Fair Play Summary

Lesson 1

I introduced the topic by starting a KWL chart with my topics. Only a few had any background knowledge about the topic beyond that fact that they should play fair. Honestly, I think it was the term “Fair Play” that confused them as most of my students are English language learners. I was encouraged that  a few knew had a little broader knowledge of the topic. I think the confusion is clear when you see the short list of questions in the “What I Want to Know” section, but I was excited because I knew this was going to be a area of growth for the students. I decided to go with the subtopic of being a good sport first, because I knew it was something that my students could connect with. I had a big problem with sore losers last year and I really wanted to hit home that winning wasn’t everything. We began by watching videos from YouTube.   I wanted the students to see good sportsmanship first hand. The first clip was from the Summer Olympics this year with the wonderful interaction between the runners from the USA and New Zealand

 I followed up with the clip of the Spanish soccer team consoling the Japan team. My kids got it!  A very powerful message received and the recipients were ready to learn more! We ended this lesson with the students writing about what they had learned about being a good sport and fair play.

Lesson 2

I began this lesson by reading the book “Sally Sore Loser”. One of my favorite lines from the book is “You’ve won if you’ve had fun!” What a great message to send to our children. I told my class that I am competitive as you can be. When I play, I play to win, but I can’t lose sight of that winning isn’t everything! When I have fun, I feel good regardless of the outcome. Next, I gave the students several scenarios that I felt they could identify with as children. They chose their preferred scenarios and did four things. First, what would a good sport say and then what would probably happen next. Then, what would a sore loser say and what would happen next. I loved their responses. 

Lesson 3

In this lesson, I wanted to give my students a change to put in practice what we had been learning about. I chose that activity that I used last year that resulted in a real epiphany for many students. It also gave me a change to discuss teamwork with my students. I selected the marshmallow spaghetti tower activity. My students has a difficulty time building the tower, but I was pleased to see that everyone was working together. I heard them encouraging each other and laughing together which my teacher heart smile. At the end of the 18 minutes, only two of the four teams had managed to put something together that would stand up by itself. As we reflected on the activity, it became clear that my students understand the importance of good sportsmanship.  To wrap up, the students made poster to tell others about being a good sport. Their learning because more evident as I viewed their work. 

Lesson 4

My goal for this lesson was for my students to think about Fair Play a bit differently. I loved the suggested lesson in the training manual and went with it.  I introduced the lesson by asking if fair meant equal. Next I showed the students the pictures of the children standing on the boxes and we discussed it. Then, we let our imagination take hold. The students pretended that they had just finished a soccer game and had a multitude of injuries. The students took turns sharing their injuries with the class. I soothed them and put a band-aid on their hand no matter what the injury.  It didn’t take long for students to notice that something was amiss. After giving everyone same band-aid in the same location, discussed if fair meant equal. The students agree that it did not. Next, I connected this learning to the accommodations that some of my students received in class. Pointing out once again that everyone gets what they need. We ended the class by adding our learning to the KWL chart that we started with the first lesson.  We made connections between being an ungracious winner in sports to getting test results in class.  

Lesson 5

Today we watched the video from our mentor and worked on her challenge for this month-telling about one they have demonstrated fair play and one way they have seen someone else demonstrate fair play.  The students loved seeing Alex’s dog and hearing her talk about fair play.  Look for the students' answers to the challenge soon.