Friendship Without Barriers is excerpted from the teaching kit "Rhinos and Raspberries: Tolerance Tales for the Early Grades," a literature-based teaching kit.
Objectives
Materials
The Lesson
This lesson examines what it means to be a friend. Many of the stories in this book address friendship. This lesson compares unkind or unfriendly behaviors with kind or friendly behaviors. It is especially relevant to the study of "Papalotzin and the Monarchs/Papalotzin y las monarcas [1]" and "Old Joe and the Carpenter," but it can be adapted for use as a friendship theme for any of the stories.
Discussion
Discuss of the image of the wall in "Papalotzin and the Monarchs/Papalotzin y las monarcas" or the bridge in "Old Joe and the Carpenter." Use these questions as a guide:
Extending the Lesson
After the discussion, have students make two lists. The first is what others might say to put up a wall. For example, "You can't play with us anymore."
The second is a list of things others say to tear walls down/build bridges. For example, "We would like it if you played with us at recess today." Keep the two lists up in the classroom and refer back to them as necessary.
As an alternative activity, have students write a letter to a character in one of the stories, describing how the character behaves to encourage or discourage friendship.
Links:
[1] http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-30-fall-2006/papalotzin-and-monarchs-bilingual-border-tale