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Basketball started with peach baskets? Play, go and do with sports

An A2 ESL lesson plan on play, go and do with sports, from play basketball to go swimming and do karate.

Grammar
The sports verbs play (ball and team games), go + -ing (sports where you move) and do (yoga, karate, gymnastics), now and in the past: We went skiing. She does yoga.
Topic
The first basketball game, played in a gym in Springfield, Massachusetts, in December 1891 with peach baskets, and words such as hoop, shoot, score and foul.
Activities
A museum notice to read, a dialogue on the court and a voice message to hear, self-checking drills, a chat about the student's sports and open-box questions.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Game on, Springfield!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: basketball and more sportsVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: peach baskets in the gym

    • Look at the picture: a gym in 1891PictureUnlock
    • Read the museum noticeReal-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: shoot, Marco, shoot!

    • Listen to Marco and Coach TashaListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to Grandpa's ChallengeListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: play, go or do?

    • Study the scheme: play, go or doGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct option: play, go or doChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: go + -ingFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: play, go or doFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the right sentenceQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: your sports

    • Choose the right replies: sports and youChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: your sportsOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Sort the words into the correct columns: play, go or doSort into columnsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with play, go or doFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Nora's postDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: a viewer's commentChoose the optionUnlock

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Vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • janitor
  • hoop
  • soccer ball
  • foul
  • volleyball
  • karate
  • gymnastics

Grammar: play, go and do with sports

To say you do a sport, English puts a verb in front of its name, and the sport decides which one: play basketball, go swimming, do yoga. Starting from the first basketball game in 1891, learners match each sport to its verb, spell the -ing forms after go, put these sports verbs into the past and ask questions with them.

I play basketball. I go swimming. I do yoga.

play + ball games, go + -ing, do + yoga and fighting sports. The past: played, went, did.

Play, go or do?

Play goes with ball games and team games: play soccer, play volleyball. Go + -ing is for sports where you move, in water, on snow or on foot: go skiing, go hiking. Do takes yoga, gymnastics and fighting sports: do karate, do judo.

VerbUse it for…Examples
playball games and team gamesplay basketball, play soccer, play volleyball, play tennis
go + -ingsports where you move: in water, on snow or ice, on a bike, on footgo swimming, go skiing, go hiking, go running
doyoga, gymnastics and fighting sports like karate and judodo yoga, do gymnastics, do karate, do judo

Go + -ing: the spelling, and no to

After go, the sport is an -ing word with the usual spelling: swim doubles its m (swimming), hike drops its e (hiking), ski just adds -ing (skiing). With a sport, go takes no to: We go to the pool, but We go swimming.

go + -ing: the spelling

  • swim → swimming, run → running, jog → jogging: double the last letter
  • hike → hiking, skate → skating, bike → biking: no e
  • ski → skiing, surf → surfing, fish → fishing: just add -ing

go to + a place, or go + -ing?

go to + a place

  • We go to the pool.
  • They went to the mountains.
  • Let's go to a basketball game!

go + -ing: no to!

  • We go swimming.
  • They went skiing.
  • Let's go hiking!

Now and in the past

In the present, the verb adds -s or -es after he, she and it: He plays soccer. She does yoga. The past has one form for every person: played, went, did, as in In 1892, women at Smith College played basketball too.

Now and in the past: played, went, did for everyone

WhoNow (every week)In the past (last week)
II play basketball.I played basketball.
youYou go swimming.You went swimming.
he, she, itHe plays soccer. She does yoga. My dog (it) goes running.He played soccer. She did yoga. My dog went running.
weWe go skiing.We went skiing.
theyThey do karate.They did karate.

Sports, then and now

  • In December 1891, Naismith's students played basketball with a soccer ball.
  • In 1892, women at Smith College played basketball too.
  • Marco goes swimming. In school, he did karate.
  • Do you do yoga? – No, I play volleyball.
  • Last winter, we went skiing in Vermont.

Questions and negatives

Questions and negatives take do, does or did, and the sports verb stays in its base form: Did you play tennis? We didn't go skiing. In Does she do yoga?, both verbs belong: does makes the question, and do goes with the sport.

NowIn the past
Do you play tennis? – Yes, I do.Did you play tennis? – Yes, I did.
Does she do yoga? – No, she doesn't.Did she do yoga? – No, she didn't.
We don't go skiing.We didn't go skiing.

No the with sports

After play, sports take no article: play basketball, never play the basketball. Musical instruments are different and keep the: He plays the harmonica. So Do you play the guitar? is right, and so is Do you play tennis?

Two little tips

No the with sports: play basketball (not: play the basketball). With music, say the: Marco plays the harmonica. And Do you do karate? is right: the first do makes the question, and the second do goes with the sport.

Common mistakes

  • I play swimming. We go to swimming.

    I go swimming. We go swimming.

    go + -ing, with no play and no to

  • He does football. She makes yoga.

    He plays football. She does yoga.

    ball games: play · yoga: do, never make

  • We go to ski every winter.

    We go skiing every winter.

    the sport: go + -ing

  • Marco plays the basketball.

    Marco plays basketball.

    no the with sports

Try the play, go and do exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 17 auto-checked exercises
  • 4 games
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • choose play, go or do for each sport: I play volleyball. I go swimming. I do karate.
  • spell the -ing form after go and leave out to: We go swimming, not We go to swimming
  • say what they did with played, went and did, the same for every person: Last winter, we went skiing.
  • ask and answer about sports: Does she do yoga? Did you play tennis? – Yes, I did.

Lesson 17 opens Game on, the fifth unit of English A2.1 · Then and Now. It builds on A1.1 lesson 30, which put sports verbs after can (I can swim. I can play soccer.), and on A2.1 lessons 1, 2 and 6, which taught regular and irregular past forms and Did…? questions. A game invented in 1891 puts the past simple to work from the reading on: Naismith's students played basketball with a soccer ball.

The warm-up spins a wheel of sports questions and brings ten words, from shoot and score to janitor and foul, with pictures and audio. Students then read a museum notice about the peach baskets nailed to a gym balcony in Springfield, then listen to Marco and Coach Tasha (an AI-voiced dialogue) on a basketball court and to a voice message with a shooting challenge. Four self-checking exercises follow the scheme, among them a table that moves each sport into the past. In the speaking chapter, students reply to Nora's messages from the court, then open boxes about their own sports.

For homework, students match and unscramble the words, fill gaps, sort sports into play, go and do columns, put sentences in order and complete a post and a viewer's comment, and each of the nine tasks checks itself.

Grammar:
play / go / do + sport · go + -ing · played, went, did · sports
Topic:
basketball · Springfield, Massachusetts · James Naismith · sports · women's basketball · Grandpa's Map

Teaching tips

  • Run a quick class survey before the chat: each student asks three classmates Do you play…?, Do you go…? or Do you do…? and reports one answer: Ana goes skiing. Leo does judo.
  • Before the reading, ask what the first players used as a ball and as baskets. Students guess, then find the answer in the museum notice: a soccer ball and two peach baskets.
  • Contrast go to and go + -ing with one pair: put We go to the pool and We go swimming on the board and ask which one names a place. Then students make pairs of their own aloud.
  • Play the dialogue on the court a second time and have students raise a hand at every sport, then say it with its verb: went swimming, did karate, play basketball.

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The whole course: English A2.1 · Then and Now

32 lessons for adults at A2 in simple American English, from the past simple to going to, should and might. Eight units tell stories of journeys, American firsts, food, places, sports, music, neighbors and dreams. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Amazing journeys

    the past simple, regular and irregular verbs, negatives, prepositions of movement

    1. Lesson 1Around the world in 72 daysThe past simple of regular verbs
    2. Lesson 2The first drive across AmericaIrregular verbs in the past simple
    3. Lesson 3Get your kicks on Route 66Past simple negatives with didn't
    4. Lesson 4She walked 2,000 miles in sneakersPrepositions of movement

  2. Unit 2 American firsts

    was and were, past questions and short answers, ago and in, could for past ability

    1. Lesson 5The first American woman in spaceWas, were, there was and there were
    2. Lesson 6A real bug in the computerPast simple questions with did
    3. Lesson 7“Mr. Watson, come here”Wh- questions in the past simple
    4. Lesson 8Twelve seconds in the airCould and couldn't for past ability

  3. Unit 3 American food

    countable and uncountable nouns, comparatives, ordering food, a few and a little

    1. Lesson 9The first chocolate chip cookieCountable and uncountable nouns in a recipe
    2. Lesson 10Is a jalapeño hotter than a habanero?Comparatives of short adjectives
    3. Lesson 11Two eggs, sunny side up!Offers and orders with would like
    4. Lesson 12Cooking for twenty on ThanksgivingA few, a little and a lot of

  4. Unit 4 City or country?

    comparatives with more and less, superlatives, as … as, too and enough

    1. Lesson 13The island with no carsComparatives with more and less, plus better, worse and farther
    2. Lesson 14America's extremesSuperlatives with the + -est, the most and the least
    3. Lesson 15San Francisco or Yosemite? You choose!As … as for the same, not as … as for less
    4. Lesson 16A park on an old railroadToo, enough and not … enough

  5. Unit 5 Game on

    play, go and do with sports, going to, adverbs of manner, reflexive pronouns

    1. Lesson 17 · you're hereBasketball started with peach baskets?Play, go and do with sports
    2. Lesson 18What's going to happen at LA 2028?Be going to for plans and predictions
    3. Lesson 19Pickleball: a game from a backyardAdverbs of manner
    4. Lesson 20Be brave and tryReflexive pronouns and each other

  6. Unit 6 Music and nights out

    love, enjoy and hate + -ing, the present continuous for plans, suggestions, to for purpose

    1. Lesson 21Where jazz was bornGerunds after love, like, enjoy, hate and don't mind
    2. Lesson 22Music on every streetThe present continuous for future arrangements
    3. Lesson 23A night on BroadwaySuggestions with Let's, Why don't we and How about
    4. Lesson 24An orchestra for every kidThe infinitive of purpose and to or for

  7. Unit 7 Neighbors and community

    much and many, should, something and everyone, because and so

    1. Lesson 25Everybody cleans up!Much and many with nouns you can and can't count
    2. Lesson 26Good neighbors shovel snowShould and shouldn't + the base verb
    3. Lesson 27Take a book, leave a bookIndefinite pronouns with some-, any-, no- and every-
    4. Lesson 28A bench for making friendsBecause for reasons, so for results

  8. Unit 8 Plans and dreams

    verb + to, the present continuous vs going to, might, when, before and after

    1. Lesson 29Never give up: from farm fields to spaceVerb + to + the base form
    2. Lesson 30Across America by trainGoing to and the present continuous for the future
    3. Lesson 31Open in the year 6939Might and might not for possibility
    4. Lesson 32A college graduate at 95Time clauses with when, before and after

Questions about this lesson

When do you use play, go and do with sports?
Use play for ball and team games, go with an -ing word for sports where you move, and do for yoga, gymnastics and fighting sports. So it's play basketball and play tennis, go swimming and go skiing, but do yoga and do karate. The A2 lesson Basketball started with peach baskets? on edio.ai sorts all three in one table.
What are sports verbs in English?
Sports verbs are play, go and do, plus verbs for moves such as shoot, score and kick. The first three name the sport: She plays volleyball. We go hiking. The others describe a game: in basketball, you shoot (throw the ball at the basket), score or miss, and you can't push or hold other players, because that's a foul.
How do you talk about sports in the past?
Put the sports verb into the past simple: played, went and did for every person. Last winter, we went skiing. In school, he did karate. She played volleyball yesterday. Questions and negatives use did and the base verb instead: Did you play tennis? We didn't go skiing. Watch for Did you played…?, a common slip with two past forms.
Is it "do karate" or "play karate"?
It's do karate: fighting sports take do, not play. Judo works the same way, and so do yoga and gymnastics: My brother does karate on Mondays. In school, I did karate. Play is for ball and team games, such as play soccer. In the chat of the A2 lesson Basketball started with peach baskets? on edio.ai, I played karate at a gym is one of the wrong replies.
Is it "go swimming" or "go to swimming"?
Say go swimming, with no to before the -ing word. Go to needs a place: We go to the pool. They went to the mountains. With the sport itself, the -ing word follows go directly: We go swimming. They went skiing. Let's go hiking! The same trap shows up as go to ski, which should be go skiing.
Do you say "play basketball" or "play the basketball"?
Say play basketball: after play, a sport takes no the. It's play soccer, play tennis and play volleyball too. Instruments work the other way round: She plays the guitar. He plays the harmonica. The basketball is right only when you mean one real ball: Pass me the basketball!
What are the names of sports in English?
Common names of sports in English include basketball, soccer, volleyball, tennis, swimming, skiing, yoga and karate. It helps to learn them in three groups, by the verb each one takes: play for ball and team games (play tennis), go for -ing sports (go hiking, go running) and do for yoga, gymnastics, karate and judo.
How do I teach play, go and do to A2 students?
Let students sort sports into three columns first, then name the rule: play for ball games, go + -ing for sports where you move, do for yoga and fighting sports. Add the past and questions next: We went skiing. Do you do yoga? Basketball started with peach baskets?, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, builds up through a museum notice and a dialogue on the court before the scheme and four self-checking drills.
What's a good game for practicing play, go and do?
A sports mime with a full-sentence answer works well: one student acts out a sport, and the class calls out You go skiing! or You do yoga! A point goes only to the right verb. For a speaking round, put questions such as What sports did you do in school? in boxes to open, so answers need played, went or did.
How do you practice play, go and do one-to-one?
Interview each other about sports, then swap roles: the student asks Do you play tennis? and Did you go skiing last winter?, then answers the same questions. The chat in Basketball started with peach baskets? on edio.ai needs no partner at all: it brings messages from a basketball court, where I go swimming in the lake is right and I play swimming in the lake is a trap.
What's good homework for practicing play, go and do?
Good homework sorts sports by verb, then uses them in sentences: a column sort of basketball, skiing and yoga under play, go and do, then gaps such as Last weekend, we … biking along the river. In Basketball started with peach baskets? on edio.ai, every homework task checks itself, from an anagram of the lesson's words to a post to complete.
Are there interactive exercises for play, go and do with sports?
Yes: gap-fills and chats that check each answer let students practice the three verbs with instant feedback. On this page, four parts of Basketball started with peach baskets?, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, play without an account: the museum notice about the first game, the dialogue between Marco and Coach Tasha, a gap-fill of go + -ing forms such as skiing and jogging, and a chat about the student's sports. The other exercises need an account.
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