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1. How do we define friendship?

2. What factors help build strong friendships?

3. How can we deal with conflict among friends?

4. When does friendship connect to different life events?

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Using vocabulary terms and examples from the selected text and other supporting texts, students will create the “ideal friendship recipe.” Ingredients will relate to attributes of a friend while instructions reference actions within a friendship.

For example:

2 Cups Listening

1 Cup Encouragement

Take 2 cups of listening and 1 cup of encouragement and stir together so friends may listen when needed and always cheer you on.

Learning Objectives

Students will accurately identify at least five essential ingredients and instructions for an ideal friend and meaningful friendship by filling out a friendship recipe card. (Psychomotor)

Students will compare their recipes to those of their classmates by swapping and discussing recipes. (Cognitive)

Students will listen without interruptions to classmates by sharing their recipes. (Affective

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The instructor will read out friendship scenarios of friendship behaviors. Based on their experiences and those in the book, students will raise either a red (bad friendship), yellow (friendship warning), or green (good friendship) card.

Example of Scenario: Your friend tells you that in order to keep their friendship, you need to lie to another friend.

Students will explain the importance of identifying and exhibiting appropriate friendship behavior through pre and post activity class discussions. (Affective)

Students will evaluate and explain different friendship behaviors throughout Red Yellow Green activity (Cognitive).

Students will identify appropriate friendship behavior by participating in the Red Yellow Green activity. (Psychomotor)

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Real Friends by Shannon Hale
Talking about changing friendships beginning with kindergarten to the start of Junior High, Real Friends explores the intricacies of having friends. Based on her real-life friend experiences, Hale describes feeling isolated among a group of friends, standing up for yourself among former friends, and understanding real friends accept you for all of who you are in this clever and entertaining graphic novel.

Using a visual format and genuine tone, Real Friends acts as a wonderful main text and addition to a library collection for its different friendship scenarios. The graphic novel format also brings these scenarios to life and can help students visualize their own friendship situations.
Amazon for Purchase

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Bagley, J. (2016). Before I Leave. New York, NY: Roaring Brook Press.

Border. T. (2014). Peanut Butter & Cupcake. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

Bowe, J. (2007). My Last Best Friend. Orlando, FL: Harcourt.

Canfield, J. (2000). Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications.

Chase, P. (2018). So Done. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.

Chmakova, S. (2017). Brave. New York, NY: Yen Press.

Clements. A. (2019). The Friendship War. New York, NY: Random House Children’s Books.

Criswell, P. K. (2015). Friends: Making Them & Keeping Them. Middleton, WI: American Girl Publishing.

DK & UNICEF. (2002). A Life Like Mine: How Children Live around the World. New York, NY: DK Publishing.

Goldenbock. P. (1990). Teammates. Orlando, FL: Goldenbock Communications.

Gudsnuk. K. (2018). Making Friends (Making Friends #1). New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

Hale, S. & Pham, L. (2017). Real Friends. New York, NY: First Second.

Higgins, R. (2013).  Wilfred. New York, NY: Dial Books.

Kennedy-Moore, E. (2017). Growing Friendships: A Kids' Guide to Making and Keeping Friends. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Magoon, K. (2018). The Season of Styx Malone. New York, NY: Random House.

Maker, M. (2018). The Un-Friendship Bracelet (1) (Craftily Ever After). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

McCarthy, J. (2017). Lola's Rules for Friendship. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Meiners. C. J. (2004). Join in and Play. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing Inc.

Munson. D. (2000). Enemy Pie. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.

Spinelli, J. (1996). Crash. New York, NY: Random House.

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2. Growing Friendship by Dr. Eileen Kennedy-Moore
Growing Friendship is the quintessential friendship guidebook. Using different stories about children, this book introduces and reinforces social skills to help development and sustain friendships. This book works ideally with the friendship unit as it provides different scenarios, tips, and activities for students to complete. It would be an excellent resource to use in conjunction with Activity 2: Red Yellow Green as it reviews situations from making new friends, keeping friends, accepting friends, etc.
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2. A Life Like Mine: How Children Live Around the World by DK & Unicef
Telling real-life stories of children all around the world, A Life Like Mine provides readers with the opportunity to better understand their peers. Supporting lessons on friendship, this text can help students learn about each other's backgrounds, cultures, and home lives. Additionally, it offers the opportunity to broaden our perspectives and better understand ourselves and our friends.
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1. Teammates by Peter Goldenblock
On a historic day in 1947, Pee Wee Reese of the Brooklyn Dodgers put his arm around his teammate Jackie Robinson. This gesture signified Reese's acceptance of Jackie and symbolized that he would support his teammate as Jackie faced backlash for being the first African American Major League Baseball player. In the theme of friendship, Teammates shows how it is important to stand-up for each other even in the face of adversity.
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3. Friends: Making Them & Keeping Them by Patti Kelley Criswell
From the American Girl company, Friends, is an excellent book, especially for younger grade throughout middle school girls. It provides tips, exercises, and true stories covering topics such as making friends when you are shy, trying to hard to make friends, building trust, and more. This book is a great resource as it provides a lot of opportunities to better understand yourself so you can first become the best version of a friend that you would want to have.
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1. Join in and Play by Cheri Meiners
The unnamed main character explores different friendship scenarios. Going through moments such as asking if she can play to showing respect for friends, the main character demonstrates the proper behavior to interact with her peers. In a friendship unit, this nonfiction picture book reviews the basic acts for a successful friendship such as listening, taking turns, being polite, and more.
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1. Wilfred by Ryan Higgins
Wilfred tells the story of a fuzzy giant, Wilfred, who yearns for a friend. He finds one in a young boy who eventually proves to be a best friend, willing to stand up and defend Wilfred from the local townspeople. This heartfelt story compliments the friendship unit as it talks about the reality of standing by your friends when they need you most.
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2. Before I Leave by Jessixa Bagley
Before I Leave talks about one of the potential events in a friendship- moving away. Through a comforting and reassuring tone, the book acts as a great aid in discussing the reality of friendships changing.
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3. Lola's Rules for Friendship by Jenna McCarthy
Lola just moved into her neighborhood and her only friend is her big sister. Encouraged by her family to reach out and talk to children her age and using her knowledge of friendship, Lola tries to make friends and explain the importance of friendship. This book complements the overall friendship unit and can be read in conjunction with Before I Leave. This book is a continuation of the friendship event- moving away. From the perspective of Lola who just moved, readers see why making friends is important even if you are new or shy.
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4. Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
Battling the only enemy on his enemy list, the unnamed main character uses his dad's advice and secret recipe to make an enemy pie. Having to spend the day with his enemy, be nice to him, and find out his interests, our main character learns that enemies have the potential to become friends. This book is a clever and fun take on conflict resolution and reviewing the skills needed to talk to new peers.
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5. Peanut Butter & Cupcake by Terry Border
Peanut Butter longs for a new friend. He feels like everyone else has a friend, but him. After asking many to play, Peanut Butter has almost given up. Then a new kid, Jelly enters the picture. Told with interesting pictures and humorous play on ideas like PB&J and hamburgers and french fries, Peanut Butter & Cupcake is a story about the joy in finding a great friend. This book would go excellently with Activity 1: Friendship Recipe
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Brave by Svetlana Chmakova
Brave is a graphic novel about Jensen, a young boy navigating the world of middle school. Picked last in science and encountering bullying situations, Jensen often uses his imagination to create fantastical daydreams. However, reality sets in and Jensen needs to be brave and conquer the different struggles surrounding middle school, friendships, and accepting yourself. With its visual format, Chmakova has created a realistic middles school and relatable characters. Students will be able to identify with Jensen and the struggles he faces.
Amazon for Purchase

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The Friendship War by Andrew Clements
Beloved author Andrew Clements bring another realistic fiction book about Grace. When an innocent show-and-tell becomes an all-out school trend, Grace realizes her existing best friend Ellie may not be all that she seems and Grace may have not been true to herself. With a background of school trends' frenzies and science experiments, this book lets students understand how both they and their friendships may change overtime.
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So Done by Paula Chase
Jamila, always known as Bean, feels that she has outgrown her nickname and her town. She also discovers that she is no longer two peas in a pod with her best friend Metai Johnson. When a new special-and-talented dance program enters their town, Metai and Jamila realize they may need to break-up their friendship. However, neither one knows what to do or how to handle all these life changes. With the most mature themes of any chosen texts, So Done offers a unique perspective as it talks about the impact that family and environment have on friendships. Both Jamila and Metai face the struggles of their inner-city life and the book offers multiple perspectives in dealing with friendship conflicts. Rather than reading the full work, different scenes can be pulled and presented as discussions points on how to handle friendship conflicts.
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My Last Best Friend by Julie Bowe
Ida begins 4th grade determined to never have another best friend since her BFFL Elizabeth moved away. However, Ida soon realizes that navigating school, and dealings with bully Jenna, without a confidant can be lonely. When new kid Stacey moves into town, Ida finds herself reconsidering her plans and tentatively beginning a new friendship. Starting friendships anew is a difficult reality for students. This book offers an easy-to-follow story about the benefits of being open to new friendships and letting yourself venture out of your comfort zone. Additionally, the book discusses how real friendships are made through kindness rather than bullying.
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Craftily Ever After: The Un-friendship Bracelet by Martha Maker
Best friends Emily and Maddie are known for their best friendship and love of crafting. However, when new student Bella starts at their school, their friendship is put to the test. As Maddie spends more time with Bella and discovers Bella also loves crafting, Emily wonders if someone can have more than one best friend. Learning to share friends is one of the major lessons in handling friendship changes. This book is a story about how to manage feeling left out and accept when friendships change. This book would make an excellent segue into an optional activity of creating friendship bracelets.
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The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon
Brothers Caleb and Bobby Gene enter a trade with new neighbor Styx Malone. One trade escalates into a series of adventures that has Caleb yearning for an extraordinary life, no matter the consequences. As Caleb and Bobby Gene learn that Styx is a foster child hoping for a home and that all adventures are not as exciting as they seem, all three boys begin to understand the meaning of true friendship. With male protagonists and more mature themes, this book is a great text for students who are looking to understand how to build stronger friendships and how life events impact our choices among friends.
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Making Friends by Kristen Gudsnuk
This fantasy graphic novel tells the story of Danielle who yearns for the perfect friend. After inheriting a sketchbook, Danielle realizes anything she draws, comes to life. She sets out to make the perfect friend. However, perfect friends do not always stay perfect. This graphic novel is a great resource for students to imagine and then discuss what defines a friendship and what factors are needed for a strong friendship.
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Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul by Jack Canfield
The Chicken Soup series offers collections of real-life stories that cover topics from deaths in a family to friendships to growing up. Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul provides a diverse assortment of different topics relating to friendship and growing up. Using excerpts, this book offers great discussion opportunities for a friendship unit and can help contextualize a lot of ideas about friendship, especially for grades 2nd through 8th.
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Crash by Jerry Spinelli
John "Crash" Coogan is proud to be a tough, no-nonsense kid. He prefers spending his days on the football field, hanging with his friend Mike, or tormenting Penn Webb. However, Crash begins to realize that his bullying never seems to affect Webb and even more astonishing, Webb still insists on being friendly to Crash. Finally when Crash's beloved grandfather suffers a debilitating stroke, Crash begins to understand who his true friends are and how he can be a better friend and person overall. This book is an interesting supplemental text because it is a bully's perspective and does not seem like a friendship novel at first. However, it shows how overtime, just as in real life, you and your friendships can mature and grow in the face of painful family events, awkward middle school moments, and more.
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