Clean Sweep: Responsibility

Lesson Objectives:

Students will be able to:

Explain the difference between responsible and irresponsible actions

Practice activities in the classroom that require responsibility to one’s self.

Key Vocabulary Words:

Responsibility, self-discipline, kindness

Materials:

White paper

Markers/ Crayons/ Pencils

Story Time: I just Forgot by Mercer Mayer

Pretest/ Post test Questions:

  1. Do you know what is responsibility? Yes No

  2. Have you heard about the word self-discipline? Yes No

  3. Being responsible means cleaning your room? Yes No

  4. Being responsible means not to do your work? Yes No

What is responsibility?

Explain to students that responsibility is when you are reliable to do the things that are expected or required of you. This means people can count on you! You do what you say and you say what you do. Let’s practice responsibility by working together to finish these sentences:

  • When I mess it up, I _______________. (Clean it up)

  • When I open it, I _________________. (Close it)

  • When I break something, I ___________________. (fix it, tell a grown up)

  • When I find something, I __________________ (turn it in).

What is Self-Discipline?

Explain that self-discipline means we are responsible for our own behavior. We pay attention to how we act and how we treat both ourselves and others. We can and should control our emotions. For example, when you get really frustrated, can you control yourself by taking deep breaths or walking away? If so, you are practicing self-discipline! Self-discipline takes lots of practice, so don’t be discouraged if you need to keep trying! Even adults must practice this skill every day.

Read Aloud: Story Time: I Just Forgot by Mercer Mayer

This story is about a little boy that continuously forgets “little things” throughout the day. Sometimes he understands what he is doing is wrong, but other times it doesn’t seem like a big deal to him. This gives you plenty of opportunities to talk about self-discipline and responsibility. Review the following parts of the book as a class:

  • What will happen when he forgets to water the plants? Even though he says the plants look fine, they are all wilted. Why might he say they look fine? (He doesn’t want to accept responsibility for forgetting, etc.)

  • Is he being honest about not forgetting to feed the goldfish? What does he say to cover up his forgetfulness?

  • What would happen if he forgot his lunch and his mother couldn’t bring it to him?

  • Was he showing responsibility when he left his muddy boots on?

  • Does he use kind words when speaking to his mother about cleaning up his toys? How could he answer her kindly?

  • What is the one thing he NEVER forgets?

Empower

Students will practice self-discipline and responsibility by exploring a messy versus clean desk/clean area study. Explain that we practice self-discipline and responsibility every single day in class and at home. We are each responsible for our own desk space/learning space. Today we are going to create two pictures of our desk/learning space one showing a messy/disorganized space and one showing a clean/organized space. When we practice self-discipline and responsibility, our areas reflect that. I as your teacher/ counselor must also practice these skills. I drew two pictures of my desk/learning space to show you.

Show your messy/clean pictures and explain how your irresponsible actions led to the messy desk. Go through the details of your clean desk picture, highlighting how you decided to organize things (papers in a pile with a clip on them, pencils in the pencil cup, etc.).

Have each student get a blank piece of paper and fold in half. On the first side have them draw a picture of what their area/cubby looks like at its messiest.

After everyone is finished, have them go over to their cubby/personal area and clean it up to the best of their ability. (You can provide assistance as needed.)

Bring the class back to their papers and have them draw an illustration of their clean spaces now. Have them label parts of the cubby/space that are important to remember: coat hung up, backpack on hook, shoes lined up, etc. (This will vary based on classroom setup).

Reflect

If time allows, review some of the drawings to highlight how each child chose to organize their personal space. Self-discipline takes practice. We have that opportunity daily with our personal spaces. Let’s work together to keep our areas clean and organized. The more we practice, the better we will become!