The Championship Shot
ROLES:
- NARRATOR: The voice of the gym, telling the story.
- HOLDEN: An 11-year-old guard for the Warriors. He is very determined.
- MATTEO: An 11-year-old forward. He is tall, smart, and helpful.
- DESMOND: An 11-year-old forward who plays very hard.
- COACH SHANNON: The helper coach. She holds a clipboard.
- COACH JORDAN: The head coach. He is calm and wise.
ACT I: THE DEFICIT
NARRATOR: The gym is very loud! The scoreboard shows a sad score for the Alston Ridge Warriors. They are losing by ten points late in the fourth quarter of the big game. The other team, the Panthers, seems impossible to beat.
HOLDEN: [Wiping sweat from his forehead and breathing hard] Keep your heads up! We worked too hard all year to give up now. We still have three minutes left on that clock!
MATTEO: [Nodding and looking determined] Holden is right. The other team thinks they already won. Their defense is getting lazy. If we run fast to the hoop, we can find open spots to score.
DESMOND: [Clapping his hands together] Let's guard them closely! We can steal the ball, score quickly, and change the game. Matteo, you and I will guard the basket. Holden, you guard the outside. Let's go!
- deficit:
- The number of points a team is losing by.
- screen:
- A move where a player stands still to block a defender from following their teammate.
- inbound:
- To pass the basketball from out of bounds back onto the court.
- buzzer:
- A loud horn that sounds when the game's time runs out.
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Preview questions from this passageShowHide
- 1What basketball team do Holden, Matteo, and Desmond play for?
- 2How many points are the Warriors losing by at the very start of the play?
About this reader's theater passage for 4th Grade
“The Championship Shot” is a reader's theater reading passage about Basketball Championship, written for 4th Grade. It takes about 5 minutes to read (785 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.