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).