Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune In: Watch the episode

15 minutes

Find Out: What are responsibilities?

25 minutes

Take Action: Responsibilities roster

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

take personal responsibility for their actions and behaviour in the classroom
learn the personal reward of benevolent action
interact politely but assertively with others.

Success criteria

Students can:

keep the classroom clean and tidy
pick up after others, even if it's not their personal responsibility
ask their friends and classmates to keep a space clean and tidy.

Tune In: Watch the episode

Step 1.

Share the Bluey episode Duck Cake with your students.

Bluey 'Duck Cake' - ClickView (https://clickv.ie/w/Dcmx)

Duck Cake synopsis: Bluey wants to help Dad make Bingo’s birthday cake, but first she must put away her toys. But nothing can tempt her to clean up, until Dad drops the cake.

Step 2.

Facilitate a class discussion about the episode by asking the following questions

I wonder what you liked most about this episode?
I wonder how Dad felt when he couldn't make the duck cake? How can you tell?

Using questions that begin with “I wonder…” is a great way to get kids to share their own ideas; ‘I wonder…” questions don’t necessarily have a correct answer, leaving kids open to explore and share their own ideas without fear of being wrong.

Step 3.

You might also display this prompt wall to inspire some observations.

Listening	Being nice to other people	Figuring things out	Sharing with other people
Looking after other people	Waiting quietly	Asking questions	Working together
Being friendly	Trying again and again	Following the rules	Doing the right thing

Prompt your students to finish the sentence stem:

In this episode, I saw someone......I saw this when...

Find Out: What are responsibilities?

Step 1.

Help students to understand how Bluey's thinking changed across the course of this episode by working through the following series of questions and explanations:

How much mess was Bluey going to clean up to begin with?	At first, she only agreed to clean up her mess, because that is all she felt responsible for.
Why was Bluey going to clean up the mess?	At first she thought she was getting a reward for cleaning up: first the start sticker, then the beater.
But then something happens. Bluey cleans up all of her mess, AND all of Bingo's mess, even though she is not getting a reward, and even though some of it is not her mess. Why does Bluey do this?	She wanted to help her dad after he dropped the cake and realised that cleaning up a mess that wasn't hers made her dad very thankful and happy
I wonder how it made Bluey feel? How can you tell?	Bluey realises that doing something nice for someone else is actually a good feeling.
I wonder how Mum felt when she saw Bluey had cleaned up all of the mess, including Bingo's mess? How can you tell?	Chilli is ultimately very proud of Bluey, and thankful towards her for the help.

Step 2.

Ask your students: do you think you should have to clean up someone else's mess the way Bluey cleaned up Bingo's mess?

For example, if there's a mess somewhere in the classroom, should you clean it up? Students might suggest that it is unfair that they should have to clean up a mess they didn't make.

Step 3.

Explain to students that it is sometimes nice to do something to help someone, even if it's not fun, and even if you don't get a reward. People are very thankful when you're helpful and go out of your way to do something that is not your responsibility. However, you should always take responsibility for your own messes.

Step 4.

Ask your students - what is responsibility?

You might like to discuss this with the class by completing a looks like, feels like, sounds like chart for the concept of responsibility. Write the three terms onto the board and collate your students responses

Looks like...	Feels like...	Sounds like...

Take Action: Responsibilities roster

Step 1.

Ask students to describe what their classroom looks like when it is looking its best. Suggestions might include:

Chairs pushed in
Pencil cases away or neatly at the head of the table
Backpacks hung up on pegs nicely
No rubbish on the floor
Books in the bookshelf neatly.

Step 2.

Ask students how it makes them feel when the classroom is looking its best. It's nice to come to school to a clean and welcoming classroom. It's a nice environment to learn in.

Step 3.

You might consider taking some pictures of a clean and tidy classroom so that students have a reference for the standard you're trying to keep at the end of every day/lesson.

Step 4.

Ask students who they think should be responsible for any messes? You might ask students to pledge to keep their own areas clean and tidy, and to clean up any messes they create in other spaces.

Step 5.

Rather than making students responsible for cleaning up other people's mess made in certain spaces, consider making a roster of monitors. For example, the floor monitors are responsible for keeping the floor clear of rubbish. If they see some rubbish around a person's table, they can ask them politely to clean it up. If the person responsible refuses, they can escalate it to the teacher to have a discussion about personal responsibility with that individual. Or you might find that students are happy to clean up someone else's mess in their responsible area, because sometimes that is a nice thing to do and being helpful makes you feel good.

Step 6.

Consider making a roster visible somewhere in the class, so you know which students are monitoring which areas, and so that you are confident all areas of the classroom are being looked after.

Step 7.

Invite students to respond to the prompt "I can be helpful around the house by...". Write some suggestions on the whiteboard.

Step 8.

Independently, students draw a picture of themselves helping around the house and write a sentence explaining the image.

Reflection

Invite students to reflect on the lesson by asking:

What does it mean to be responsible?

Responsibility - Caring for Our Space

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Summary

Lesson guides and printables

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