Lesson EIGHT Overview - Working Together
Lower Primary
Maintaining Friendships
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL COMPETENCY: Social-Management
LEARNING INTENT
Students will:
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The importance of communicating effectively
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Learn how to win and lose gracefully
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Recognise the importance of being honest
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Learn effective coping skills when faced with a problem
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Learn getting along skills (sharing, turn-taking, winning and losing, accepting others, sharing conversation)
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explore strategies to deal with difficult situations in their friendships
KEY VOCABULARY: trust, honesty, dishonesty, gracefully, win, lose, balance, ups and downs.
Resources
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Ball
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Access to computer
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Book, ‘Pig the Winner'.
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Book, 'Friendship is Like a Seesaw'.
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Blocks
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Jenga
Background Information
Last week, students were taught key relationship skills to establish a friendship. Today’s lesson focuses on maintaining friendships. Students learn friendship tips to maintain friendships. We look closer at winning and losing gracefully. Students are taught that the best way to think of winning and losing games is to play to win friendship. Students practise what to say and what to do following a win or a loss. Students are taught about honesty and how it is one of the most important components of a healthy relationship. We explore why we sometimes are tempted to be dishonest and the consequences of being dishonest. Furthermore, we also discuss how honesty builds trust which is the foundation for a strong and healthy relationship.
Lesson Plan
Introduce Lesson and Review Previous Lesson
Review the previous sessions by asking students to remember what was covered in the last session. Shape students’ responses to reflect the learning intent from the previous lesson. Revise Group guidelines.
Welcome back. Last week we talked about what it takes to be a good friend and how to make a new friend. We learned what it takes to be a good friend. It is important to be a good friend, remember to have a friend is to be a friend. You are unique, there is no one like you, and you have special talents and interests. It is important to remember that you can have different friends who may share your different interests. You may have friends at school, in your neighbourhood, at your tennis club, drama club or in your family. You may like to have a best friend, but it is good to have other friends too. You can still be friends and sometimes play with other people too. Last week we read the story, ‘How to Lose All Your Friends’. This week we will be looking at what it takes to be a good friend to maintain your friendships. But first, let's start with a gratitude attitude.
A Gratitude Attitude (5 minutes)
Sit in a circle. Ask each student to share something that they are grateful for or something positive that has happened to them this week. This simple activity is training students to be positive and to have a gratitude attitude.
A gratitude attitude focuses on the NOW! Try to pay attention and be thankful for what you already have and not worry about what you don’t have. People with a gratitude attitude are positive, resilient and happy.
Activity One - Pig the Winner (5 minutes)
Pig the Pug has decided that he wants to win at everything! Let's see if Pig learns a valuable lesson about the importance of playing fair.
Read ‘Pig the Winner’.
After the story, pose questions:
• How did Pig respond when he won?
• What did Pig do to win?
• How do you think it made Trevor feel?
• Has anyone ever done that to you before?
Not only did Pig cheat, he also didn’t win very gracefully. The best way to think of winning and losing is to play to win friendship. If you play to win friendship you are more likely to win and lose gracefully. Gracefully means that you are friendly when you win or lose. If you win like Pig, your friends won’t want to play with you. If you become angry and sulk when you lose, your friends won’t want to play with you either. It is important to win and lose gracefully, which means remembering that winning is not the most important thing. We sometimes win and we sometimes lose, but the most important thing is that we enjoy playing with our friends.
Activity Two - Winning Gracefully Y Chart (5 minutes)
Draw a Y chart on the whiteboard and complete it with the group.
Pose questions:
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What does winning gracefully look like? Draw or write about it in your journal. Examples: shaking hands, high five, smiling.
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What does winning gracefully sound like? Draw or write about it in your journal. Examples: good game, well done, you played well.
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What does winning gracefully feel like? Draw or write about it in your journal. Examples: happy, calm.
Activity Three - Snakes and Ladders (10 minutes)
Let’s practise winning and losing gracefully by playing a game of snakes and ladders.
In pairs, play snakes and ladders. Observe children winning and losing as they go up and down the ladders.
After the game, pose questions:
• What was happening in the game when you were feeling happy?
• What were you thinking when you were happy?
• How did you feel when you went down the ladder?
Our friends won’t want to play with us if we are angry or sulky. Winning is not the most important thing, because if you get angry or sulk when you play with your friends, they won’t want to play with you. You will end up with no one to play with. Playing to win friendships is the most important thing. This means not getting angry if you lose, not sulking if you lose and not rubbing it in if you win.
Activity Four – Honesty (10 minutes)
It is important to always be honest. Being honest is one of the most important qualities in a friendship. It’s important to be honest with your Mum and Dad, your teacher, your brothers and sisters too. If you are honest, your friends will trust you. Who knows of the tale of Pinocchio? Pinocchio is a story of a man named Geppetto who made wooden toys for children. One day, he made a wooden puppet. As soon as he had finished the puppet came alive. ‘Why you are alive!’, He said, ‘I shall call you Pinocchio and you shall be the son I never had!’. But something happened to Pinocchio when we lied, let’s watch a short video.
Optional activity - watch a short clip of Pinocchio’s Lie
Play the game Pinocchio’s Lie. Give each student a picture of Pinocchio. Place blocks and cards in the middle of the circle. Taking turns, each student picks a card and reads out the scenario. If the scenario involved dishonesty, the student places a block on Pinocchio’s nose. Once all the cards have been read, the student with the smallest nose is the winner. After each card is read, take the opportunity to discuss the importance of honesty.
Activity Five - Friendship Jenga (10 minutes)
We are going to play a game of 'Friendship Jenga'. First, we need to build a tower. Taking turns, you need to try and move a piece and hope that you aren't the one who makes the tower fall. On each Jenga block is a friendship skill. I would like you to read out the friendship skill on the block you remove.
Discuss the importance of each friendship skill with the group.
Activity Six - Friendship is Like a Seesaw (10 minutes)
The aim of this activity is to teach children that all relationships have their ups and downs. Children learn strategies to fix friendship issues.
Friendships can be tricky things to understand. If I’m going to be truthful, some friendships can remain tricky even when you are an adult. Sometimes friendships are uneven when friends aren’t feeling the same way about a situation. Friendships work best when both people are balanced and even in the way they deal with each other. I'm going to read a story about how to keep your friendship balanced.
Read story.
Discussion questions:
1. What do good friends do?
2. Why are friendships like seesaws?
3. What happens when the friendship gets out of balance?
4. What can we do when a friendship gets out of balance? (Looking at their own behaviour, avoiding hurting the other person just because they made you feel bad, and maybe stepping away from the friendship for a little while to help things get back into balance.
5. Who would like to share a time their friendship was out of balance?
6. Has anyone had to step away from a friendship before?
7. Has anyone had to look at their own behaviour when a friendship was out of balance?
Concluding Discussion
A good friend is someone you can have lots of fun with. You can be a good friend by listening and sharing the talking, by playing fairly and being honest, by winning and losing gracefully and by being helpful and kind. Sometimes, we may make a mistake. We all make mistakes. It’s important to apologize to your friend if you make a mistake and also forgive your friend for making a mistake too. Next week, we are going to learn how to solve conflicts with our friends. Disagreements happen in every friendship and we will learn helpful and unhelpful ways to solve conflicts.
Close the session: Thank the group for their participation throughout the session. Encourage them to practice the new skills they learned during the week. Share with the group an exciting activity that they will do during the next GRIT lesson.