Five to eight-year olds begin to place value judgments on similarities and differences. They often rank the things in their world from "best" to "worst". They like to win and hate to lose. They choose best friends. They get left out of games and clubs, they exclude others - sometimes because of race, ethnicity or religion. Between five and eight, children are old enough to begin to think about social issues and young enough to remain flexible in their beliefs. This lesson reminds us that it is okay to have more than one friend. As students move onto the next grade level, they will find that school is a place where students will have the opportunity to experience many, many different friends. Teaching young children how a friend acts and behaves are foundational life-long lessons. What a great gift we are giving young children early in life by teaching them ways to be respectful of one another and practicing both mindful and active listening.
What will students do during this lesson?
Students will hear the following introduction: Today we are going to be talking about friendship. You all have made friends during this year at school and at home. I have a question for you. Are you exactly like your friends? Do you look the same; act the same; like the same things? No? I agree with you! We are going to listen to a story entitled One of Us by Peggy Moss.
Students will then be guided through an activity where they learn even more about one another. Students will be given a colored cube at random. They will then be asked to find a classmate with the same colored cube. Each set of partners will then have time to find out, through asking 'social wonder' questions, 2 things that are the same and 2 things that are different about each other. We will then share what we have learned.
Last students will return to their work spaces to complete a short worksheet highlighting a difference between them and a friend/their partner and why they are friends despite their differences.