Stretch and Rewrite: Fixing a Biased Headline

In pairs, while holding three stretches, students analyze a made-up sports headline with gender or other bias and rewrite it fairly. The cool-down becomes a media literacy exercise.

How to play

1. Stretch 1, standing with a hand on the wall or a desk: quads, 30 seconds per leg, twice. Meanwhile, the pair reads their headline and finds the bias (focus on looks, on a partner, or “X's girlfriend” instead of the achievement) (2 min).
2. Stretch 2, standing: calves against the wall, 30 seconds per leg, then switch. They rewrite the headline to focus on the athletic result (3 min).
3. Stretch 3, seated on a chair: hamstrings with one leg extended and back straight. Each pair reads their original and new headline to another pair (3 min).
4. Show-of-hands vote for the best rewrite, then wrap up (2 min).

Rules

• Hold each stretch without bouncing and never into pain.
• Headlines are made up; no real athletes from the school.
• Fix the bias, don't mock anyone.
• The pair splits reading and writing.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the three stretches are adapted to a seated position (neck, shoulders, trunk).
• Visual impairment: the partner reads the headline aloud and writes from dictation.
• Knee injury: swaps the quad stretch for seated hip mobility.

Learning goals

• Recover after exercise with well-performed static stretches.
• Identify gender bias in sports journalism language.
• Rewrite sports news with fairness criteria.

Equipment for a class of 25

• headline cards: 15
• pencils: 15

Teacher tip

Prepare fifteen made-up headlines like “Star Quarterback's Wife Crushes Marathon” or “Girls' Team: Pretty and Productive.” Laminated, they'll last for years. Students tend to forget to stretch while writing: call out the timing yourself.

More activities like this

More cool-downs for High School