Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: The oldest sports in the world

20 minutes

Find Out: A timeline of the Commonwealth Games

30 minutes

Take Action: Investigating other games

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

understand that many generations have played lots of different sports
use the Commonwealth Games as an example of how some sports have changed and some have stayed the same.

Success criteria

Students can:

explain why some sports have been played for a very long time
develop questions about playing common sports.

Tune In: The oldest sports in the world

Step 1

Invite students to sit on the floor and ask them to brainstorm all the sports they can think of, writing them on the whiteboard as they offer answers.

Step 2

Once you have a list of sports on the whiteboard, ask students to guess which sport is the oldest. After students have finished guessing, reveal that historians agree that running races and wrestling are the oldest sports in the world. (To learn more, check out the ‘Oldest Sports in the World’ (oldest.org/sports/sports/).

Step 3

Now ask students why they think that running races are 1 of the oldest sports in the world. Possible answers:

it has simple rules
it requires no equipment
it is cheap and/or easy to set up
it can be played indoors and outdoors
it doesn’t require many people to compete.

Step 4

For the next part of the lesson, students will explore the various sports played at the Commonwealth Games and some of the changes that have occurred since the Games began in 1930. To transition from discussing the oldest sports to those played at the Commonwealth Games, briefly explain the overall purpose of the Games using the What are the Commonwealth Games? Visual Explainer. (Slides 1 - 5)

Find Out: A timeline of the Commonwealth Games

Step 1

Ask students what they think would be different about running races today compared to when the games began in 1930. What about when their parents were at school? Or grandparents? Answers might include:

prizes
the track, eg surface
clothing
footwear
accuracy/reliability of timing
training regimes
different types of running races, eg distances

Step 2

Outline to students that they are going to look at a video showing running races at the Commonwealth Games in the past. Ask students to spot any differences that they notice between running races then and now.

Step 3

Return to the list of sports that were brainstormed at the beginning of the lesson. Prompt students to consider sports that are played individually and as a team. Record their answers on the whiteboard. Next, hand each student a copy of the Student Worksheet and ask them to focus on the bingo grid. Invite them to copy 9 of the sports from the board into the boxes and explain that they will be used to play a game of bingo.

Step 4

Use slides 6 - 33 to introduce students to the various sports played at the Commonwealth Games. Each time you introduce a sport, invite students to mark it off their bingo grid if they had it written down. Before moving to the next slide, invite students to raise their hand if they picked that sport. Ask them to think critically about why they thought it would be included in the Commonwealth Games.

Possible answers:

it’s a popular sport
lots of countries around the world play this sport
it is fun to watch and support those playing
it can be played by lots of different ages and abilities

Step 5

At the end of the presentation, facilitate a class discussion using the following questions:

Why do you think more sports have been added over time?
Why might some sports be removed and then re-added later on? What about sports that have been removed forever?
What can we learn from studying the history of the Commonwealth Games?
Why do people from different countries want to come together to compete? What might they get out of the experience?

Possible answers for why people want to compete at the Commonwealth Games:

Representing their country: Athletes feel proud to represent their country and show how good they are at their sport.
Feeling good: Competing lets athletes challenge themselves and feel good when they do well.
Meeting new people: International events let athletes meet people from other countries and learn about their cultures.
Being a role model: Athletes can inspire others by showing hard work, determination and how to be a ‘good sport’.

Take Action: Investigating other games

Step 1

To help students make connections between sports played at the Commonwealth Games and their own lives, revisit the question posed during Tune In about the world’s oldest sports. Highlight that people have been coming together for a very long time to watch people play sports and games. Encourage students to reflect on the question about the lessons we can learn from history, but this time focusing on the experiences of their parents and grandparents. For example, ‘What can we learn about members of our family by asking them questions about the sports they played and/or enjoyed watching?’

Possible answers:

We get to know them better/understand what they enjoyed/what they were like as children.
We can learn about new sports and discover what was popular years ago.
We can study how things change over time.

Step 2

As a class, brainstorm questions students might like to ask their parents or grandparents about sports they played as children. Record their answers on the whiteboard so students can copy them onto the Student Worksheet (under the heading ‘Interview Questions’). Provide them with some examples to prompt their thinking:

What was your favourite sport growing up?
Who taught you how to play?

Step 3 (Optional)

Encourage students to conduct the interview as homework, then create time for them to share their findings later in the week.

Reflection

To wrap up the lesson, ask students to reflect on the following questions, inviting them to share their answers in pairs or small groups.

What are some reasons why people play sports?
What’s something you’ve learnt or enjoyed about today’s lesson?

Common Ground Through Games

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Summary

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