Play Fairly

Whether we are playing a board game or in a serious competition, choosing to play fairly shows your character and can impact the experience of those around you.

Grade Level: K-5

Character Skills

Fairness
Caring

SEL Skills

Self-Management
Social Awareness

Academic Skills

Diligent Learner

Definitions

Fairness

Play by the rules.
Take turns and share.
Be open-minded. Listen to others.
Don’t take advantage of others.

Caring

Be kind.
Be compassionate.
Express gratitude.
Forgive others.
Be considerate of others’ feelings.

Self-Management

Regulate emotions, attitudes, and actions, and manage negative emotions and impulses.

Social Awareness

Assess and be sensitive to the feelings and needs of others.

Diligent Learner

Exhibit a growth mindset and willingness to learn from mistakes.

Learn more about our character, SEL, and academic outcomes.

Share This Activity

Students will talk about their beliefs around playing fairly. They will watch a video showing a soccer player seeing an injured player on the opposing team. Questions and conversations can be facilitated around this video and the idea of playing fairly.

Materials/Preparation

Video

Instructions

Begin a conversation about what it means to play fairly. Let students direct this conversation and engage them in their ideas. After several minutes of student directed conversation, begin to steer the conversation toward fairness in competition.
Provide students with a scenario: Imagine you are in a spelling bee and you see the word list. You know what words they are going to ask you to spell. What would you do? What if the prize was $100? Would that change what you would do?
Show students the video of an intense indoor soccer game. In the video, one of the players sees an injured player and stops playing so he can get help.
Ask for students to share their first impressions.

Discussion Prompts

Why do you think the player didn’t continue attacking the goal when he saw that someone was injured?
How would you have reacted in this situation? What do you think is the right thing to do in this situation?
How do you think the player that was injured felt?
If he didn’t help, would that be fair, or is it just part of the game?