Home›Lesson Plans›PE & Health›PE · Grades 3–5

Good Sportsmanship: How to Win and Lose Well

Students sort behaviors into good and poor sportsmanship — learning that how you treat teammates and opponents matters far more than the final score.

Grades 3–5PE45 minutes1 class periodPE / HealthExplicit teaching4 StandardsSHAPE
Start the Lesson
Assign or share this lesson
Share to Google Classroom Share to Microsoft Teams

Copy link works with Canvas, Schoology, Moodle and any other LMS — paste it in as a resource or assignment.

Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Tell good from poor sportsmanship.
  • ✓Explain how good sports treat others.
  • ✓Show good sportsmanship in a game.
  • ✓Handle winning and losing with respect.
Essential Question

Everyone loves to win — but games are more fun for everyone when players are good sports. What does good sportsmanship look like?

0
Lesson Phases
0
Vocabulary Terms
0
Standards Aligned
0
Interactive Task
Sort It · Interactive

Good Sport or Poor Sport?

Project this and sort each behavior into “Good Sport” or “Poor Sport.” Tap one, then tap the bucket — and talk about how it makes teammates feel.

🏅 Sort each behavior — good or poor sport?Try it
👍 Good Sport
👎 Poor Sport
Tap a behavior, then tap a bucket.
The Lesson · Move · Learn · Practice · Play

45 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Warm-Up — Winning Isn’t Everything

5 min

Ever played with a sore loser — or a bragger?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Ask about playing with a poor sport.
  • Ask how it felt.
  • Set the goal: sportsmanship.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Recall a poor-sport moment.
  • Name the feeling.
  • Predict good-sport actions.
2

Learn — Good Sport Rules

10 min

Teacher teaches sportsmanship.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Use Good Sport or Poor Sport to sort.
  • Name good-sport behaviors.
  • Discuss respect for all players.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Sort behaviors.
  • List good-sport actions.
  • Explain respect.
3

Practice — Practice Fair Play

12 min

Students practice.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Do a cooperative activity.
  • Have students cheer and take turns.
  • Model handling a mistake.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Play fairly.
  • Cheer teammates.
  • Handle a mistake calmly.
4

Play — Play the Game

13 min

Students play.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Play a game with a sportsmanship focus.
  • Reward good-sport moments.
  • Include everyone.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Play as a good sport.
  • Encourage others.
  • Shake hands after.
5

Cool-Down — Cool-Down

5 min

Students reflect.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Ask what good sportsmanship looked like today.
  • Give a good-sport shout-out.
  • Hand out the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Share a good-sport moment.
  • Give a shout-out.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the SHAPE America National Standards for Physical Education and Health.

SHAPE
S4

Exhibits responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others.

SHAPE
S5

Recognizes the value of physical activity for enjoyment and social interaction.

SHAPE
NHES.4

Use communication skills to build positive relationships in play.

SHAPE
S1

Demonstrates competency in movement in game settings.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Good/poor sport picture cards.
  • Sentence frame: “A good sport ___.”
  • Role-play shaking hands and cheering.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with clear good vs. poor behaviors.
  • Use a two-column sort.
  • Practice one good-sport action at a time.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Write a team “good sport” pledge.
  • Explain how to encourage a struggling teammate.
  • Turn a poor-sport action into a good one.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 📓Notebooks
  • 💻Good Sport or Poor Sport?
  • ⚽Game equipment
  • 🏅A sportsmanship poster
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

sportsmanshiptreating others well in gamesgood sportsomeone who plays fairly and kindlyrespecttreating others as importantteamworkworking well togetherfair playfollowing the rules honestlyopponentthe person or team you play againstencourageto cheer someone oncooperateto work together
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
Give one example of good sportsmanship.
Sample: cheering for teammates, following the rules, taking turns, or shaking hands after a game.
QUESTION 2
You lose a close game. What does a good sport do?
Congratulate the other team, shake hands, and stay positive — instead of blaming others or quitting.
QUESTION 3
Why does good sportsmanship matter more than the score?
It makes the game fun and fair for everyone, and how you treat people is more important than winning.

Going deeper? Write a team pledge.

Have the class write a “good sport” pledge of behaviors they promise to show in games, then post and sign it. A printable pledge template is in the PE & Health library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Good SportsmanshipFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
0

Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Good SportsmanshipQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
0%

Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Good SportsmanshipPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: cooperate, encourage, fair play, good sport, opponent, respect, sportsmanship, teamwork
  1. to cheer someone on
  2. the person or team you play against
  3. someone who plays fairly and kindly
  4. treating others as important
  5. following the rules honestly
  6. to work together
  7. working well together
  8. treating others well in games

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. Give one example of good sportsmanship.
  2. You lose a close game. What does a good sport do?
  3. Why does good sportsmanship matter more than the score?
Answer key — Part A: 1) encourage · 2) opponent · 3) good sport · 4) respect · 5) fair play · 6) cooperate · 7) teamwork · 8) sportsmanship
Part B: 1) Sample: cheering for teammates, following the rules, taking turns, or shaking hands after a game. 2) Congratulate the other team, shake hands, and stay positive — instead of blaming others or quitting. 3) It makes the game fun and fair for everyone, and how you treat people is more important than winning.