Elementary (Grades 3-5)

Middle School (Grades 6-8)

CASEL Core Competencies

• Self-Awareness

• Self-Management

• Social Awareness

• Relationship Skills

Common Core ELA-Literacy Standards

• Listening and Speaking

• Writing

NCSS Social Studies Themes

• Individual Development and Identity 

• Civic Ideals and Practices

• Recall the definition of an oath

• Explain the behaviors they associate with good sportspersonship

• Understand what coming to consensus means

• Collaborate as a class to come to consensus on the group’s Olympic Agreement of Good Sportspersonship

Note to the Teacher: We recommend using an “Olympic Agreement of Good Sportspersonship” rather than an oath. We advise this because for some students, taking an oath may have a particular connotation for religious reasons, and they may be precluded from taking oaths. Asking students to come together in agreement about how they will exhibit good sportspersonship enables the inclusion of all students in this student-centered activity.

Tell the class: We are going to create an “Olympic Agreement of Good Sportspersonship” that everyone will feel they can agree to follow. We will read our agreement as part of our Olympics’ Opening Ceremony in the same way that the Olympic Oath is read aloud at the Olympic Games.

Say: To do this we are going to do something called “coming to consensus.” Post the pre-printed definition and read it aloud.

Tell the class: To make sure everyone’s ideas and opinions are heard, we are first going to meet in small groups. Divide the class into groups of three students per group. Give each group a piece of newsprint and markers.

Remind students that their description of good sportspersonship is posted in the room and that they may refer to it as needed.

Tell the groups of three they have six minutes to talk among themselves and write down three or four sentences about good sportspersonship they want to have included in the class agreement.

Let students know when they have two minutes left. At the end of six minutes, tell the groups to look at the three or four sentences they have written down and put a number 1 next to the one they think is most important, a number 2 next to the sentence they think is next important, and so on. Tell them they have four minutes to make these decisions.

Circulate around the room to monitor each group’s progress and decide whether the groups need another minute or two to finish the process. When time is up, ask all groups to stop talking.

Ask half the groups to stand. (In a class of 30, this means five groups will stand.) Tell these groups that each must join one of the seated groups to form a larger group of six.

When the groups of six are created, tell the groups they have three minutes to share with one another their three or four sentences. As they share their ideas, distribute a new piece of chart paper to each group of six.

Tell the groups of six that they must now work together to decide which of their six to eight sentences they agree is number 1, which is number 2, and so on. Tell them that they must use the sentences as they are written.

Let the groups work for two or three minutes until it is clear that some groups are having difficulty in agreeing. Stop the discussions. Ask for a show of hands: How many groups are having a hard time putting their ideas in number order?

Ask students: Why are you having a hard time? Get two or three responses. (If students don’t point out that with more people the decision-making takes longer and can be more challenging, then the teacher should do so.)

Ask: Who has a suggestion on how to make this process easier? (If students don’t suggest the following, then the teacher should do so.)

Tell the class that if a group is really stuck and cannot make a priority list numbering from 1 to 6 or 8, then there are some strategies the group may use to get unstuck:

• A group could decide to rewrite a sentence to combine two closely related ideas if the blockage is between two sentences that are very close in meaning or are really saying the same thing but with different words

• A group could decide to choose the sentences that are most important to the group and label them “Most Important” and label the others “Less Important.”

Tell the class they have 10 more minutes to make their decisions and then print their lists on the new piece of chart paper.

Circulate around the room to offer assistance as needed and monitor group progress. Give students a time check to finish up their lists.

Ask for a show of hands of which groups have completed their lists. If there is a group that is not done, tell that group to hold on while the other groups share their ideas.

Once all the other groups have shared and posted their ideas, ask a spokesperson from any group that was unable to finish to share what they completed and post their chart. Ask one person from each group to present the group’s ideas and post the chart at the front of the room.

If there was a group that could not finish, when all the other groups have shared and posted their ideas, ask a spokesperson from the group, after hearing the other groups’ ideas, to share what they completed and post their chart. Ask another student from the group to write down the sentences the group could not agree upon and post that chart as well.

(Note: In a class of 30 students, if all groups finish and post there will be five charts on the wall. If a group had trouble, there will be six, the sixth one being the sentences the group could not agree upon.)

Ask the class to look at all the posted charts and find sentences that share a common idea, such as ones that state that good sportspersonship means playing fair.

Ask for a volunteer to point out a common idea that all the groups think is important because it was high on the lists. The teacher should use a red marker to put a star next to

this first set of ideas. Ask for another student to point out another common idea that all the groups think is important. Use an orange marker to put a star next to this set of ideas. Continue to use different colored markers to connect similar ideas from different group charts until most statements have been starred.

If there is an idea that showed up in statements on only one or two charts, ask for a person from that group to explain why the group thought it was important to include in the class’s agreement of good sportspersonship.

After the student has spoken, ask the class if anyone has any questions about the idea. If yes, allow the student to ask the question and the group spokesperson to answer. If needed, facilitate a discussion about the idea among students.

Then ask the class as a whole if they are comfortable adding the statement to the agreement.

Repeat this process until all voices have been heard and the class has arrived at a group agreement that all will abide by.

Tell the class to form a circle. Tell students the group is going to go around twice. The first time, the students are going to say a word that expresses how they feel about the hardest part about coming to consensus. The teacher should start and model the format: My feeling word for the hardest part of coming to consensus is _____ (impatience, frustration, or irritation). Note: We recommend that the teacher choose a feeling word that indicates a low level of emotion to help students really think about the level of their feelings before they respond.

When the circle has gone around and is back to the teacher, tell the class: Okay, let’s shake those feelings we just expressed out of us. Teacher should model rolling her shoulders or shaking her arms.

Now we are going to go around and say a feeling word that expresses how each of us feels about being successful in creating our agreement with everyone’s voice being heard. Teacher should start and model: I feel ____ (happy, satisfied, proud, etc.).

When the circle is completed, thank the class for their hard work and tell them that you will take the charts home and write up the class’s Olympic Agreement of Sportspersonship.

Note to the Teacher: We recommend you use the form, Our Olympic Agreement of Sportspersonship, that follows this lesson to enter the group’s agreements and have each student sign it. We encourage you to make a larger version of the agreement on a large piece of poster board and post it in the classroom. If your school or program has a poster maker, the letter- or legal-size form signed by all students can be made into a poster and mounted on poster board.