Respect your enemy

We talk a lot in my classroom about our friends and our enemies. I find that my lower school students commonly switch between these two groups, depending on the hour or if that particular friend has agreed or disagreed on something they have discussed. I never force my students to be friends with everyone, for I find that to be unrealistic, as grownups are we forced to be friends with everyone?! I talk a lot about what it means to be a good friend, and the awesome differences that some friends have. We talk about respect and how we can use that within our friendship groups and within our classmates, or even our enemies. When I talk about respecting your enemies with my group, I love to read aloud or play this Storyline video of the book, Enemy Pie. The students enjoy it and I know that it designates with many of them. We all need the friendly reminder to respect those around us, friends or foes.

Activity:

Materials:

- stapler - light brown construction paper (crust)

- red bulletin board paper (or other colors)

- tissue paper (pie stuffing)

Directions:

1. Cut the brown paper in a circle.

2. Cut the red bulletin board paper a little larger than the brown circle.

3. Cut strips of brown paper.

4. Stuff the “pie” with tissues or paper.

5. Staple around the outside.

6. Crinkle up some brown paper (crust)

Books on friendship:

Friends

Frog and Toad Storybook Treasury

How to Be a Friend

How to Lose All Your Friends