ESL Reading Comprehension + Writing Activity - Lionel Messi - Football

Answer short-answer comprehension questions using specific details from a biographical passage.

Argue a true-or-false claim using textual evidence from the passage.

Compose an extended piece of writing (essay or diary entry) that draws on and extends ideas from the reading.

Have students complete the vocabulary task (synonyms for 'extraordinary,' defining 'humble') before the comprehension questions, since several answers rely on understanding those two words as the passage uses them.

Use the two true-or-false questions as a quick check for careful reading, since both require students to cite the passage rather than guess.

Assign the diary-entry prompt as a lower-stakes creative option and the comparative-athlete essay as the more structured writing task, since the two prompts differ in formality.

Reading comprehension — students answer fifteen short-answer comprehension questions drawn directly from the biographical passage.

Evidence-based argument — two true-or-false questions require students to argue their answer using the text.

Extended writing — students compose either a comparative essay or a first-person diary entry building on the reading.