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Unit  World Olympics, p. 82
Lesson Name  Understanding the Olympic Oath and Its Importance
Grade Band 

Elementary (Grades 3-5)

Middle School (Grades 6-8)
Required Materials

  • The definition of oath printed on a piece of chart paper

  • The Olympic Oath printed on a piece of chart paper

  • Chart paper and markers
Standards / Competencies 

CASEL Core Competencies

  • Self-Awareness

  • Self-Management

  • Social Awareness

  • Relationship Skills

Common Core ELA-Literacy Standards

  • Listening and Speaking

  • Reading

  • Writing

NCSS Social Studies Themes

  • Individual Development and Identity 

  • Civic Ideals and Practices
Recommended Time  55 mins
Essential Question  What does the Olympic Oath teach us about the Olympic Games?
Learning Objectives 

  • Explain what an oath is and give examples of times, situations, and jobs that require people to take an oath

  • Identify key ideas they associate with the Olympic Games

  • Explain the meaning of the promises Olympic athletes make when they take the Olympic Oath

  • Analyze and synthesize how the Olympic Oath helps them to understand what the Olympic Games stand for
Activating Prior Knowledge 

Ask students if they know what an oath is. If no one can offer a definition, ask students when they watch a TV or movie crime drama, what do witnesses have to do when they are going to testify? Explain that “swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” is an example of an oath. Ask students why people must take this oath when they testify, and what the oath means.

Write on the board or display a piece of chart paper on which this definition is written: “Oath: a solemn (serious) promise, sometimes referring to God as a witness, regarding one’s future action or behavior.”

Ask: Besides taking an oath when you testify in court, can you
think of other times when people take an oath or can you think of some
kinds of jobs that require people to take an oath? (Generate a list that could include doctors taking the Hippocratic oath, elected officials when they take an office, judges, police officers, people who join the army, the President of the US, etc.)

Ask: What do these jobs have in common? (Chart responses: they take care of people, they save people, they are leaders, they are supposed to be fair, etc.)
Core Instruction 

Divide the class into groups of five students per group and provide each group with a piece of chart paper and a marker.

Tell the class that in the Ancient Olympic Games, athletes who competed in the games swore on a statue of Zeus. Even though today’s Olympic Games are not connected to a religious festival the way the Ancient Games were, Olympic athletes are still required to take an oath.

Tell the groups they have six minutes to complete two tasks: First, list reasons why they think Olympic athletes are required to take an oath. Second, list words and ideas they think are in the modern Olympic oath.

Go around the room while groups are working and chart students’ responses to each task.

Once groups are done working, ask: Looking at the list of reasons
we came up with, how can we summarize why we think that in the Ancient
Games and in today’s Olympic Games, athletes and others involved must
take an oath?

Ask for a volunteer to look at the list of words and ideas and summarize what we think the main ideas is in the modern Olympic oath are.

Display and read aloud the Oath: “In the name of all the
competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games,
respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing
ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true
spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our
teams.”

Ask the class if anyone has any questions about what any of the words used in the oath mean.

Explain that doping is the use of any banned substances that enhance an athlete’s performance, including substances that are drugs. Students may have questions about the word honor (high respect, great esteem, holding the team in high value)

Say: Let’s list the main ideas:

  • Respect and abide by the rules governing the
    games

Ask for a volunteer to state the next idea and add it as a bullet. Repeat this process until you have a list of all the promises:

  • Respect and abide by the rules governing the
    games

  • Commit to not using drugs or doping

  • Promise to uphold the true spirit of
    sportsmanship

  • Act for the glory of sport and the honor or our
    teams


Ask: If someone doesn’t follow the rules or uses drugs, how
would you feel if you were competing against them in a game and that
person won the event?

Ask: Why would you feel that way?

Ask for volunteers to state which of these promises would be most important to them if they were an Olympic athlete and to share why it would be most important. Get multiple responses and make sure all four promises are talked about. (If students do not mention one of the promises, then the teacher should state that promise and explain why it would be important to them.)

Ask: What does the Olympic Oath teach us about the Olympic
Games?
Wrap-up 

Tell the class you are going to ask a question and students are going to go around the room and use one word to answer the question.

Ask the class: If you were an Olympic athlete, what is one word
that would describe how you’d feel when you took the Olympic
oath?

Teacher should model by saying: I would feel ___, and then point to the student who should answer next. Make sure that all students participate. Words may be repeated but encourage students to try to use different words.