2nd Grade Friendship Troubles

Second grade is developmentally when friendships start to have trouble.  Students are afraid if they don't do what a peer tells them to do, that they won't be their friend anymore. Students are worried that they have no friends.  Much anxiety arises outside at recess as students begin to negotiate with their social skills.  They are often unaware that the way they behave can affect the way others feel about them.  This week we're discussing friendship-blocking behaviors and friendship-promoting behaviors.

I started by reading How To Lose All Your Friends written by Nancy Carlson.  In this book, the character gives them tips on how to lose your friends.  By flipping it around, It is a humorous way for kids to see how different behaviors can be hurtful to others.  Afterward, we made a chart together to describe things kids do that make us want/not want to be their friend.

Afterward, each student was given a brick and a fence post.  On each brick students wrote down an idea of a friendship-blocking behavior to add to our "Unfriendly Wall."  On each fence post students wrote down an idea of a friendship-promoting behavior to add to our "Gateway to Friends."  All of the ideas written down were added to our bulletin board to share with the rest of the school.