H O UG H T O N MIF F L IN by Robert Hirschfeld PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Cover Cumberland County Historical Society © Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS © Bettmann/CORBIS © Bettmann/CORBIS Cumberland County Historical Society Associated Press © Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS Cumberland County Historical Society © Bettmann/CORBIS © Bettmann/ CORBIS 10 Associated Press Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Company All rights reserved No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law With the exception of nonprofit transcription into Braille, Houghton Mifflin is not authorized to grant permission for further uses of this work Permission must be obtained from the individual copyright owner as identified herein Address requests for permission to make copies of Houghton Mifflin material to School Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Company, 222 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116 Printed in China ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02138-6 ISBN-10: 0-547-02138-0 RRD 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 Jim Thorpe Jim Thorpe may have been the greatest athlete of the last century He was a star in football, baseball, track, and other sports, too Jim Thorpe was great in almost every sport he played Jim Thorpe was born in 1887 in Oklahoma He had a hard life and left school many times Finally, his father sent him to the Carlisle Indian School It was one of the few schools where an American Indian could get a college education then At Carlisle Indian School, Jim Thorpe became a star in many sports, including football Jim Thorpe was a great runner and jumper at Carlisle Jim had never competed in sports before Carlisle Then one day, he saw some students trying the high jump They ran and then jumped as high as they could to get over a pole The other kids couldn’t get over the pole, but Jim did it! From that day on, Jim loved sports Before long, he became Carlisle’s star athlete Jim Thorpe Becomes Famous Jim played many sports, but at Carlisle he was best known for football With Jim on the team, Carlisle won the national football championship in 1912 The small school beat some of the best college teams in the country Jim Thorpe was a great kicker and runner He also was a star on defense! That same year, Jim Thorpe went to the 1912 Olympic Games in Sweden He competed in the pentathlon and the decathlon For these sports you have to be good at running, jumping, and swimming You need power, skill, and speed Everyone was rooting for him Thorpe won! The King of Sweden gave Thorpe his medals and said, “Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world.” To win the pentathlon and decathlon, Thorpe had to compete in many events The next year, newspapers learned that Thorpe once got paid for playing baseball No competitors in the Olympics were allowed to earn money from sports The people running the Olympics took away Thorpe’s medals Many people thought this was wrong Thorpe kept his medals for less than a year and then had to give them back Thorpe Becomes a Professional Thorpe was very upset to lose his medals, but he never gave up on sports He became a professional baseball and football player He also formed an Indian basketball team that played on courts in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio People went to see these games just because Thorpe was on the team Thorpe played for three major league baseball teams, including the New York Giants Thorpe was proud of being an American Indian Thorpe was a famous man, but he was often treated unfairly, like many American Indians at that time For example, while he was growing up, Indians could not vote Thorpe sometimes spoke out against the way Indians were treated Jim Thorpe died in 1953 His daughter, Grace Thorpe, worked for years to get her father’s Olympic medals back At last, in 1982, the Olympic Committee returned them to his family The entire athletic world applauded It took 70 years for the Thorpe family to win back Jim’s medals 10 Responding Word Builder Make a word web around the word athlete Copy the web and add other words that have to with athletes TARGET VOCABULARY team athlete Write About It Text to Self Jim Thorpe was a great athlete Write a short paragraph about him Tell why you think he was great and what made him special Use words from the web in your writing 11 Target Vocabulary athlete TARGET VOCABULARY championship athlete entire championship power competitor competitor professional court court rooting entire power TARGET STRATEGY Question Ask questions professional before you read, while you read, and after yourooting read Target Strategy Question Ask questions before you read, while you read, and after you read Word Teaser This word describes an athlete who This word plays a sport for describes a living.an athlete who plays a sport for a living 12 Level: N DRA: 34 Social Studies Strategy: Question Word Count: 528 3.3.11 Build Vocabulary HOUGHTON MIFFLIN Online Leveled Books ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02138-6 ISBN-10: 0-547-02138-0 1032025 ... 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 Jim Thorpe Jim Thorpe may have been the greatest athlete of the last century He was a star in football, baseball, track, and other sports, too Jim Thorpe was great in almost... education then At Carlisle Indian School, Jim Thorpe became a star in many sports, including football Jim Thorpe was a great runner and jumper at Carlisle Jim had never competed in sports before... kids couldn’t get over the pole, but Jim did it! From that day on, Jim loved sports Before long, he became Carlisle’s star athlete Jim Thorpe Becomes Famous Jim played many sports, but at Carlisle