Friendship Unit Resources
Resources: Books and Suggested Activities
Other Resources
Here are some links to other great resources that I found for any unit on friendship, they are not specific to 1st/2nd grade.
- Crazy Hair Day: I chose this book because its an uplifting story of friendship and kindness. It tells the story of how to be a good friend ultimately through solidarity. Additionally, this book touches on bullying and how that feels fo the person being bullied. This book is a picture book which could be read by individually by higher level reader, but definitely a great read-aloud. Reading the book followed by a discussion on the different characters and their perspectives on the situation at hand would could be implemented into a lesson.
- Unicorn Think He's Pretty Great: This comical book tells the story of a goat who starts to feel out of sorts when a unicorn moves into the neighborhood. In a sense the goat begin to make judgements about the unicorn before he get to know him. However when the Unicorn starts to show interest in Goat, his perspective begins to change. Unicorn is a great tale of "never judging a book by its cover". This book is for higher level readers but great for all listening audiences, K-5. After reading this book I would do the Find a Friend Scavenger Hunt, so they can learn something new about someone.
- Will I Have A Friend?: This is a great book about a boy being a little wary and intimidated on being able to make friends. Having this book in a friendship unit is great because it shows how to develop those key interactions between one person and a group of people. If the friendship unit is being taught at the beginning of the school year than this book is even better because there could be new members to the class who are thinking the same question as the book title, "Will I have a friend"? So this book will in a way reassure new student, and make returning students aware of what it feels like to be in a new place and trying to make friends. A supplemental activity to go along with the book and unit is having students create "Wanted" posters. This is a great way for students to reflect on what they look for in a friend, and to learn about their classmates. Click here to see sample posters.
- Enemy Pie: This book is a funny yet endearing story of a little boy learning an effective recipe for turning your best enemy into your best friend. The short of this story is that we fear the unknown and resist change. I think Enemy Pie is a great supplement for a friendship unit because in a simple, fun and charming way the author serves us an intriguing slice of conflict resolution, using ingredients of humor and compassion that every child can relate to. This is a fairly long book for it being a picture book, so it would be best as a read aloud if your teaching 1st/2nd, however the book is suitable for all elementary grades. There are many activities and lesson plans that have been create to go with this book that can be found on the official Enemy Pie Website and many more on Pinterest. However, it would be ideal if the author, Derek Munson, could come to the class as a guest author, and do his The Enemy Pie Experiment presentation.
Other Resources
Here are some links to other great resources that I found for any unit on friendship, they are not specific to 1st/2nd grade.
- Book- Because You're Lucky by Irene Smalls
- Friendship Kit Activity