Say to students, “Today, we are going to talk about being responsible. Have you ever forgotten something, like a library book or your homework, and you said, ‘My mom forgot to put it in my backpack’?” Allow students to respond. Then, say, “Well, that was not really your mom’s job. It was really your job, and we call our jobs our responsibilities. Part of growing up is learning about responsibilities and becoming responsible. Everyone has responsibilities, and it is important to do them. People who don’t take care of their responsibilities can run into big problems.”

Display the “Responsibilities and Consequences Poster,” which features examples of responsible actions and consequences, where students can see it. Then, tell students, “Today, I am going to look at some pictures of big problems, think about what responsibility I should have done to prevent them, and show you how I match the problem to the responsibility. Notice how I am going to be careful not to blame someone else for the problem.” Think out loud and draw lines connecting pictures of consequences for not completing various responsibilities to their matching responsibilities.

After completing the “Responsibilities and Consequences Poster” activity, pass out the “Responsibilities of Students” activity sheet to each student. Say, “Each of you now has a paper with some pictures of responsibilities of students. Take a look at them. Then, turn to the person sitting next to you and talk about what would happen if you chose to not be responsible for each task.” Circulate around the classroom. After a few minutes of discussion, ask students to share what they learned from their partners.

Tell students, “As a class, we are going to work on a project, and each one of you is going to be responsible for part of it. If someone is not responsible and does not do their job, the project cannot be completed. Can I trust each one of you to be responsible?” The students should give a verbal response.

Next, tell students, “We are going to make a class rainbow. Each one of you will get a piece of the rainbow with a specific color named on the back of each piece. You are responsible for coloring your pieces with the same color of crayon or marker as the color written on the back. If someone does not complete their piece or does not color in the correct color, the rainbow cannot be completed.”

Pass out the pieces of the rainbow to each student. (If you have a large class, several students will be responsible for the same color pieces of the rainbow.) Assist students as they color their pieces of the rainbow.

Once students color their rainbow pieces, assemble the class rainbow with students on the large poster with the outline of a rainbow. Compliment each student for being responsible and say to them, “I knew I could count on you!”