TeachersFirst's Olympics Resources
Winter or summer, the Olympics provide teaching opportunities across the curriculum for students of all ages. Browse these options for curriculum connections to light the Olympic flame in your classroom.
Explore all of our resources related to the Olympics.
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Pierre de Coubertin in Search of a Sustainable Stadium - The Olympic Museum
Grades
6 to 12
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Follow the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin, as he observes the impact of building an Olympic stadium on the economy, the environment, and social implications....more
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Follow the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin, as he observes the impact of building an Olympic stadium on the economy, the environment, and social implications. Learn more about terms such as sustainable development, then make choices as you plan and develop a stadium.
tag(s): architecture (62), olympics (41), sustainability (38)
In the Classroom
This site is perfect for use during any Olympic Games, but is also a great addition to any unit on the environment. Have students explore on their own to learn more about the thought process that goes into designing and constructing a large building. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast areas before and after the construction of the stadium. Challenge students to create a presentation using Slides, reviewed here, to present their view on the proper placement and design of a stadium located near your town. Older students or more experienced technology users could use Sway, reviewed here, for this presentation. Sway creates unique multimedia projects using text, images, and media. Change the look of your Sway using the Mood and Remix tools to change the color palette, layout, and fonts.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Ready or Not, Let the Games Begin - Esri
Grades
5 to 12
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This story map, created for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil, takes you through different facets of preparation for the Olympics. Scroll through to read about the city, construction...more
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This story map, created for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil, takes you through different facets of preparation for the Olympics. Scroll through to read about the city, construction of venues, and difficulties faced including the Zika virus, security, and pollution issues. Images, maps, and graphs all work together to provide an excellent overview of the stage set for the 2016 Summer Games.
tag(s): maps (208), olympics (41), pollution (47), south america (35), sports (77)
In the Classroom
If you like this resourse, you can create a similar story map using Odyssey, reviewed here, to create your own stories for any subject, perhaps an overview of the Olympics at the end of the games or a profile of a notable Olympic athlete. View this story together with your class, then divide students into groups to learn more about Brazil and South America. Include this site with your current events discussions as you compare security threats across the globe, pollution issues, or health concerns such as the Zika virus.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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USA Today Rio Olympics Guide - YouTube - USA Today
Grades
4 to 12
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Stay up to date with the latest news and information from the Rio Summer Olympics with these videos from USA Today. Topics include how to watch little-known sports such as ...more
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Stay up to date with the latest news and information from the Rio Summer Olympics with these videos from USA Today. Topics include how to watch little-known sports such as wrestling and archery. Subscribe to this channel to receive updates as new content is added. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
tag(s): olympics (41), south america (35), sports (77)
In the Classroom
Share videos with your students as you follow the Summer Olympic games from your classroom. Use the "how to watch" sports videos as a model, then have students create their own videos describing how to watch their favorite sport. Share their videos on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here. Research Olympic athletes and their countries, then have cooperative learning groups create podcasts sharing news about the Olympics. Use a site such as podOmatic, reviewed here to complete a podcasting project.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Fractions of a Second: An Olympic Musical - The New York Times
Grades
3 to 12
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This very interesting site offers a musical look at the amount of time between finishers in several different Olympic events such as Alpine Skiing and Bobsledding. View each event and...more
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This very interesting site offers a musical look at the amount of time between finishers in several different Olympic events such as Alpine Skiing and Bobsledding. View each event and the winning time along with dots on a timeline representing the next finisher's times. Click the play icon to hear a tone representing each contestant crossing the finish line. This is an excellent visual and audio display of how close some events really are!
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This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
View this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector and listen together to the different spacings of finishes by event. Challenge students to create timelines of finishes for other Olympic events (with music, photos, videos, and more) using Timeline JS, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Winter Olympics: Sport by Sport - ESPN
Grades
7 to 12
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Learn about Olympic winter sports with this interesting guide from ESPN. Although geared toward the 2010 games, this site contains valuable information for any Winter Olympics competition....more
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Learn about Olympic winter sports with this interesting guide from ESPN. Although geared toward the 2010 games, this site contains valuable information for any Winter Olympics competition. Choose a sport to view basic facts, important dates, and information on stars of the sport. Choose the history link to learn about previous Winter Olympics with information such as dates, key moments, and medal winners.
In the Classroom
Share this site with students to provide an overview of Winter Olympic sports, the history, and some of the key figures in each event. Have groups of students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Easel.ly, reviewed here or Venngage reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Innovative Classroom - Innovative Classroom
Grades
K to 5
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Find "ready to use" lessons, thematic units, classroom management ideas, and much more at this one-stop resource for elementary teachers. Explore the reproducibles section to find templates...more
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Find "ready to use" lessons, thematic units, classroom management ideas, and much more at this one-stop resource for elementary teachers. Explore the reproducibles section to find templates for science observation, an excellent Problems with Dice activity, and an Internet usage survey. After choosing a reproducible, be sure to look on the right side of the page for other reproducibles not listed on the main page. The Innovative Classroom also contains an extensive list of center activity ideas, class certificates, and bulletin board suggestions. Be prepared to spend a lot of time here finding and saving ideas!
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): bulletin boards (13), classroom management (131), counting (58), density (18), fractions (160), gettysburg address (13), heat (15), holidays (142), human body (90), map skills (55), martin luther king (40), olympics (41), painting (57), place value (34)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site for use throughout the year. Explore the center activities to use in your classroom. Search lessons for ideas to incorporate. Print behavior and classroom management ideas for use with students.
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History for Kids - history-for-kids.com
Grades
K to 6
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Join lyrical rhyming adventures of history in poetry! Find poems summarizing famous people or periods from history. Explore the topics in the left sidebar: Ancient History, Middle Ages,...more
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Join lyrical rhyming adventures of history in poetry! Find poems summarizing famous people or periods from history. Explore the topics in the left sidebar: Ancient History, Middle Ages, British History, American History, Myths & Legends, and Pirates. The American History poems include: The California Gold Rush, The Statue of Liberty, The Moon Landing, The Voyage of the Mayflower, The Boston Tea Party, and a few others. Each poem includes additional facts about the event or people, along with drawings submitted by students. You will also find coloring pages, interviews, jokes, and more. Be aware: this site does include a lot of advertisements. At the time of this review, all advertisements were completely "kid-appropriate." However, it may be wise to advise students not to click on any of the links/pictures.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): boston (10), california (15), dinosaurs (38), england (51), gold rush (14), greece (25), landmarks (17), myths and legends (21), olympics (41), romans (32), vikings (10)
In the Classroom
Make history (and mythology) come alive in your classroom with a little rhythm and rhyme! Use the poems to supplement your instruction while even adding tambourines, clapping, tapping, or toe tapping reaching all learners. Share the actual poem on your projector or interactive whiteboard. If you want students to have a hard copy of the poem (to use as a study guide), print it out. Otherwise, save paper and share the link on your class website. If you can't find the history or mythology topic you are studying, it is time for your students to make their own rhymes. Enhance learning by having students use the formate for one of the History for Kids poems and create their own poems with photos and images using Elementari, reviewed here. This tool allows adding audio and text to a picture. To find Creative Commons images for student poems (with credit, of course), try Pikwizard, reviewed here. Have a poetry day featuring what you have studied in history. Be sure to add your students' projects to your class website or blog. Gifted students will enjoy the challenge while struggling learners will enjoy the reinforcement of the main ideas.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Olympics: Math Puzzles and a Game - Lets Play Math!
Grades
1 to 8
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Find a collection of wonderful math resources for elementary students related to the Olympic games. Although the blog was originally created in 2008, many of the activities and sites...more
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Find a collection of wonderful math resources for elementary students related to the Olympic games. Although the blog was originally created in 2008, many of the activities and sites have been updated. Find word games sorted by event and grade level (such as Summer Olympic Swimming for grades 1 and 2). Many of the lesson plans include national math standards. Some great research ideas are also offered, such as exploring the Olympics through time. Explore previous medal counts before predicting this year's medals through the Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger link.
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tag(s): charts and graphs (162), data (136), estimation (34), logic (162), mean (20), median (16), mode (13), olympics (41), operations (73), sports (77)
In the Classroom
Explore previous medal counts with your students and ask them to predict this year's counts and graph as the games occur. Compare all three sets of data to find trends and abnormalities. Have students create online posters on paper or do it together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here. Create posters of favorite Olympic athletes, sports, or competing nations. Create a link on classroom computers to the Math Playground Olympics game and challenge students to find out how much they know about the Olympics.
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Science of the Olympic Winter Games - Nantional Science Foundation
Grades
3 to 12
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This site hosts 16 Olympics-related videos from NSF and NBC. Learn about the science of the Olympics available without a membership. Any science teacher can find something related to...more
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This site hosts 16 Olympics-related videos from NSF and NBC. Learn about the science of the Olympics available without a membership. Any science teacher can find something related to your curriculum: from Newton's Laws of motion, to concepts of physics, chemistry, biomechanics, and physiology. Math teachers can also find applied math concepts from basic arithmetic to calculus.
tag(s): olympics (41)
In the Classroom
Share these videos on an interactive whiteboard or projector, being sure to have student use the whiteboard tools as you pause the video so students can draw lines to illustrate forces and other concepts. Have student groups watch different videos and report back on the theoretical science AND the actual results from that sport, connecting the science concepts to the actual results they see in competition. Use a video annotation tool such as MoocNote, reviewed here, for easy sharing with the class. Even younger students can benefit from the videos as an overview of more advanced concepts, provided you preview vocabulary, then stop and discuss more challenging words during the video. Your students will want the link to this site, so share it on your class web page. You can also embed the videos right in your web page, blog, or wiki. Have students write about the embedded piece, adding their own commentary of the actual Olympics based on the video.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Official Website of the Olympics - Olympic.org
Grades
2 to 12
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This website offers a one-stop destination to all of your Olympic information. There are links across the top to learn about the athletes, sports, countries, and even a media player...more
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This website offers a one-stop destination to all of your Olympic information. There are links across the top to learn about the athletes, sports, countries, and even a media player offering video clips and more. At the time of this review the media player had over 1,000 videos and nearly 10,000 photographs! This is an excellent site for research about the Olympics (both summer and winter). There is also a link to go back and learn about the past 46 Olympic games. Although there are no "student" or "classroom" links, this site truly has something for everyone: maps and geography, science behind the sports, research about events and countries, athete information, and more.
tag(s): olympics (41)
In the Classroom
The possibilities at this website are endless. Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to share the MANY videos, information about the athletes, and many other activities. Use the site for research purposes about specific athletes or sports. Have students create multimedia presentations about events, athletes, or countries using this site. Create a class Olympics Wiki! Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Classroom Olympics - AIMS Education Foundation
Grades
1 to 5
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This simple PDF site, provides some wonderful ideas for classroom Olympic events. The site is ready to go and provides everything you need: information about ancient and modern Olympic...more
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This simple PDF site, provides some wonderful ideas for classroom Olympic events. The site is ready to go and provides everything you need: information about ancient and modern Olympic games, illustrated instructions for each Olympic event, printable awards for students, and very detailed instruction about how to do the Olympics in your classroom. There are nine Olympic games included in this lesson. Some examples include Find the Mass Race, Straw Javelin, and Cotton Ball Shot Put.
tag(s): creativity (92), mass (17), olympics (41)
In the Classroom
Use this FREE and READY TO GO resource to have the Olympic Games in your classroom. Print off the certificates for your students. Invite students' families to the games (if space permits).
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Create Your Own Classroom Olympic Games - Education World
Grades
3 to 12
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This creative lesson plan challenges students to participate in their own version of the Olympics. Students choose which activities they want to "try their hand at" and are required...more
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This creative lesson plan challenges students to participate in their own version of the Olympics. Students choose which activities they want to "try their hand at" and are required to keep score. Some of the classroom Olympic "sports" include Speedy Spelling, Tongue-Twister Tournament, The Math Meet, and several others. The lesson plan includes descriptions of all sports and standards. This site was last updated in 2008, but the activities are applicable during any year.
tag(s): measurement (124), olympics (41), sports (77), statistics (108)
In the Classroom
Bring the Olympics into your classroom. Share these "ready to go" sports with your students. Then have students try to invent their own Olympic games to share with the class. Why not video and share the Olympics using a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Olympic Sports - Myvocabulary.com
Grades
4 to 10
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As part of their extensive site for vocabulary, roots, and more, MyVocabulary.com has added a themed area for the Olympics. Find interactive vocabulary activities using Olympics-related...more
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As part of their extensive site for vocabulary, roots, and more, MyVocabulary.com has added a themed area for the Olympics. Find interactive vocabulary activities using Olympics-related vocabulary words. You will also find printable crosswords, fill in the blanks and more, all using the same theme words. This and other "themes" available on the site will make vocabulary development fun.
tag(s): olympics (41), sports (77), vocabulary (233)
In the Classroom
Share the puzzles on your interactive whiteboard or projector or make them available as links on your teacher public page. Have students (or groups) create their own illustrated dictionaries of terms using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here. As you add more vocabulary lists during the year, have them select their favorite 6-10 terms from each list to add to their "book."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Gateway to the Summer Games - EdGate
Grades
2 to 8
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Bring the spirit of the games into your classroom! These nicely designed lesson plans, organized by grade level, address topics including characteristics of the ancient games, national...more
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Bring the spirit of the games into your classroom! These nicely designed lesson plans, organized by grade level, address topics including characteristics of the ancient games, national anthems and customs, and women in the Olympic arena. Fun Olympic facts, information on health and exercise, and creative activities for learning about life in ancient Greece are also provided. Although these activities were originally created for the 2004 Olympics, nearly all of the information is applicable to any year of Olympic events (specifically, the summer Olympics). Some of the lesson plans and other activities require Adobe Acrobat. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom
Use this information to enhance your Olympic unit. The lesson plans and activities require very little preparation. Challenge your students to research the various countries that have hosted the Olympics in the past and create multimedia presentations to share on your interactive whiteboard or projector.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Word Search Puzzles - Primarygames.com
Grades
1 to 5
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This site offers user-friendly, interactive word search puzzles for vocabulary and reading enhancement. Some of the topics include the Olympics (both summer and winter), Dinosaurs,...more
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This site offers user-friendly, interactive word search puzzles for vocabulary and reading enhancement. Some of the topics include the Olympics (both summer and winter), Dinosaurs, Kwanzaa, Farm Animals, Earth Day, butterflies, and various other topics and holidays. These are computer-based word searches, not printables. There is a link to a companion site with printables.
tag(s): christmas (38), earth (178), earth day (60), easter (9), fall (10), holidays (142), kwanzaa (13), labor day (6), olympics (41), spelling (93)
In the Classroom
Share a search on your interactive whiteboard (use student FINGERS to circle the words!). Or make it a center as one of several options for spelling and vocabulary. Your students may ask you to include the link on your teacher web page so they can try some from home, as well.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Archaeology's Ancient Olympics Guide - Archaeological Institute of America
Grades
8 to 12
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This informative site delves into the ancient tradition of the Olympic games and provides brief, but interesting essays on Olympic myths, games for women, and the history behind Olympic...more
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This informative site delves into the ancient tradition of the Olympic games and provides brief, but interesting essays on Olympic myths, games for women, and the history behind Olympic competition. There is also a new link all about the cultural heritage of Beijing.
tag(s): greece (25), greek (33), greeks (29), olympics (41), sports (77)
In the Classroom
Use this site for a jigsaw activity on the culture importance of the festival of Olympia in ancient Greek society. Have students work with partners and read the interviews about Beijing.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Science and the Olympics - WhyFiles
Grades
4 to 10
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This site was developed for the 1996 Atlanta games, and updated in 2013. It offers some timeless information about the science behind the sports that is useful during any Olympic ...more
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This site was developed for the 1996 Atlanta games, and updated in 2013. It offers some timeless information about the science behind the sports that is useful during any Olympic year! The WhyFiles presentation shows the hundreds of scientific connections to modern sports. There are eight main categories (for example, Ancient Olympics, Computers In Sports, and Sports Doctors: Athletic Ethics). Although this site isn't highly interactive, there are some explicitly detailed photographs and extensive information on all topics highlighted.
In the Classroom
Why not do an eight day unit based on this website. Highlight a new category each day on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Or divide your students into small groups and assign each group one of the eight topics to explore. This site would tie into social studies, health, physical education, technology, and other subject areas.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Nazi Olympics Berlin 1936 - Smithsonian Holocaust Museum
Grades
6 to 12
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This site, based on an exhibit from the American Holocaust Museum, uses the 1936 games as a starting point for a visual synopsis of the evolution of the Nazi regime, ...more
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This site, based on an exhibit from the American Holocaust Museum, uses the 1936 games as a starting point for a visual synopsis of the evolution of the Nazi regime, with a particular focus on its racial and ethnic policies. The result is a succinct, though stark, introduction that should be useful for many students. The site features an online exhibition with video clips, pictures, and articles of interest.
tag(s): german (48), germany (26), olympics (41), world war 2 (138)
In the Classroom
Use this site to spark a discussion and study of the role of the Olympics in politics and foreign policy (especially during an Olympic year as an extension of your study of current events). You may want to share some of the video clips on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Why not have a class debate about the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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