Social Studies Worksheet · Grades 3–5
Sportsmanship Worksheet
A worksheet about sportsmanship for grades 3 through 5. Students read about why a game only works while everyone keeps the same agreement, what good and poor sportsmanship actually look like, and how to handle a call that goes against you, then answer multiple choice, true/false, and fill-in-the-blank questions.
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Subject
Social Studies
Grades
Grades 3–5
Skill Focus
Sportsmanship, civics & government
Lesson Length
20 minutes
Learning Objectives
Students will read about sportsmanship and answer comprehension questions about why a game depends on a shared agreement, what good and poor sportsmanship look like as observable behavior, and what matters most in the minutes after a loss.
- Identify why a player who cheats to win has not won the game.
- Recognize what matters most in the minutes after losing a game.
- Identify specific actions that show good and poor sportsmanship.
- Judge true-or-false statements about referees and about who owes sportsmanship.
Lesson Overview
About this worksheet
This worksheet starts somewhere more interesting than “be a good sport.” Before anyone runs or throws or rolls a die, everyone playing has agreed on one thing: we will all follow the same rules. That agreement is the game. Without it there is nothing to play, only people moving around.
That framing does real work, because it makes cheating strange rather than merely naughty. A player who breaks the rules to win has not beaten anybody. They stopped playing the game everyone agreed to, did something else instead, and collected the prize. Whatever they won, it was not the game. Students can argue with that, which is the point.
The rest is deliberately made of things a person can be seen doing: helping an opponent up, congratulating the team that beat you, encouraging a teammate after a mistake instead of blaming them, shaking hands at the end. And things they can be seen not doing, like gloating or walking off partway through.
Two honest notes the sheet refuses to skip. Referees get some calls wrong — one angle, full speed, a second to decide — and pretending otherwise costs a teacher credibility; the argument for accepting a call is that arguing does not change it and your side is not playing while it argues. And losing is allowed to feel bad. Anyone who says a good sport does not mind losing is describing a person who does not exist.
Section A asks students to circle the best answer to four multiple choice questions. Section B asks students to write TRUE or FALSE for six statements. Section C asks students to fill in six missing words. A complete answer key is included on page 3.
How to Use This Lesson
Distribute the worksheet or display it for the class.
Have students read the passage about sportsmanship.
Students complete Section A (multiple choice), Section B (true/false), and Section C (fill in the blank).
Review answers together using the included answer key.
Printable Resource
A classroom-ready PDF with everything in one printable resource.
Full Member Resource · Printable PDF · 3 pages · Answer Key
Sportsmanship Worksheet
A worksheet about sportsmanship for grades 3 through 5. Students read about why a game only works while everyone keeps the same agreement, what good and poor sportsmanship actually look like, and how to handle a call that goes against you, then answer multiple choice, true/false, and fill-in-the-blank questions.
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