Writing: sports day at school
A sports-day paragraph can compare a usual habit with what is happening at the event now. Introduce the scene, describe a few actions and finish with a feeling or reason. This English 2AC writing lesson provides a complete original handwritten example, a tense-by-tense explanation and tasks for writing your own school-sports paragraph.
English 2AC · S2
Your illustrated PDF
The plan, the complete model and corrected exercises to print. The quiz stays online.
By the end of this lesson, you can
- Describe a scene in progress
- Use a short routine contrast accurately
- Keep activities and pronouns clear
Before you startRead short English sentences and familiar school vocabulary
Un bon cours, ça se partage.
Understand the writing task
Describe a scene in progress. Use a short routine contrast accurately. Keep activities and pronouns clear.
Sports day at school
Today is sports day at our school. We are meeting in the playground with our teacher. I usually play football, but today I am taking part in a relay. My friend Bilal is holding the team list, and two pupils are carrying the cones. Before the race, we are listening to the instructions. We must wait for our turn and keep the running area clear. I feel excited because this is my first school relay. Our aim is to do our best and encourage every runner.
This notebook contains the complete example written above. It is one possible original answer. Use its structure to plan your own text and change the details to match the task.
Which kind of sports paragraph are you writing?
Read the task’s time reference first. This practice asks for a scene happening today, so the model uses the present continuous for actions in progress. A task about a past sports day would need a different tense. For this version, aim for about 70–100 words, name the event, describe three actions and give one feeling with a reason.
You may invent the event and pupil names. The model is a small school scene, rather than a report of a real competition. It does not claim a result, national schedule or official rulebook. Keep the description within what you can explain clearly. A relay, team list and cones give enough detail without adding unsupported scores or technical sporting claims.
Why does the model use two present tenses?
I usually play football describes a regular preference, so it uses the present simple. Today I am taking part describes the current event, so it uses am + ing. Are meeting, is holding, are carrying and are listening describe actions around the scene. Match am, is and are with the subject each time rather than reusing one form everywhere.
The paragraph also uses must wait and keep to express the example event’s instructions. Must takes the base verb, without to. I feel excited describes a state and is natural in the simple form. A scene about now does not mean every verb must be continuous. Choose the form from the role of the sentence: routine, current action, feeling or rule.
| Purpose | Model expression |
|---|---|
| Introduce the scene | Today is sports day |
| Habit | I usually play football |
| Current action | I am taking part in a relay |
| Instruction | We must wait for our turn |
| Feeling and reason | I feel excited because … |
Keep the contrast meaningful
I usually play football, but today I am taking part in a relay.
- The first verb describes a usual activity. The second describes the different event today. But links the contrast.
How can you make the scene easy to follow?
Start with the event and place, then describe the writer and nearby pupils. Give each person one clear action. Avoid a list of unrelated sports that changes the setting every sentence. A few specific details help the reader imagine one moment. The ending explains the writer’s feeling and gives the team a simple aim.
Before finishing, underline each ing verb and check its form of be. Then check the routine sentence, the modal and the reason after because. Read the paragraph aloud at a steady pace; a listener should understand who holds the list and who carries the cones. If two pronouns could refer to different people, repeat a name or use the pupils to remove the uncertainty.
A method you can reuse
Step by step
Work step by step
- Identify whether the task is about now, a routine or the past.
- Plan an event, place, three actions and a feeling.
- Use be + ing for the scene’s actions and simple forms where the meaning needs them.
- Check subjects, verbs, pronouns and the reason.
Remember
Do not write We carrying cones or He are holding the list. Keep the correct form of be. Use this present-tense model only when the task’s time reference fits.
Frequently asked questions
Which tense should I use for Sports day writing?
Can a paragraph contain both present tenses?
Is the full model shown in an image?
Quiz: 2 questions
2 questions are randomly selected from this lesson’s 2-question bank. Choose one answer for each question and get an immediate explanation.
Q1Two pupils … carrying cones.
Incorrect answer
The plural subject takes are.
Correct answer: are
The plural subject takes are.
Q2A task about last Friday requires …
Incorrect answer
A past event needs an appropriate past-time description.
Correct answer: a time and tense adaptation
A past event needs an appropriate past-time description.
Your score
0/2
Start with the worked examples
Read the lesson in small sections. Write your own example for each rule and try the Easy exercises before returning to the quiz.
Review: 2 missed questions
Two pupils … carrying cones.
Correct answerare
The plural subject takes are.
A task about last Friday requires …
Correct answera time and tense adaptation
A past event needs an appropriate past-time description.
Exercises with answers
6 exercises, from easy practice to challenges. Try each one yourself, then reveal the answer and explanation.
Exercise 1
EasyWhich model sentence compares a habit and an action today?
Answer and explanation
I usually play football, but today I am taking part in a relay. Play is the habit; am taking part is today’s action.
Exercise 2
EasyComplete: Bilal … holding the list. Two pupils … carrying cones.
Answer and explanation
Bilal is holding the list. Two pupils are carrying cones. Use is with one pupil and are with two.
Exercise 3
IntermediateWhy is must wait used rather than must waiting?
Answer and explanation
Must is followed by a base verb. Wait expresses the action required by the example event’s instruction.
Exercise 4
IntermediateComplete a feeling sentence with because.
Answer and explanation
One possible answer: I feel excited because I am trying a new event. The reason should fit the feeling and situation.
Exercise 5
IntermediateCould you copy this paragraph unchanged for a task about last Friday?
Answer and explanation
No. Last Friday refers to the past. You would need to adapt the verbs and time references to that task rather than copying the present scene.
Exercise 6
ChallengeWrite 70–100 words about an invented sports event happening today. Include three actions and a feeling with a reason.
Answer and explanation
Check a clear opening, three be + ing actions, suitable simple/modal forms, consistent people and a reason. A possible opening is: Today our class is preparing a relay. Two pupils are placing cones, and I am checking the team list. Continue with your own details.