: Five Journeys to Freedom

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Escape From Slavery: Five Journeys to Freedom

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By: Doreen Rappaport
Illustrated by: Charles Lilly
Published: December 1998
Genre: Non-Fiction
Approx. Interest level: 6-8
Text Level: Middle School
Grade level equivalent: 5.8
Guided Reading: Q
DRA: 40
Lexile: 750L

Teaser: Slavery was once predominant in the United States, as were the brutal methods slave owners used to stop their slaves from escaping. This book chronicles 5 exhilarating stories of courageos people escaping the brutality.

Teaching Idea: Ask students to research a historical figure during this time in history and do a brief assignment about that person and the obstacles they overcame.

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By: Carl Deuker
Published: 9/22/2008
Genre: Sports Fiction
Approx. Interest Level: 9-12
Text Level: High School
Grade Level Equivelant: 3.7
Guided Reading: Z+
DRA: N/A
Lexile: 710L

Teaser: The hardest obstacles to overcome are often disguised within ourselves, within our goals and within our desires and within our temptations.

Teaching Idea: Assign a reflection asking the students to write about a obstacle that was hidden inside themselves that they found a way to overcome or are still trying to overcome.

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by: Laura Hillenbrand
Published: 11/16/2010
Genre: Biography
Approx. Interest level: 9-12
Text Level: High School
Grade level equivalency: N/A
Guided Reading: N/A
DRA: N/A
Lexile: 850

Teaser: Your Air Force Bomber just crashed in the Pacific Ocean, in enemy territory. You are floating on a raft above shark infested waters patrolled by the enemy. You are battling thirst and starvation, could you survive?

Teaching Idea: Supplement the reading of the Novel with the showing of the movie in class.