Friendship is magic. It’s one of the most beautiful things about being human, and we’ve been celebrating it officially in the United States since 1935. Although National Friendship Day, according to tradition, always falls on a Sunday, I make a point of celebrating it every year in my classroom as well. After all, that’s where many elementary students do the majority of their socializing and see their friends most often—especially during the school year! And what better way to celebrate with your 3rd grade students this year than with a fun friendship writing prompt?
Writing Prompt #1: “What does it mean to be a good friend?”
This is one of my favorite opinion writing prompts to assign because, while it seems simple on the surface, it’s a great way to get your 3rd grade students thinking critically and deeply about the true meaning of friendship. Is friendship just about sharing school supplies and always partnering up for group activities, or is there more to it than that? It’s also a subtle way of asking them to consider the impact of their actions on others—particularly those they care about—and develop their sense of social consciousness and kindness.
PROJECT IDEA
To get even more out of this friendship writing prompt, ask your students to use at least one real-life example of a time they were a good friend or someone else was a good friend to them. Then, after they’re done writing, ask them to illustrate that moment. Once their responses and illustrations are complete, publish their work in a beautiful classbook about friendship and compassion.
Writing Prompt #2: “Tell a story about a favorite memory you shared with a friend.”
Sure to inspire more than one case of the warm fuzzies, this friendship prompt is a great chance to hone your students’ personal narrative writing skills while also engaging their long-term memory recall. Ask your students to take their time and think back to a memory that is not only important to them, but will also fit well into a narrative structure. Encourage them to share their stories out loud after they finish writing.
PROJECT IDEA
To dig a little deeper with this writing prompt, first provide your students with a brainstorming worksheet specifically designed for narrative writing. Once they have filled out their sheets completely, ask them to trade with a partner and peer edit each other’s sheets to ensure all of the basic story elements are present, including characters, setting and a plot with a full story arc. Once they’ve correctly completed the brainstorming stage, it’s time to write! After writing, ask them to peer edit again (switching papers with different partners this time) to ensure their stories are both grammatically and structurally sound. Finally, ask them to draw three-panel comic illustrations using one panel each to depict the beginning, middle and end of their stories. When all is said and done, be sure to reward their hard work by publishing their art and writing in a professionally bound and published classbook.
Writing Prompt #3: “If my best friend moved far away…”
A poignant prompt, to be sure, this friendship writing activity engages your students’ imaginations by asking them to envision a hypothetical situation—or, perhaps, draw on real-life experience—in detail. It also allows them to sort through complicated emotions on paper, whether they’re remembering a friend who moved away in the past or considering, perhaps for the first time, what it would be like if their current best friend no longer lived in the same zip code. Ask your students to think about not just how they would feel in this situation, but what they could do in order to stay in touch with their faraway friend.
PROJECT IDEA
This writing prompt is an excellent writing exercise on its own, but can be even more powerful when used to create and publish a classbook about how friends can stay close even when they’re miles apart. Once your students have finished writing and editing their responses, ask them to provide accompanying illustrations. Allow them to be as creative as they like with their drawings. They might choose to replicate a postcard their friend might send them (or vice-versa), draw the plane tickets they would buy for a visit or even depict moving day itself. Last but not least, don’t forget to collect and submit their completed work to be published!
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Celebrating Friendship in Writing
One of the benefits of having your students write about abstract concepts like friendship is that it helps ground these ideas in concrete language and helps them sort through their own feelings and thoughts on the matter. Writing prompts that ask your 3rd graders to recall times spent with friends, consider the meaning of friendship and think about how friends who are separated can still stay close represent excellent opportunities to build both their writing and social skills. It also helps instill important values, including generosity, loyalty and compassion, while publishing their work will help boost their confidence.
Perhaps most significantly of all, writing about friendship reminds your students that they are not alone. Their friends, just like their family, are there to support them through the good and the bad. And friendship, after all, is worth celebrating—not just on August 5th, but every day of the year!
For more thought-provoking writing activities and other free educational materials, check out our online teacher’s lounge, and be sure to sign up for your free classbook publishing kit!
Image sources: Lead image via Shutterstock; Images 1, 2, 3 via OpenClipart.org