- Tuesday 02 August 2016
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Monday 7 August 2018 is International Friendship Day. This is a time to celebrate friendships and consider what it means to be a good friend. Try this lesson with young children to help them answer this question (and think about what kind of friend they are themselves!).
- Read A rainbow of friends by P. K. Hallinan or Rainbow of friendship by Joni Klein-Higger. (A copy of A rainbow of friends can be found on YouTube™ and read to the children on the interactive whiteboard.) Both texts send the message that friends come in all shapes, sizes and colours; and should be valued for their diversity.
- Discuss the texts after reading. Who were the characters? What happened in the text? What did you learn about friendship? What are friends? What are friends like?
- What is a good friend? Brainstorm to list on the board a bank of words about positive qualities that good friends should have. Read through the words with the students and ensure they know what each word means.
- Provide each student with a white cloud shape (pre-cut for younger students) or ask students to draw their own to fill an A4 sheet of paper. (Drawn cloud shapes should then be cut out.) The students write their names in the centre of the cloud.
- Provide the students with strips of different coloured paper. Ask the students to select words from the board (positive qualities) that they think they have that makes them a good friend. The students write each one on a different strip of coloured paper. *
- The students then glue or staple their rainbow of positive qualities to the bottom of the cloud. Hang to display.
Older or more capable students could be more discriminating in the type of words they write on particular coloured strips of paper. They might write five positive qualities they now have on the red, orange, yellow, green and blue strips; then on the indigo and purple strips students can write positive qualities they are working on (or need to work on).
If you’re looking for literature with a ‘friendship’ theme, consider using these:
- Bad apple: a tale of friendship by Edward Hemingway (K–2)
- Friendship according to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney (Years 2–4)
- Owen and Maze: The true story of a remarkable friendship by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff and Paul Kahumbu (K–5)
- A friendship for today by Patricia C McKissack (Years 5–8) (Adult themes)
- The friendship by Mildred D Taylor (Ages 10+) (Adult themes)
- A beautiful friendship (A Star Kingdom science fiction novel) by David Weber (Ages 12+)
- When friendship followed me home by Paul Griffith (Ages 10+) (Adult themes)