Recipe for Friendship

One of my favorite lessons on friendship for second grade is based on Williamson's book "What's the Recipe for Friends?"  For the hook, I talk about a recipe they would know like bread or cookies and brainstorm the ingredients. Then I talk about what would happen if I put in something sour or burned the food - it would ruin what was being made. I usually print off a recipe card for the hook. Next we go through a list of characteristics like politeness and bossiness that I have printed on card stock and decide if each is something that should be put into the bowl to "make a friend" or something that needs to stay.  Students love when I use a prop like this bowl for a lesson.  It helps visual learners and for kinesthetic learners you could let them actually put the slips in the bowl or bring a spoon and let a student stir it up. Then I read the story (sometimes I skip over some of the detail because it is a little long).  Afterwards they write a recipe for friendship including ingredients, directions, and a picture of what it would look like if the recipe turned out well. I have been doing this lesson for over 5 years and it ALWAYS turns out great!