Looking for a lesson on responsibility for your elementary students, but can’t seem to find one that meets all your student’s needs? You might see other teachers doing fun character lessons and want to do those too, but the activities don’t quite fit with your student’s abilities. Maybe you need just a little bit of differentiation and the right amount of visual support for your students to be successful.
These responsibility lesson plans use engaging, age-appropriate activities that will reach all your student’s needs. With differentiation and visual support, ALL your students will be able to participate in these activities and show what they learned!
Responsibility Lesson #1 – What if Everybody Did That?
The book “What if Everybody Did That?” by Ellen Javernick does a great job showing how small choices can make a big difference! Read this book with your class and discuss how the main character makes small choices and how these choices impacted the environment around him. Then you can try these FUN, NO-PREP experiments!
Don’t have the book? Here is a link to a read-aloud on YouTube:
Experiment #1 – Paper Wads
Give everybody some scrap paper. Ask the students to ball up the scrap paper into paper balls. Have one student throw a ball of paper at the trash can from their seat. Observe… not such a big deal, right? Just one wad of paper on the floor.
Now have everyone throw all their paper balls at the trash can from their seats. Of course, students get a kick out of this. I mean, who doesn’t love throwing paper across the room!? Observe… holy paper ball mess everywhere! Discuss the difference with the class.
Then… have the students clean up the mess! LOL
Experiment #2 – Backpack Pile Up
Have one student put their backpack by the classroom door. Observe… okay, just a small obstacle to get by if you were coming in the classroom. Someone might trip and fall depending on the bag’s location to the door.
Next, have all the students pile up their backpacks in front of the door. Stand back and observe… holy backpack mountain! You can’t even get out of the door! Discuss the difference with the class.
Then… have the students put away their backpacks, the responsible way! 🙂
To add to the activity, you could have students draw before and after pictures of the experiments. Then, they can write a sentence or two explaining the difference.
Responsibility Lesson #2 – Responsibility Mini-Books
Time for some good old-fashioned Berenstain Bears! They have a great episode on picking up at home AND it’s on YouTube!
Mini-books are a great way for students to show what they have learned through writing and illustrating, while keeping it simple. These Responsibility Mini Books are great for elementary and special education classrooms, AND they have 4 differentiated levels for learners of all abilities.
There are multiple levels of differentiation with these mini-books! Students have the option to write complete sentences and draw their own pictures, use fill-in-the-blank sentences, or color a pre-drawn picture. At each level, students are able to share what it means to be responsible and what it looks like.
Responsibility Lesson #3 – I can be responsible at school.
Let’s talk about being responsible at school. A good place to start is to review the classroom rules and expectations. What does it look like when students are being responsible? Having a clean workspace and turning in homework? What does it look like when students are NOT being responsible? Losing supplies and not completing assignments?
This Responsibility Lesson is the perfect writing prompt to use when teaching about taking responsibility at school. The writing prompt is differentiated, visually supported, and includes an interactive flap page for student response.
In this responsibility lesson, students will complete the writing prompt “I can be responsible at school by…” in one of 2 levels of differentiation. The first level requires students to answer the question by writing on blank lines and using their own thoughts. The second level provides students with visually supported and error-free choices to answer the writing prompt.
Responsibility Lesson #4 – I can be responsible at home.
We talked about being responsible at school, now let’s talk about being responsible at home. Who has chores? Who helps out at home and how?
This Responsibility Lesson is just like the interactive flap page for being responsible at school, except it is focused on being responsible at home.
The writing prompt is differentiated, visually supported, and includes an interactive flap page for student response.
In this responsibility lesson, students will complete the writing prompt “I can be responsible at home by…” in one of 2 levels of differentiation. The first level requires students to answer the question by writing on blank lines and using their own thoughts. The second level provides students with visually supported and error-free choices to answer the writing prompt.
Responsibility Lesson #5 – Responsibility Poster
Sum up everything you have learned about being responsible by having students create a poster. Students can draw pictures of themselves being responsible and add a sentence or two explaining how the behavior is responsible.
If you have students with limited fine motor skills, then check out my Responsibility Poster Activity. This activity was created specifically for students with limited fine motor skills who need visual supports to demonstrate content knowledge. Students can select a title for their poster and 1-3 of pictures of responsibility to color, cut, and paste on construction paper to create a Responsibility Poster.
Responsibility Resources
You can find all these resources packed into a BUNDLE RIGHT HERE!
Responsibility Lessons BUNDLE for Elementary and Special Ed
Or each individual resource by CLICKING THE LINKS BELOW!
Responsibility at School Flap Page Activity
Responsibility at Home Flap Page Activity
Responsibility Poster for Students with Limited Fine Motor Skills
I hope you found some helpful ideas and resources for your responsibility lessons! Thanks for reading!
Looking for more character resources? Check out these posts!
Kindness Activities for the Special Ed Classroom
Character in the Classroom: Recess Queen Book Companion
