What does it mean to be a good friend? Classroom friendships blossom with this heart puzzle.

• 1.

  Read books, listen to music, and watch videos about friendship. Talk about what it means to be a good friend. Why are friends fun? What do friends do for each other? How do friends treat each other? Friends listen, share, forgive, and encourage. Write your own list of friend words with Crayola® Markers.

• 2.

  Hearts are an ancient symbol. They were first used as a sign for the heart of a person or animal. Heart symbols appear in all of the world’s major cultures. Today hearts stand for affection and understanding.

• 3.

  Here’s one way to make a heart-shaped puzzle with your classmates. Use markers to draw a huge heart on posterboard. Draw lines to divide the heart into enough pieces so that each person in the class will have one, including your teacher. Use Crayola Scissors to cut the heart puzzle into pieces. Distribute the puzzle pieces.

• 4.

  Use Crayola Markers and Multicultural Markers to decorate your puzzle piece. You could show how to be a good friend to someone in your class. Or spell a word such as share in large letters. Decorate your word with dots, stripes, plaids, or your own favorite patterns. Use bright colors and interesting details. Sign your name.

• 5.

  Assemble the pieces of the puzzle. Display the Friendship Heart next to your list of friendship words.

Standards

• LA: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
• LA: Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting or plot.
• LA: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding word s.
• LA: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
• LA: Participate in shared research and writing projects.
• SS: Describe ways in which language, stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture and influence behavior of people living in a particular culture.
• VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.
• VA: Select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning.

Adaptations

• Possible classroom resources include: Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Williams; Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom by Jennifer Holland; Friends: True Stories of Extraordinary Animal Friendships by Catherine Thimmesh; Queen-a-Bella Finds a Best Friend by Lisl Fair
• Students organize a "Caught You Being A Good Friend" program in the classroom. Each time a student is caught by a classmate or teacher showing kindness, empathy, generosity, or other friendly behaviors, add a heart next to the chart. Ask the observer to describe the positive behavior to the class. Write encouraging notes and make phone calls to parents to report prosocial behaviors.