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from The Mini Page © 2014 Universal UclickWinter Olympics and Paralympics

Going to the GamesThe games begin After years of preparation and training, thousands of athletes from all over the world are ready to hit the snow and ice for the 22nd Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. This week, The Mini Page takes a look at some of the hard work that has taken place to hold this 18-day sporting event, as well as the Winter Paralympic Games, which will be held in Sochi in March. We start with looking at the Winter Olympics by the numbers:    • 2,409: The number of days that have passed since Sochi was awarded the 2014 Winter Olympics on July 4, 2007, and the start of competition. Sochi was selected as host over Pyeongchang, South Korea, and Salzburg, Austria. Pyeongchang was later selected to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.     • 2,500-plus: The number of athletes expected to compete in Sochi.    • 86: Qualifying nations that will participate in the 2014 Winter Olympics (as of early January).

    • 294: Total number of gold, silver and bronze medals that will be awarded at the Sochi Olympics.     • 7: The number of gold medals that will contain pieces of a meteorite that impacted near the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013, injuring 1,000 people. These “cosmic medals” will go to the winners of the seven medal events on Feb. 15 — the one-year anniversary of the impact.

Female short-track speedskaters from China, the United States and South Korea race around a curve at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010. “Short tracks” are the same size as a hockey rink. In Sochi, there are 12 medal events in speedskating and eight more in short-track speedskating.

    • 7: Total number of sports in the Winter Games: skating, skiing, bobsleigh, luge, biathlon, hockey and curling.    • 15: Total number of sports disciplines (DIH-seh-plenz), or types of competitions. For example, the sport of skiing includes six disciplines: alpine, freestyle, snowboarding, cross-country, ski jumping and Nordic combined (cross-country skiing and ski jumping).    • 98: Total number of medal events at the 2014 Olympics. Many sports and disciplines have competitions for both women and men. This will be the first Olympics in which women will compete in ski jumping.

Medals for the Sochi Olympics weigh 16 ounces (1 pound) each. They contain silver and polycarbonate and are plated with gold.

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Puzzling Pictograms

Words that remind us of the Winter Olympics are hidden in the block below. Some words are hidden backward or diagonally, and some letters are used twice. See if you can find: ATHLETES, BRONZE, DISABILITY, DISCIPLINE, EVENT, GOLD, HOST, MASCOT, MEDAL, METEORITE, NATIONS, OLYMPICS, PARALYMPICS, PICTOGRAM, SILVER, SOCHI, SPIRIT, SPORT, WINTER.

Winter Olympicstry ’n’find

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E W S K M A R G O T C I P S M O T D I S A B I L I T Y V P E L S I M L E N I L P I C S I D Y N Y R A V T W I H C O S R A M O N F O S E E I X D H T I L P I Q C Z E C R L N K L S T B I T N E V E T O J H T R O P S C A B R O N Z E T C T E H G L S N U W S C I P M Y L A R A P

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ready resourcesfrom The Mini Page © 2014 Universal Uclick

The Mini Page provides ideas for websites, books or other resources that will help you learn more about this week’s topics.On the Web:• sochi2014.com/en• olympic.org/sochi-2014-winter-olympicsAt the library:    • “Olympics” by Chris Oxlade    • “Amazing Olympic Records” by Paul Hoblin    • “Freeze Frame: A Photographic History of the Winter Olympics” by Sue Macy

A pictogram (PIC-toe-gram) is asymbol that represents something.For example, in ancient times, peopledrew pictograms (or pictographs)on rock walls to tell stories abouttheir lives. With each Olympics, pictogramsare used to identify the events. The Mini Page challenges you to amatching game! Try to match thesepictograms to their sporting events.

Pictograms for nine of the events in the 2014 Winter Olympics are pictured here. Match the pictogram with its sport:

1. Alpine skiing2. Biathlon3. Bobsleigh4. Cross-country

skiing5. Curling6. Freestyle skiing

— halfpipe7. Nordic

combined8. Short-track

speedskating9. Skeleton

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Answers: A. Curling, B. Short-track speedskating, C. Alpine skiing, D. Bobsleigh, E. Freestyle skiing — halfpipe, F. Biathlon, G. Skeleton, H. Nordic combined, I. Cross-country skiing

images courtesy Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee

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Rookie Cookie’s RecipeHot and Cold Potato Salad

You’ll need:• 4 cups cooked potatoes, cubed• 1 small onion, chopped• 3 hard-cooked eggs, chopped• 1 cup carrots, shredded and chopped• 1/4 cup vinegarWhat to do:1. Combine potatoes, onion, eggs and carrots in a medium bowl.2. In a small saucepan, heat the vinegar, mustard, mayonnaise

and sour cream.3. Pour the dressing over the potato salad mixture.4. Add the dill weed, salt and pepper. Serve hot or cold.

Serves 6-8.You will need an adult’s help with this recipe. from The Mini Page © 2014 Universal Uclick

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from The Mini Page © 2014 Universal Uclick

Meet Rainbow Beast Brian Gorman, Marcus Stoesz and Jen Aldrich founded the band Rainbow Beast. Their first CD is “Tales From the Monstrosity Scrolls.” They write, perform and produce songs for kids. They run a music and creativity school in San Francisco. Brian taught himself to drum when he and a group of other musicians began playing their

own songs on the streets in Japan. He was in Japan teaching English. He played in several bands in San Francisco. Marcus started writing songs when he was 5 years old. He took piano lessons and played in bands in high school. He studied music in college and later toured with a band. He also taught special education in public schools. As a little girl, Jen traveled with her mom in a motor home around the United States. When she was 11, she and her friends formed a band. She studied fiction writing in college and started producing her own Web magazines. She began writing songs and playing in bands.

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Olivia: What happened when the downhill skier raced a rabbit? Oscar: He won by a hare!

Oakley: Where do the strongest ants like to go when they are hungry?

Odessa: To the Olympicnics!

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All the following jokes have something in common. Can you guess the common theme or category?

Octavio: What was the champion sneezer awarded at the Olympics?

Odette: A cold medal!

Mini Spy . . .Mini Spy is competing in speedskating in Sochi. See if you can find:  • exclamation mark  • snake• letter A  • canoe  • banana  • ruler• penguin  • lips  • kite  • word MINI• teapot  • carrot  • duck  • number 2• mushroom  • letter H  • tooth  • letter D

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• 2 tablespoons mustard• 1/2 cup mayonnaise• 1 cup sour cream• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed• salt and pepper to taste

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from The Mini Page © 2014 Universal Uclick

Supersport: Steven HolcombHeight: 5-10 Birthdate: 4-14-80Weight: 231 Hometown: Park City, Utah These days, the world looks bright and the future promising for U.S. bobsled driver Steven Holcomb. It hasn’t always been this way. Holcomb once was nearly blind, but after a special surgery several years ago, his vision improved dramatically. So did his racing career.

He steered the four-man team to gold medals in the 2010 World Cup and 2010 Winter Olympics. Now Holcomb will be going for the gold again in this month’s games. Thankful for his sight and success, he produced a book: “But Now I See: My Journey From Blindness to Olympic Gold.” Holcomb also has served in the Utah National Guard and is continuing his studies in the computer field. But now it’s time to zoom down that curving bobsled track — perhaps to glory again.

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The Olympic Spirit

The Mini Page StaffBetty Debnam - Founding Editor and Editor at Large Lisa Tarry - Managing Editor Lucy Lien - Associate Editor Wendy Daley - Artist

Special symbols Each host of the Olympics creates mascots to represent their city, their nation and the “Olympic spirit.” This spirit, or feeling, is that the Olympic athletes come together to compete in peace, friendship and fairness. Sochi has five mascots in all. The Bear, the Hare and the Leopard, mascots for the Olympic Games, are friendly animals who enjoy many different sports and love to dance and play. According to Paralympic lore, Snowflake and Ray of Light are cosmic visitors from other planets. They traveled to Earth to explore the unkown. Once here, they discovered that even though they were different from the people of Earth, they also had many things in common. They now want to teach humans to discover and use their wonderful skills, no matter what they may be.

Paralympic history The Paralympic Movement began in 1960 in Rome, where 400 athletes from 23 nations competed in wheelchairs. The first Winter Games were held in Sweden in 1976. This year, 700 athletes from 45 countries will take part in the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi, competing in 72 events in five sports: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ice sledge hockey, wheelchair curling and biathlon (cross-country skiing and target shooting). Para-snowboarding will make its debut as a Paralympic event.

Following the Winter Olympics, Sochi will also host the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games from March 7 to March 16. Paralympians are athletes with physical, visual or intellectual* disabilities. They are classified, or assigned, into various groups, where they compete against athletes with similar skills and limitations. For example, a vision-impaired skier will compete against other vision-impaired Paralympians.* Intellectual (in-teh-LEHK-chu-wuhl) refers to a person’s ability to think using facts and knowledge.

Next week, The Mini Page is all about the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Russian Paralympic athletes Vladimir Kiselev (left), Irek Zaripov (center) and Roman Petushkov (right) celebrate after medaling in biathlon during the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic Winter Games.

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Paralympic Games let athletes shine

Snowflake and Ray of Light are the mascots for the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games.

Look in your newspaper for listings of Olympic and Paralympic coverage. Which sports do you plan to watch? Do you participate in any of the winter sports included in the 2014 games?

release dates: February 1-7

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Please include all of the appropriate registered trademark symbols and copyright lines in any publication of The Mini Page®.

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Standards Spotlight: Going to the Games

Mini Page activities meet many state and national educational standards. Each week we identify standards that relate to The Mini Page’s content and offer activities that will help your students reach them.This week’s standard:•  Students understand that physical activity provides opportunities for 

enjoyment, challenge, self-expression and social interaction. (Physical Education)

Activities:1. Look at the pictograms in The Mini Page. Put a check by the five events you

would most like to see. Explain your choices.2. In your newspaper, find local athletes who show some of the same skills as

those needed by the athletes in the Winter Olympics. Describe the different skills.

3. In your newspaper, circle all the winter sports equipment you can find.4. How do these contribute to the Winter Olympics: (a) Bear, Hare and Leopard,

(b) meteorite, (c) Paralympics, and (d) pictograms?5. Use newspaper photos to create an album of your favorite winter athletes.

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

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Read about the Winter Olympics

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