Before the Ever After

Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity. 

ACTIVITY 1: “Photo Reflections”

• Search for football images from the National Gallery of Art or among the NFL’s 100 Greatest Images.
• Pair an image or photo selection with a passage from Before the Ever After to demonstrate your comprehension and understanding of the text. An explanation of the photo choice should be provided, along with a citation from the text that uses section titles and page numbers.

Teaching Suggestion: Facilitate a discussion about the plot, characters, and ending of Before the Ever After to inspire students’ photo selections. Searches for “music,” “masculinity,” and other search terms compiled by students could widen selections for a larger variety of interpretations.

Paired Text Extension:

Fourth Down and Inches: Concussions and Football’s Make-or-Break Moment by Carla Killough McClafferty is another good choice for use in this activity. Select images inspired by this text or other images from a local or online archival or museum collection to reflect interpretations of Before the Ever After’s plot, characters, themes, and more.

ACTIVITY 2: “Soundtrack Creation”