The Friendship Project

Second Grade
Tricia Garton
Standard:
21.K2.HL.2 Essential Concept and/or
Skill: Understand and use interactive
literacy and social skills to enhance
personal, family, and community
health.
Demonstrate social and communication skills to enhance health and increase
safety.

Demonstrate verbal and nonverbal ways to express wants, needs, and

feelings appropriately.
Choose effective conflict management strategies.

Objective:
Second grade students will investigate strategies for enhancing social and
communication skills concerning friendship. Students will read the book How
To Be A Friend as a small group and then by using cooperation and tactics
from the book, synthesize their learning by presenting their groups
information in a creative format.
Materials:
How To Be A Friend by Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown (nine copies),
art supplies for creative project, post-it notes
Overview:
This book will be incorporated into each days mini lesson for two weeks.
Each day, for 15 minutes, the teacher will read a section of the book,
encourage brief discussion and then have students act out or read the
scenarios within each section. Sections include:
o Me, Myself & I/Who Can Be Your Friend
o Ways to Be a Friend
o Joining in the Fun
o Feeling Shy
o Ways NOT to Be a Friend
o Bosses and Bullies
o Making Up with a Friend
o Talking Out an Argument

o Being Friendly
After each section has been read aloud and discussed, students will work in
groups to review their assigned section and then present the information to
their classmates in a jigsaw format. Format for presentations will be the
groups choice, but could include a poster, a performance, a written story
based on the behaviors of their section, a journal entry, a song or a poem
anything creative that the group agrees on.
Procedure:
1. Assign students to groups (2-3 in each group). Explain that this will be
their working group as we begin a new mini lesson unit.
2. Explain that this will be their group as we read through the book and
then do the final project.
3. Assemble children on the reading carpet
4. Have Group 1 sit up front facing the class, next to teacher.
5. Hand out books to each group.
6. Explain that Group 1 will get to read and/or act out the dialogue today,
Group 2 will do it tomorrow and so on.
7. Begin lesson by introducing the book. Explain that even though they
may know about friends and friendship, this book will help us think
about respect, expressing our feelings, managing disagreements and
making new friends.
8. Read the first two sections of the book (Me, Myself and I & Who Can Be
Your Friend)
9. Teacher will read the regular text, Group 1 will read the dialogue.
10.
Ask students if they could make any connections with this first
section of the book. Think/Pair/Share with your group.
11.
Upon completion of the reading, have students share one of their
connections on a post-it note and give to you. This will act as a
formative assessment after each days reading.
12.
Continue with this pattern of reading the book each day. The
second day will have Group 2 perform/read aloud the dialogue and so
on.
13.
When book is completed, explain that students will now work in
groups to create a presentation for their section.
14.
Students will have two days to create their project. They will use
time during reading to collaborate on a presentation of their choice.
15.
Each group will present their section of the book.
16.
Students will be asked to write down a friendship goal that they
have after reading the book. This will act as another form of
assessment.
17.
Student goals will be posted on a bulletin board within the room.
Assessment:

Students will be formatively assessed each day by sharing connections with

the text on a post-it note and turning it in for teacher review. At the end of
the presentations, students will also be asked to create a self-goal for
practicing the friendship strategies within the book. Group participation,
cooperation and effort will be scored on a rubric (below).