Friendship Unit
At the beginning of the school year, I like to do a friendship unit to help the kids get acquainted with each other, and to help teach values like cooperation, caring, etc. I read lots of books like Frog and Toad are Friends, Swimmy, Frank Asch's Bear stories, etc. Click here to see a list of some of the books that I use. Booklist Swimmy: "Swimmy" by Leo Lionni is a great book to read aloud to reinforce the value of cooperation. I have made murals to illustrate the book in different ways. Some years, I help the kids use a fish-shaped sponge and red paint to recreate the picture of all the little red fish swimming together to make one big fish. Each child has a turn at sponge painting a red fish on the mural. We use black paint, of course, for Swimmy, who makes the eye of the big fish. Other years, I give the kids pre-cut construction paper fish, and let them decorate their fish as they wish. Some make rainbow fish, spotted fish, angel fish, exotic fish. When they are done with their individual fish, we arrange them on mural paper in the shape of one big fish, and the caption: TEAMWORK makes a BIG difference. It makes a great hall or classroom display, and everyone is proud of their part in the creation of the mural. Friendship Quilt: Some teachers I know have made a friendship quilt. Each child is given a quilt square. In each corner they draw and/or write a hobby or interest. In the center of the square, they can draw a self portrait, or you can glue their school picture on. For example, one child might use the following 4 interests in the corners: soccer, painting, reading, fishing. When individual squares are done, they are assembled together to make a class quilt, which then becomes a classroom display that children can refer to throughout the year. Have a compliment can: Decorate a can or shoe box. When the teacher notices someone demonstrating friendship, a compliment can be written on a slip of paper and placed in the can. For instance: Julie was showing friendship when she shared her crayons with Tammy· Set aside a time each day for compliments to be read.
M &Ms: Gather at the rug or sit in a circle. Give each child 5 m&m's in a cup. Each child thinks of 5 things they like. They eat one m&m as they share their idea. For example, one child might say: 1. I like pizza· 2. I like to go to grandma's· 3. My favorite movie is Bug's Life, etc.
Songs about Friendship:
Tom Chapin's All of My Friends from his Billy the Squid album (available at amazon .com)
Steven Traugh's Say Hello, and also Friends from his Kiducation cassette. (available from Creative Teaching Press 1-800-444-4287)
Mark Will's Don't Laugh At Me from his album Wish You Were Here . This song is on the serious side, but goes great as a follow-up after reading Charlie the Caterpillar by Dom DeLuise. My first graders loved it.
Hap Palmer's They Go Together, off his Witch's Brew album. This isn't really a song about friendship, but could be used in that way, since friends go together.. I write the words on chart paper. We talk about things that go together. Some years we make up verses of our own. It reinforces learning of the sight word and, and also focuses on rhyming words, which helps build phonemic awareness.
Here's a great link for more ideas on a friendship unit:
