Meet each student at the entrance to your classroom with a handshake and a smile. Be sure to look each student in the eye and verbally welcome each student by name as they enter the classroom. Then, when students are settled, write the word “RESPECT” on the board. Ask students, “Have any of you heard of this word before? If so, can you tell me what it means?” After listening to a few students’ responses, say, “Respect is treating someone in a way that makes them feel cared for and important.” Then ask, “What does respect mean to you now that you have learned the definition of the word?”

Create a “Respect” anchor chart with the class (see “Respect Anchor Chart” at the back of this lesson as an example). Have students provide specific examples of respectful behaviors and write them on the chart.

Ask students to write “RESPECT” on a card or piece of paper. Direct them to cut the card or paper into five to seven puzzle pieces.

Once students have created their “RESPECT” puzzles, say, “Now, I want each of you to turn to your classmate sitting next to you and show them your puzzle. Notice how your puzzle is different from his or her puzzle, though each of you was given the same directions. This shows how each of us thinks very differently about things...and that is okay! That is what makes each of us special. We must always show respect and treat others kindly, even when they think about things differently from how we think about them.”

Have students mix up their puzzle pieces, trade their puzzles with a classmate, and try to put together their classmate’s puzzle.

Tell students, “You are going to participate in an activity where you will decide which actions are respectful and which actions are not respectful.” Give each student the “Respectful or Not Respectful?” activity sheet. Tell students, “Circle the squares that display respectful actions.” Assist students as needed.

Have students share their finished activity sheet. State, “When you are respectful, you do not hurt people or things. Good students always try to be respectful.”

Establish a respect jar in the classroom and show the coupons to students (see the “Respect Forms for Jar” activity sheet). Tell students to fill out a coupon and place it in the jar each time they see a classmate being respectful. Then, once the jar is filled, randomly pull names from the jar for praise.