Introduction

 Tiger Woods, Mark McGwire, John Rocker, Troy Aikman, Mike Tyson.......What kind of sportsmanship do these athletes have?  What do you think are examples of good and bad sportsmanship?  You are a "new", young athlete who must choose different qualities from selected well known and local athletes in order to help your group "build" this athlete who will be the model for future generations of athletes to come.
 
 

Each group will use the internet to help design their best athlete by researching various athletes and combining what good aspects of sportsmanship they want their "designed" athlete to have and what characteristics they do not want them to have. High school athletes will be interviewed and asked for their opinions about sportsmanship.                                                                                                     The groups will then rank the expectations for athletes and fans and explain the reasoning for the rankings. These expectations, along with pictures demonstrating examples of good and bad sportsmanship, will be displayed on a poster to be placed in the high school gymnasium.

 
 

The Process

There are 5 steps for you to follow:
 

1.  ASSIGNED TO A GROUP       AND A PARTNER	*Each group will consist of 6 students.  From this group, you will partner with    another student. *You will be responsible for helping one another in your learning.
2.  DEVELOPING QUALITIES Institute for International Sport - National    Sportsmanship Day (Link 1) CHARACTER COUNTS! Sports    (Link 2) SIKIDS | NEWS (Link 3) Biography Find (Link 4) or Lives, the Biography Resource (Link 5) Interview Questions (Link 6)	*Each pair of students will discuss ways to identify athletes for good and bad sportsmanship qualities. (Link 1,2,3) *What has the athlete done or said to display these qualities?                  *What were the consequences of their actions? (Link 2, 4,5) *What questions could be asked of the local high school athletes? (Link 6)
3.  INFORMATION GATHERING SIKIDS | NEWS (Link 1)       Institute for International Sport - National Sportsmanship Day (Link 2) Institute for International Sport - National Sportsmanship Day (Link 3) Institute for International Sport - National Sportsmanship Day (Link 4)	*You and your partner will use internet resources to find examples of different athletes displaying good and bad  sportsmanship. (Link 1,3,4)              *Visit all the sites provided. *Search for quotes from these athletes,  actions they displayed while playing their particular sport, and interviews they  may gave given. (2) *Locate pictures of athletes demonstrating examples of sportsmanship.  (Links 1,3,4) *Review questions asked of the athletes: you can apply these during your email interviews with local high school athletes.
4.  COMPARING IDEAS AND WORKING COOPERATIVELY WITH THE GROUP AND PARTNER	*Compare your findings with the other 2 sets of partners in your group.  *Organize your examples on a worksheet under three headings:           1.  Good sportsmanship           2.  Bad sportsmanship           3.  Results from interviews
5.  MAKING A POSTER	*Design a poster for your greatest athlete by organizing the good and poor sports-  manship qualities from the list compiled on your worksheet *Assemble the picture examples to illustrate some of the qualities.  *You may use markers or crayons to print the qualities list. *Assemble the pictures printed from the web sites. *Upon completion of the poster, hang it in the high school gymnasium for the  students and public to view as they enter.

 
 
 

Evaluation
 

At the end of the project, you and your teacher will grade the project together.  You will be graded individually on your thoroughness of the research and interview, cooperation in the group and with your partner, and the appearance of the poster.

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	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Score
RESEARCH  ABOUT   ATHLETES	Only used 1 resource Only 1 media used Little written material evident	Used 2-3 resources 2 media used At least 1 page of written material	Used 4-5 resources Used more than 2 media Notes from research well written
COOPERATION WITH GROUP AND PARTNER	Little group and partner involvement Most activities done individually	Moderate amount of group and partner involvement Half of the activities were completed individually and half in group or with partner	A few tasks done individually but most are done cooperatively with partner and group Took a responsible leadership role
INTERVIEWS WITH HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES	Only 1-2 questions asked Few written notes Many grammar and spelling errors	3-4 questions asked Notes neat and organized Few grammar or spelling errors	5-6 questions asked Notes neat, thorough, and organized No grammar or spelling errors
POSTER	Sloppy in appearance Only 1-2 characteristics listed Only 1-2 pictures used	Neat in appearance 5-6 characteristics listed 4-5 pictures used	Very neat in appearance 6-8 characteristics  listed 6-8 pictures used

 
 

Conclusion

As a young athlete, you have now researched a range of other athletes.  What qualities would you most like to have from these athletes?  What one athlete had the most positive characteristics of sportsmanship?  If you could now have a choice to be a member of any team you wanted, wouldn't it be a great idea to be able to know ahead of time what the team members are like?
 
 

Credits & References

Institute for International Sportsmanship Day
Sports Illustrated for Kids Magazine
Sports Illustrated Magazine
Mountain_Breeze.com
Special thanks to:
Judith Griffin - AEA technology Consultant
Gail Maxwell - Technology Strategist
Rich Mortensen - Technology Coordinator