Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream

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

“Know Your Rights—a Title IX Public Service Announcement”   

In this activity, students will use investigative research skills to create a public service message notifying high school students of their Title IX protections and how these protections have revolutionized US sports.  

Female students in Friday Night Lights did not have the same opportunities to compete in sports as their male classmates. Since then, enforcing Title IX compliance in public schools across the nation has resulted in a sea change for women’s athletics.

You will teach the public about the rights and protections that Title IX offers to American students and present a public service announcement.

Part A: Research

• Research Title IX. What does the rule state, and how does it apply to high school sports?
• How have high school sports changed since the adoption of Title IX?
• Which students does it help?
• How has Title IX impacted US culture?
• How has Title IX changed the schools in your area?
• Has Title IX achieved its goals?

Part B: Presentation

• Create a public service announcement to inform others of Title IX’s impact.
• Consider a video, infographic, poster, or other presentation that informs the public about their rights.
• Share your work with your classmates.

Teaching Suggestion: Title IX guarantees all students equal opportunities in any educational or sports program that receives federal funding. The Title IX page on the Women’s Sports Foundation site is a good place to begin learning about this important change in high school athletics. This law is not intended to pit male students against female students or other minority students, but rather to allow equal access to sports for all students regardless of the sport’s profitability. You may wish to encourage students to research successful athletes such as Serena Williams, Megan Rapinoe, or Simone Biles and read their thoughts on Title IX.

Differentiation Suggestion: English Language learners and struggling readers may benefit from graphic organizers or pre-selected information from research sources. Visual learners may benefit from this additional source, an 8-minute video from PBS about how Title IX has changed the reality for girls in American schools. You may also wish to write student ideas on a whiteboard so peers can learn from one another’s ideas or frontload difficult vocabulary. If your students struggle with presenting to an entire class, it could be helpful to have a gallery walk or have students present to a small group instead of the entire class.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. The oil boom and subsequent bust affected Texas communities differently.

• How did the growth and contraction of the oil industry affect communities in west Texas? (topic sentence)
• Choose two or three different communities described in Friday Night Lights and explain how their economic fortunes created class differences among them.
• What connections does the author draw between the town’s class differences and its Devotion to Sports?    

2. The “no-pass, no-play” policy had an important effect on the education and athletics of Texas athletes in 1988.   

• How did the “no-pass, no-play” rule affect the student-athletes in Texas in 1988?
• Choose two or three different effects in the book and explain how the law altered the outcome of either sports or academics.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, evaluate whether the author feels the rule had its intended effect.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by textual details, and a conclusion.

1. What qualities and skills were members of the Permian Panthers expected to show to be considered appropriately masculine? What messages about how to be men do the players receive from paternal figures like fathers, uncles, and coaches?   

2. How does Bissinger characterize the town of Odessa? What is his opinion about the town, and what kind of evidence does he use to support his opinion?

3. Friday Night Lights documents the dangers of playing high school football, and many players in it suffer painful injuries. What kind of injuries did players suffer during a game or practice, and what are the short- and long-term effects? Do you feel that students suffered exploitation for their football skills?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What position did Bissinger leave to devote his time to writing Friday Night Lights?

A) Football coach

B) Newspaper editor

C) High school English teacher

D) Stock broker

2. Which statement about racism and football is best supported by Friday Night Lights?

A) Football helped ease racism in Odessa and brought segregated communities together.

B) Football existed within Odessa’s usual racist environment.

C) Football became a way for coaches to actively teach tolerance.  

D) Football coaches introduced racist ideas to the young players.

3. How did the Texas Education Commissioner William Kirby take advantage of the enormous public attention his hearing received?

A) He praised the passage of the “Pass to Play” policy. 

B) He voiced his support for the Permian Panthers.

C) He argued against the actions of Gary Edward’s teacher.

D) He pleaded for more popular support for academics.

4. Which is true about the relationship between Boobie, Mike, and Ivory?

A) Unlike Ivory, Boobie and Mike experienced the loss of their fathers. 

B) Unlike Boobie, Ivory and Mike experience racist taunts from the community.

C) Unlike Mike, Boobie and Ivory are highly talented athletes.

D) Unlike Ivory, Boobie and Mike are low-achieving students.

5. Who do the people of Odessa view as a protector of US culture? 

A) Ronald Reagan

B) Michael Dukakis 

C) Coach Gaines

D) Buzz Bissinger

6. Which member of the team was accepted to Harvard and was a successful student there?   

A) Boobie Miles

B) Don Billingsley 

C) Ivory Christian

D) Brian Chavez

7. What was Larry Hurd’s goal?

A) To demand desegregation in Odessa

B) To improve the Permian Panther’s running game

C) To disqualify a member of the Carter Cowboys

D) To raise funds for Odessa High

8. Which best describes the players’ attitudes after realizing the coaches were disappointed with their inappropriate after-game behavior?

A) Apologetic

B) Unrepentant

C) Confused

D) Resentful

9. Why do teachers take great care to ensure that football players’ grades remain high?

A) To avoid disqualifying them from the team with a low grade 

B) To show other students that academic success is possible

C) To encourage them to do their best regardless of results 

D) To protest the unfair treatment that players often receive

10. What final decision does Boobie make regarding his injury?

A) He plays through the pain to diminished results.

B) He takes intravenous medication to numb his body during halftime.

C) He decides to have surgery and ends his Permian Panther season.

D) He has surgery and recovers in time for the semifinal game.

11. Why does the Permian Panther football team travel with a police escort for the entire 340-mile journey to the stadium at the University of Texas?

A) It is a sign of respect from the state troopers.

B) They had been threatened with violence.

C) One of the players suffers from a seizure en route. 

D) Two of the players are the sons of police officers.

12. What was the consequence of efforts to desegregate the schools in Odessa in 1982?

A) A judge ordered Ector High to close.

B) A judge ruled that segregation in schools was illegal. 

C) The Permian Panther football team lost valuable players.

D) The community opened a new high school.

13. Which of the following best describes Boobie’s academic experience at Permian High?

A) He skips school to spend time with his father.  

B) He takes remedial classes and produces little work.

C) He studies hard and hopes to attend Harvard.

D) He excels in calculus while his classmates struggle. 

14. Read this excerpt from Chapter 8:

After the excitement of the kickoff, the Bronchos seemed stunned and shell-shocked, helpless to stop this machine that could have gone on forever, whether the field was one hundred yards or ten thousand yards long, whether the drive for a touchdown took eight minutes or eight hundred minutes (165).

What literary device does the author employ in this excerpt?

A) Hyperbole

B) Personification

C) Pun

D) Simile

15. What is the “bread and butter benchmark” for people of Odessa that determines their economic success? 

A) The federal minimum wage

B) The price of oil

C) The interest rate on loans

D) The amount of rainfall

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating textual details to support your response.

1. How does the community treat coach Gary Gaines? Use examples from the text to support your analysis.

2. What effect did the oil bust have on both Midland and Odessa?