Lunch Buddies

Establish a regular meeting time such as every Friday during lunch. Over several lunches, show an interested group of students with and without intellectual disabilities a movie with a leadership theme, such as The Lorax or Dolphin Tale. (Since every group of students is different, preview your movie selection to ensure that it is a good fit for our group.) After each viewing, follow up with a group discussion. Ask students questions such as the ones below:

• What did you learn about leadership?

• How does the plot relate to real life?

• Would you have acted differently than the main character? Why or why not?

Other Inclusive Lunch Ideas:

• Select a book from our Unified Young Readers Guide to read with the group each lunch hour. After the teacher or students read the book to the rest of the group, ask the corresponding discussion questions which are included in the guide.

• Mix it up day! Have students sit next to someone new at lunch. You can provide students with conversation starters such as these.

• Leadership task - have the lunch buddies plan Kindness/Inclusive Schools Week!