Lesson Plan
Respectful Riders

Lore Elementary School -

Overview

Time is provided every few weeks for classes to separate into groups based on each bus community. For example, all students that ride bus #1 meet together, etc. Community members are involved in the meeting and include teachers, school crossing guards, and bus drivers. The Responsive Classroom ideology promotes shared knowledge and ownership of personal behavior, which is why it is important for all community members to partake in the bus community meetings. Students and community members will work together with the shared goal of improving the outcome of respectful behaviors while riding the school bus.

Lesson Objectives

  • discuss ways to respect people and materials on the bus
  • list ways in which to keep ourselves and others safe
  • describe ways in which to encourage good choices on the bus
  • compare/contrast ways to respect others and our environment
  • reflect/discuss changes to make that will improve our personal respect and responsibility on the buslist

Materials Needed

  • chart paper for morning message
  • prepared phrases on sentence strips (see Lore Sentence Strips)
  • T-chart
  • praise sticker
  • tape/glue stick

Lesson Plan – Page 2

Procedures

  1. Greeting: Stress the importance of learning names on our buses so that it can promote a friendlier environment for riders. Students greet one another by introducing themselves and stating one thing they need to bring on the bus each morning to be prepared for the school day. (e.g, book bag, pencils, homework, listening ears, good attitudes, etc.) -- * Different variations can be modeled after the activity “We’re Going on a Picnic”. Students must recall and restate previously mentioned items in the order they stated.
  2. Message: Teacher reads the following message to the bus community and fosters a discussion of respectful behavior.* Different variations can include choral reading or student volunteer directed. Create a T-chart with the headings “respect the environment” and “respect each other.”