National Friendship Day
Who knew there was a day for this? I’ve come to believe that there is a day for everything! Characters of Character has a character named Friendship Frog who has made visits to Libraries, Classrooms and Community Events. The story, Let’s Be Friends starring Friendship Frog is one way to introduce this character and talk about being a friend with your own children. While I was on the Reading Team at school I learned quite a lot about literacy and the process. One of my favorites was called Guided Reading and the activities that were created to engage children in the reading process. I used these lessons and activities when I shared the characters in many of my visits. When I visited a book store we talked about Friendship Frog. The picture below is from our visit to Read Between The Lynes on the Square in Woodstock, Illinois. I also used these techniques when I taught preschool and held workshops at the Park Districts.
These are some simple ways to engage, empower and impact children to learn about what friendship means, what friends can do together and how they can be a good friend.
In the classroom, using the chart template below, ask each student what friends can do together. Using a different colored writing tool allows a child to see clearly where the sentence structure is. Once each child has had a turn, ask them to come up to the chart and touch read their sentence.
Using large font, type out each sentence from the chart
Cut out each sentence and putting the child’s name on top, paper clip the sentence together
Allow the child to put their sentence together on a piece of paper, once it is correct, glue it down
Next, have them draw a picture of the sentence
Make a classroom traveling book or
Save these activities for conference time to share with the adult or
Save and make a year end book for each student to share their growth and activities during the year
Always ask the child to touch read their sentence and be sure these words are on your word wall
Another activity I always enjoyed doing was to make an autograph book! Using this template of Friendship Frog, let the children color Friendship Frog and you might want to write their name on the pencil so that it is read clearly or place their name elsewhere. Use this as the cover or cut Friendship Frog out and glue on construction paper, be creative, then staple a few sheets of copy paper together. Next, have an autograph day! Allow the students to autograph each others Friendship Frog Autograph Book. Once the book is filled, do the same as suggested above, either keep it for the year end or let the children take it home. These are lovely ways to build a portfolio for each child.
Graphic by Jen Downey