Friendship Lessons

Post date: Sep 26, 2016 12:27:30 AM

Kindergarten

This week in Kindergarten I am going to talk with the students about the things that make us different and unique. These special qualities are a GREAT reason to be friends, but often times these differences cause us to distance ourselves because we don't understand them. Elmer the Elephant is a wonderful story which will help the students see how we are all "different" and that's what makes us special.

1st Grade

First graders sometimes feel that they have all the friends they need, they may be possessive of friends, and exclude new students. This week I will use "Room on the Broom" to teach the students the importance of including new friends.

2nd Grade

In second grade we are going to continue our lesson from last time. I taught the students the importance of working with others and being a team. Our team challenges last week "partner work" was very challenging for some students and so I thought a second opportunity would be beneficial. First we will watch a short story, Charlie the Caterpillar, a story about being popularity and rejection. The students will see why it is important to make friends for who people are and not what people think of them. Then they will design a butterfly with a partner, each getting a half to complete and then taping them together and showing them off.

3rd Grade

Third graders will learn about friendship by being challenged to include others. We will watch "The Invisible Boy" and discuss how it feels to be left out and how we can include others. The students will have be able to complete a partner worksheet to create strategies of what they can do in similar situations in the future.

4th Grade

I am going to share with the 4th grade the idea of changing the way we view others. So often we focus on how we are different from one another and it causes us to miss all the things that we have in common. We watch an amazing video about the Tsunami in Japan that shows how we can understand so much about others through common body language and our emotions.

5th Grade

5th Graders will discuss how they can be supporters to each other. We will watch a short clip about a boy who is encouraged by his mother. He experiences lots of defeats but never gives up. We discuss how we can be kind to others through encouragement. We will also watch "The Kindness Boomerang" that shows how one kind gesture can create a chain reaction touching many people.