Quality Friendship: Kindergarten Social Learning and Communication
Grade: Kindergarten Subjects: Literature, Social Skills, Math, Art, Oral Language Time: 2–3 sessions
Learning Objectives
- Identify behaviors that help people work and play together.
- Practice taking turns, listening, inviting others to join, and solving simple disagreements.
- Use counting and simple graphs in a meaningful classroom context.
- Communicate an idea through drawing, speaking, movement, or early writing.
Procedure
- Read and discuss: Use a short friendship story. Ask what characters did that helped or hurt cooperation.
- Class book: Each child contributes a drawing and dictated sentence such as “A good friend can ___.” Do not require children to identify a particular child as their friend.
- Math connection: Sort or count cards showing friendly classroom actions. Make a simple class graph and compare quantities.
- Practice: Model phrases such as “Can I play?” “May I have a turn?” “Please stop,” and “Let's find a solution.” Students practice with puppets or fictional scenarios.
- Art: Make a friendship card or classroom poster. The goal is communication, not a required holiday or personal gift.
- Movement: During supervised play, pair students for a cooperative task with a clear goal. Provide an alternative for children who need less social stimulation or different physical access.
- Observation: If using ants as an example of cooperation, treat the activity as animal observation and avoid implying that animal behavior is a direct moral rule for people.
Assessment
Observe whether students can identify at least two helpful behaviors and use one modeled phrase during a practice scenario.
Differentiation
Use picture cues, puppets, sentence frames, repetition, and nonverbal response options. Do not grade children on personality or sociability.