Mrs. Doh: 8th Grade English Language Arts



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Rachel Feltman September 18 Rachel Feltman September 18

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Christiana Middle School Reading Article

Patrick Austin Overcomes Death of His Father… (1030L)

Instructions: COMPLETE ALL QUESTIONS AND MARGIN NOTES using the CLOSE reading strategies practiced in class. This requires reading of the article three times.

Step 1: Number the paragraphs in the text.

Step 2: Make notes/questions/comments in the margin. This also includes Observations about how the writer’s strategies (organization, word choice, perspective, support) and choices affect the article

Step 3: Follow the annotation form and mark the text as you read.

Step 4: A final quick read noting anything you may have missed during the first two reads.

Your margin notes are part of your score for this assessment. Answer the questions carefully in complete sentences unless otherwise instructed.

Student ____________________________Class Period__________________

Patrick Austin overcomes death of his father, tough upbringing to find success on the basketball court for Mountain Island Charter

MOUNT HOLLY – Before Mountain Island Charter’s Jan. 12 game against Pine Lake Prep, Raptors coach Chastin Massey saw his forward, Patrick Austin sitting by himself. Austin wasn’t talking much to his teammates during the boys junior varsity and girls varsity games. Massey thought he seemed a little down.

However, when the game started, Austin was everywhere. He put up 20 points and 20 rebounds, setting a school record for boards, and the Raptors picked up a big conference win, 65-62.

Later, Massey found out the reason Austin seemed low before the game. Jan. 12 marked exactly 14 years since the death of Austin’s father, Patrick Austin Sr. Police say it was a suicide. Patrick has a hard time believing that, he said, because of how much his father loved his family. Regardless, Patrick Sr. has been gone for the majority of his son’s life. Every January, Austin Jr. said, is tough on him around that anniversary date.

“That whole week, I mean, I couldn’t even take my midterm because I was just thinking of him so much. When I was just thinking about him and stuff like that, I was just realizing I’m going to have to find a way to get over it, I usually get over it by playing basketball,” he said.

Austin started playing ball when he was a kid partly because he was often the last kid on the blacktop in grade school, and he hated that perceived slight. He continued with it, he said, because he heard that his dad used to be pretty good. Austin Jr. said sharing the name with his father made him want to make the name mean something positive to people. “I kept hearing about how aggressive he was and stuff like that, kind of the same way I play,” Austin said with a smile.

"SCHOOL WAS A SECOND PRIORITY"

It wasn’t always easy to stay on the court. Austin started off high school at Myers Park, and while he was interested in playing ball, grades were a problem. Austin’s mom put him at Myers Park because she thought it would be a good academic environment for him, but the family moved around a lot, and Austin had to take a city bus to school. At some point, coming up with bus fare every day started to become a challenge. He began to miss classes, and when his attendance dipped, so did his GPA.

Austin transferred to Harding University High School, his home district, and for a while, his grades improved. But to help make ends meet for his family, he started working 30 to 35 hours a week, which affected his academic performance.

“I started working two jobs, helping referee, actually, and landscaping. I helped pay my mom’s bills and stuff like that,” Austin said. “School was a second priority, to be honest, because I didn’t want my mom to be out (of her house) and I didn’t want me or my sister to be out.” Most days, Austin said, he’d come home, exhausted, kick off his shoes - usually still with mulch in them, which his mom wasn’t especially happy about – take a shower and go to sleep. Homework wasn’t really part of his day, so again, with his grades low, he wasn’t able to pursue basketball.

Toward the end of his junior year at Harding, however, Austin got on the court by playing in a church league. Eventually, through teammates and families he knew through the league, he started attending services at Dilworth United Methodist Church.

During that time, the bills got to be too much for Austin’s family, and they were kicked out of their home. He moved in with a friend. Through the friend’s mom, word got to the church, and the church community helped out. With that positive force in his life to check up on him and motivate him, Austin said he started making homework a priority after coming home from work (at a new job), and in the last few quarters of his junior year, he ended up with mostly As and Bs at Harding.

Before this school year started, Austin moved in with a family in the Overlook neighborhood of Charlotte, the Snelsons, just on the other side of the border from Mount Holly and right down the road from Mountain Island Charter School.

He was hoping to play basketball for the Raptors this year, but he had to apply for a hardship waiver from the state, as an 18-year-old who declared his own independent residence. As he waited on that waiver to be approved, he missed the first two games of the year. The waiver went through in late November, and in his first varsity game on Nov. 30, Austin scored 15 points with 10 rebounds in a win over Highland Tech.

In 19 games this season, Austin is one of just two players in the Gazette’s local area averaging a double-double, along with Lincolnton’s Raekwon Long. The Raptors senior forward is second on the team in scoring at 13 points per game, and he averages 10.1 boards per game despite standing only 6-foot-1, 175 pounds.

“Everyone always asks me, ‘Patrick why are you hyped? Why are you everywhere around the court? I honestly don’t know where it comes from,’” he said. “I just get all this energy out. I don’t have an answer for it.”

Notes on my thoughts, reactions and questions as I read:

Christiana Middle School Reading Article

Patrick Austin Overcomes Death of His Father… (1030L)

Notes on my thoughts, reactions and questions as I read:

Christiana Middle School Reading Article

Patrick Austin Overcomes Death of His Father… (1030L)

Comprehension questions – answers must be in complete sentences

1. What scoring feat does Austin share with only one other player in the local area?

2. What issue apparently contributed to Patrick Austin’s grade problems?

3. Define low as used in the article.

4. List three high schools Austin has attended.

5. Define perceived as used in the text. .

7/8.RI.1,2,3,4

7/8.RI.1,2,3,4,5

Answer each question in one or more complete sentences and by providing complete explanations.

1. Why would a local paper run a story about an athlete like Patrick Austin? What was the author’s purpose? Answer in a well-developed paragraph with at least two valid reasons.

2. What evidence from the text best supports the idea that Patrick Austin is a genuinely caring individual? Explain and cite from the text.

7/8.RI.1,2,3,6

Christiana Middle School Reading Article

Patrick Austin Overcomes Death of His Father… (1030L)

3. Patrick Austin seems to have some positive strategies for coping with adversity in life. All of us face adversity or know someone who is going through a rough patch. Write a personal letter to yourself or someone you know suggesting some strategies for dealing with the rough days. Cite evidence from the text to support your suggestions.

7/8.RI.1,2

4. Minimum wage in the area Patrick Austin lives is $7.25 per hour. If a person worked full-time (40 hours per week), how much would that individual’s annual income amount to in a year? Additionally, North Carolina has a flat income tax rate of 5.75%, how much of the money earned would be paid to taxes, and how much would be kept? Provide a written explanation using bullet points.

7/8.RI.10

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