The students at MPLS celebrated FRIENDSHIP by learning ways to be a good friend, to learn how to build a circle of friends, to recognize differences in friends and learning ways to share friends.  Conflict management skills were used when problems came up.

Friends Graphic 
  -  This drawing was made by PLS student Jeff Moravec for the theme on Friends.

1. Warm Fuzzies - 

We have a note that is called a warm fuzzie.  The
children fill out this note for someone special.  A warm fuzzie is
something nice you tell someone that makes them feel warm inside.  Along
with writing the note we play a warm fuzzie game.  Each child gets a
soft  small pompon ball.  The object of the game is to give your warm
fuzzie away by telling someone something nice and passing them the
pompon ball.  As a child receives one they begin planning to give it
away.  The whole class is involved in saying nice things to each other. 
At the end of the day everyone gets to take home one warm fuzzie to
share with their family.

2. Books we use:

"Whoever You Are" by Mem Fox
"We are all Alike , We are all Different"  by Chisholm Kindergarten Class
"Arthur's Valentine" by Marc Brown
"Friends" by Helma Heine
"Together" by Charlotte Zolotow

3. Post Office

In our dramatic play center we create a post office and put out lots of
different writing supplies for letter writing.  It is right around
Valentine's Day so the children enjoy making and sending valentines to
each other.  It also encourages them to learn about letter writing.

4. Friends Of All Ages

We learn about friends of all different ages.  Two activities that also
provides service learning is when we read to children in the child
development center and sing for residents in the local nursing center. 
Both groups benefit from our service but the children also learn ways
they can help in their community.  We talk about being friends to our
family, our peers at school and also people around the world.  We also
discuss being friends to pets and  we have a guest speaker from the
Humane Society come and speak to the children.  At last we talk about
being a good friend to the Earth and tie in some of the ideas we have
covered in our Ecology Unit.

5. Friendship Journal

We write in a Friendship Journal each day.  The children set goals about
how they will be friendly by filling in the sentence  "I will be
friendly by _____________________________________.  Later in the day
they check to see if they met their goal.  "I was friendly when I
_______________________________________________.