Lesson 13: Sportsmanship
Essential Question: How do I demonstrate sportsmanship when interacting/playing with others?
Lesson Overview
1. Brain Warmup
2. Read Aloud
3. Modeling Activity
4. Group Activity
6. Brain Cooldown
Purpose:
- By teaching the importance of winning and losing, students will be able to apply sportsmanship skills when playing games at recess, in the classroom, at home, or in public.
Vocabulary:
- sportsmanship
- game
- win
- lose
- teammate
Additional Book
Cheetah Can't Lose by Bob Shea
- This read aloud emphasizes the importance of using kind words and playing fair during games, races, and activities.
Click the book for the read aloud.
Additional Lesson
Activity
Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns About Sportsmanship:
- Students will learn about sportsmanship through Howard B. Wigglebottom. In this short video, Howard learns that winning isn't everything. Discuss the importance of winning and losing along with what Howard learns about sportsmanship.
- Howard B. Wigglebottom Video
Additional Resources
Kids Health Sportsmanship (K-2):
- This PDF from Kids Health in the Classroom shares activities and tips on how to teach students sportsmanship in the K to 2 grade band.
Kids Health Sportsmanship (3-5):
- This PDF from Kids Health in the Classroom shares activities and tips on how to teach students sportsmanship in the 3 to 5 grade band.
- This article describes appropriate games for elementary students.
Teaching Children Good Sportsmanship:
- This article provides tips on how to teach and promote sportsmanship.
Brain Warmup: Daily Questions
Purpose: This activity prepares students for the lesson about sportsmanship by asking questions about sports. The Daily Questions allows for each student to share their opinions about sports by asking a prompting question.
Materials: daily questions
Time: 5 minutes
Procedure:
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Prepare Daily Questions by writing the questions on strips of paper and place the strips of paper in a small container or cup. The Daily Questions are…
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What is your favorite sport?
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Do you play any sports?
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What sport(s) do you want to try?
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Do you have a favorite sport team?
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Students will sit on the carpet or open floor space in a circle. Ask one student to start the activity by selecting a question from the container.
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Student will read question (or teacher will read question) and student will share their answer with the class.
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Once student has answered their question, he or she will place the question back in the container and pass the container to the student sitting beside them.
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This pattern will continue until all students have picked and answered a question.
Read Aloud: Sally Sore Loser: A Story About Winning and Losing by Frank J. Sileo
Before reading the story, ask students “what does the term sportsmanship mean?” Prompt students to think about what characteristics they see sports players demonstrate in various sporting events.
This read aloud emphasizes the importance of being a good sport by providing the readers and students with 8 tips on how to display good sportsmanship. The following questions will aide in discussing sportsmanship.
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What does it mean to win?
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What does it mean to lose?
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Is winning the most important thing in the world?
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What are the rules of being a good sport?
Modeling Activity: Sportsmanship Tips on my Fingertips
Purpose: This activity allows students to select 5 of the sportsmanship rules to focus on. Students will select the 5 rules they want to focus on when playing sports or games.
Materials: paper, markers, crayons, 8 sportsmanship rules
Time: 10 minutes
Procedure:
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Students will work at their desk or at a table to complete the activity. Pass out a blank piece of paper to all students.
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Students will trace one of their hands on the piece of paper. As the students trace their hand, write the 8 sportsmanship rules on the board. The sportsmanship rules are…
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Be polite to your teammates and opponents
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Cool down when you get upset
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Don’t show off or hog the ball
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Use kind words with teachers, teammates, opponents, or referees
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Know the rules of the game
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Be fair
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Never cheat
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Try your best and have fun
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Talk about the importance of each tip and model how to demonstrate the rules. For example, the rule ‘use kind words’. Demonstrate how to use kind words when playing sports or games.
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Each student will select 5 of the rules he or she wants to practice when playing sports or games. Students will write the rules on the fingertips of their drawn hands. Students can draw pictures to correlate with the rules written.
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Students will keep and reference their drawn hands with the rules when playing games.
Group Activity: Let's Play a Game
Purpose: This allotted time allows for students to practice sportsmanship skills in a controlled environment with their classmates. The games can be played in large groups, small groups, or in pairs.
Materials: variety of games (example: Uno, Spot It, Connect 4, etc.)
Time: 15 to 20 minutes
Procedure:
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Provide students with games to play. Reference the article The Games We Play and Why for examples of appropriate games for elementary students.
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Allow students to select their own partner or
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Each pair or small group can select a game to play. Remind students to reference the sportsmanship rules. Circulate around the classroom to monitor the conversations and games being played.
Brain Cooldown: What Does a Good Sport Look Like?
Purpose: This activity asks students to draw what sportsmanship can look like. Students can refer to the 8 sportsmanship rules, the 5 rules they selected on their traced hand, or sportsmanship skills they demonstrated when playing a game with their partner.
Materials: ‘what does a good sport look like?’ graphic organizer, markers, crayons
Time: 5 minutes
Procedure:
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Students will sit at their desk or at a table to complete this activity. Pass out the ‘what does a good sport look like’ graphic organizer.
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Students will draw what a good sport looks like. Provide ideas or examples of what a good sport can look like for the students.
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Ideas or Examples:
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Player shaking hands with an opponent
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Playing fairly
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Using manners during the game
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