Friendship – Conflict Resolution

Objectives & Outcomes

After a lesson on friendship, the learner will create a 30 second skit demonstrating his/her understanding of friendship and handling conflicts.

Materials Needed

• "Hunter's Best Friend at School" by Laura Malone Elliot - Get it here

Vocabulary

• actor
• tableau,
• character
• audience
• conflict
• freeze
• resolution
• compromise
• friendship

Procedure

Opening to Lesson

• Students will sit around in one circle to play "Name game, name game, what's your name and what's your fame?"
• While students clap along to the beat they chant "Name game, name game, what's your name and what's your fame?"
• Students will say their name and something they are known for around the classroom or school.
• The teacher will go first to model the process, "My name is Mrs./Mr. ______ and I am famous for playing great handball!"

Body of Lesson

What is a best friend?

• Teacher will explain begin to read "Hunter's Best Friend at School".
• Read pages 1-4 and stop at "She could run faster than either of them".
• Ask: What makes a best friend? What did Hunter and Stripe do together? What do you do with your best friend?
• Write responses on to chart paper.

Tableau

• Teach children that  in a tableau, participants make still images with their bodies to represent a scene.
• Show an example and have students guess.
• Ask student to all find a space in the room.
• Students will pick one game or activity that they love to do with a friend.
• After 10 seconds, the teacher will say, freeze! Students must freeze like a statue.
• Teacher will go around the room and choose certain statues to stay frozen while the rest may relax and become audience members.
• The audience will guess what activity the frozen statutes are doing with their friend.
• Who else loves to do this with their friends?

Problems with Friends

• Continue reading pages 5-18 of "Hunter's Best Friend at School".
• Stop at "...be his best self."
• Ask: What were some problems that Hunter and Stripe were having? Why was Hunter upset when he got home? How did his mom help him?
• Read pages 19-21 and stop at "Maybe Stripe would copy him, thought Hunter".

Independent Practice

• In groups, students will create an ending to the story by creating a skit to resolve the situation between Hunter and Stripe.
• Students will get 4-5 minutes of planning time.
• Groups will perform their skits for the class.
• After each performance, we will discuss what the group thought would happen next.

Closing

• At this time, students and teacher will gather back on the rug to finish the last pages of  "Hunter's Best Friend at School"
• We will compare and contrast the resolutions that students made in their skits to the resolution in the story.

Assessment & Evaluation

Performance Assessment

• The skit will be used as a performance assessment.  Did students stay on task and attempt to create an ending to the story that involved a resolution to the conflict? This provides students an opportunity to convey their understanding through gestures, sounds, and physical movement.  This provides students with a deeper connection to the material.

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