Basketball Dreams by Chris Paul: Home

Kindergarten-5th Grade

MO School Library Instructional Standards: (K-2) Reading Engagement. Connect. Recognize connections through reading. Explore experiences different from my own when reading.

AASL V.C.1 Learners engage with the learning community by: Expressing curiosity about a topic of personal interest or curricular relevance.

Other MO Learning Standards Addressed:
Reading 2.A2.a
VA:Cn10A.2

One 55-minute class period or two 30-minute class periods (could extend to an additional class period if needed)

This lesson is based on an activity idea shared by the 2025-2026 Show Me Readers Award Committee and was created by Carolyn Allen from Lawson Elementary School in the Hazelwood School District.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Students will listen to a read aloud of the book Basketball Dreams by Chris Paul. After a post-reading discussion about Papa Chilly owning and running a service station, students will brainstorm businesses they would like to own someday and create a business plan/advertisement for that future business. This lesson will also help students to connect with the 2025-2026 Missouri Show Me Readers Award Nominees. 

• Basketball Dreams by Chris Paul
• Business Plan handout 
  • use page 1 for older students who can write the information; use page 2 for younger students to draw the information
• White paper (or page 3 of the above Business Plan Handout linked above)
• Colored pencils (or you can use pencils, crayons, markers)
• Business Plan Rubric

Objectives:

• Students will make a connection between their own experiences and the experiences of the characters in the story.
• Students will engage in a post-reading discussion.
• Students will brainstorm ideas and create a business plan/advertisement for a future business they would like to own someday.

Before Reading:

• Introduce the book Basketball Dreams by Chris Paul
• Have students predict what they think the story will be about.

During Reading:  

• Read Basketball Dreams by Chris Paul aloud to the class. Stop as needed to discuss or ask clarifying questions.

After Reading:  

• Ask students to share ways they can connect with either the characters or the plot of the story.
• Ask students to discuss with a shoulder partner what they know about Papa Chilly from the story.  Have volunteers share out.
• Explain to students that in the story Papa Chilly owned his own business- the service station.  Tell students to start thinking of a business they might want to own one day.  Have volunteers share their ideas and record those on a presentation slide, board or chart paper.
• Pass out the Business Plan handout.  Have students brainstorm 3 possible business ideas they are interested in (either from the list on the board or ones they have since thought up) and write those on number 1.  (For younger students using page 2 version, have them just do one business.)
• Tell students to select the one that most interests them and circle it on their paper.  That will be the business students are using for this activity.
• Have students work either independently or walk through as a group (depending on age and ability level of students) to complete the rest of the parts of the Business Plan handout.
• If time allows, have students share their business plan and/or advertisement.

• Observe students during the class discussion to check for understanding.
• Evaluate the business plan to see if students completed required elements (see Rubric).
• Evaluate the advertisement to see if students included all of the required elements for the project (see Rubric).

• For younger students, have them only create the advertisement for a business they would like to own. 
• For students with writing difficulties (of any age), use page 2 of the activity document that asks for pictures rather than writing. 
• Students could create the business plan and/or advertisement digitally using Google Slides, Canva, Adobe etc.