Grade 2 Sample Unit: Friends and Friendships

Context: Social, Cultural, and Historical Type: Thematic

In this unit, students explore the concept of friendship. They explore their thoughts and feelings about having friends and about being a friend. The focus on friendship provides a familiar context in which young students can learn about themselves - their appearances, talents, activities, behaviours, strengths, and weaknesses. This exploration should increase students' self-awareness and develop their sense of personal responsibility. The resources and classroom experiences suggested in this unit should nurture students' self-confidence and acceptance of themselves and others as unique individuals. Students' horizons and networks of relationships gradually extend beyond the home and the family to include neighbourhood residents, classmates, community service personnel, and people who may share common hobbies, club memberships, and sports activities. Therefore, this unit may be extended and integrated with social studies, arts education, physical education, and other subject area units.

This unit will develop students' concept of friendship by emphasizing the following:

Focus 1 - It's Great to be Together
Focus 2 - School Friends
Focus 3 - Imaginary Friends
Focus 4 - Special Friendships.

These topics and the included lessons are not necessarily conclusive or sequential. Teachers are also reminded that one focus may become a subtopic of another. Students' interest, enthusiasm, needs, and the available resources should guide the choice of topic, the specific direction of each topic, and the ultimate duration of the unit.

Suggested Resources

Picture Books
Anna's Secret Friend. Y. Tsutsui
Better With Two. B. Joosse
Could You Stop Josephine? S. Poulin
The Doorbell Rang. P. Hutchins (big book)
Horrible Harry in Room 2B. S. Kline
Hug Me. P. Stren
I'm Hot. C. Gagnon
I Want a Dog. D. K. Khalsa
Miss Nelson is Missing. H. Allard
My Mom is So Unusual. I. Loewen
We are Best Friends. Aliki

Poetry Anthologies
Butterscotch Dreams. S. Dunn
A Week in the Life of Best Friends. B. Schenk De Regniers

Picture Files

pictures of friends and people of various ages sharing activities (pairs, small groups)
pictures of people with their animal friends

Additional and Alternate Resources

Some of the following resources have been suggested in Lesson Extensions. This list represents relevant selections for individual and group reading. The purchase of multiple copies of some titles is recommended.

Amos and Boris. W. Steig
Best Friends. L. Bennet Hopkins (short poems about friendship)
The Book of Friends. D. Ross
A Boy, A Dog and a Frog. M. Mayer
Can I Keep Him? S. Kellogg
Charlie Youngbear. K. Van Ahnen
Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul. J. Canfield (ed.)
Daniel's Dog. J. Bogart
Did You Hear the Wind Sing Your Name? An Oneida Song of Spring. S. Orie
Dreamstones. M. Trottier
A Friend Called "Chum". B. Wheeler
A Friend Like Ed. K. Wagner
Friends! E. Scott
Frog and Toad Are Friends. A. Lobel
Frog and Toad Together. A. Lobel
Good Morning Franny. E. Hearn
Have You Seen Josephine? S. Poulin
The Honest-to-Goodness Truth. P. McKissack
Horace and Morris but Mostly Delores. J. Howe
How to be a Friend: A Guide to Making Friends and Keeping Them. L. Kransy Brown & M. Brown
Jamaica Tag-Along. J. Havill
Jennifer Has Two Daddies. P. Gallaway
Jillian Jiggs. P. Gilman
Julian. D. K. Khalsa
Love As Strong As Ginger. L. Look
Maple Moon. C. Crook
Me and Mr. Mah. A. Spalding
A Memory for Tino. L. Buscaglia
Millicent and the Wind. R. Munsch
Miss Nelson has a Field Day. H. Allard
Nellie, A Cat on Her Own. N. Babbitt
A New House. C. Gagnon
Old Enough. P. Eyvindson
Peter's Moccasins. J. Truss
Polar Bear's Gift. J. Bushy
Prairie Summer. N. Hundal
Rosie and Michael. J. Viorst
Sasquatch Exterminator. D. Freed
Sky Sisters. J. Bourdeau Waboose

Note: Some major integrated language arts resources may also include many relevant selections.

A classroom display of resources on the topic of friends will stimulate interest in this topic. Students should have opportunity to explore these resources during independent and shared sessions. The display should include stories, poems, magazine and newspaper articles, and pictures showing companions, group interaction, deeds of kindness, or gestures of friendship. Students and teachers should contribute items for display throughout the unit.