Friendship day: lesson ideas

Friendship day has been celebrated since 2011 April when the United Nations officially recognized 30th July as International Friendship Day, although most countries celebrate on the first Sunday of August. If you want to bring this topic to your classroom and make a hot topic of discussion, here are lesson ideas that can be applied with Pre-Intermediate + students.

Task 1 (Warm-up)

Show the picture to your students and ask them what famous sayings about friendship they know.

Then ask your students to complete the sentences to find more quotes about friendship.

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world ___ ”

– Walter Winchell

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? ___”

– C.S. Lewis

“If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to ___ ”

– Winnie the Pooh

“A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future and ___ ”

– Unknown

“A friend in need is a friend ___ ”

– Unknown

Keys:

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out”

– Walter Winchell

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one”

– C.S. Lewis

“If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you”

– Winnie the Pooh

“A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future and accepts you just the way you are”

– Unknown

“A friend in need is a friend indeed”

– Unknown

Task 2 (Lead-in)

Discuss the questions with your students:

1. Which of the quotes from task 1 expresses the meaning of friendship best? Why?
2. What does friendship mean to you?
3. Do you have any long-distance friends? How do you keep in touch with your long-distance friends? How often do you see your long-distance friends?
4. Do you make friends easily?
5. Has a friend ever let you down?
6. What qualities do you think are important in a friend? Do you think you have these qualities? (Let’s check it in the next step.)

Task 3 (Quiz)

Ask your students to do the quiz to find what kind of friend they are. Then ask if they are surprised by the result.

Task 4 (Winnie the Pooh)

1. Tell your students that in 1997 Winnie the Pooh was named the world’s Ambassador of Friendship at the United Nations. Brainstorm possible reasons for that decision.
2. Ask students to watch the video and discuss the questions:

1. How does Winnie the Pooh answer Robin’s question “Pooh Bear, what if someday there came a tomorrow when we were apart?”
2. What does Christopher Robin ask Winnie the Pooh to remember?
3. Now that you have watched the video about their friendship, do you agree with the UN’s decision to have named the Pooh the ambassador of Friendship? Why yes/no?
4. What other cartoons or films do you know about friendship? Which is your favourite one? Why?

Keys:

— «As long as we’re apart together, we shall certainly be fine». Oh, but you really couldn’t be, as I would be quite lost without you. Who would I call on those days when I’m just not strong enough or brave enough?»

— You’re braver than you believe and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is even if we’re apart, I’ll always be with you. I’ll always be with you. I’ll always be with you»

Task 5 (Personality adjectives)

Ask your students to match the personality adjectives with the definitions.

1. sociable
2. easy-going
3. spiritless
4. brutal
5. naive
6. bold
7. genuine
8. arrogant

a) used to describe people who believe things too easily
b) believing that you are better or more important than other people
c) relaxed and tolerant in attitude or manner
d) lacking courage
e) friendly
f) very cruel
g) sincere
h) courageous

Keys:

1. — d
2. — c
3. — d
4. — f
5. — b
6. — h
7. — g
8. — b

Task 6

Ask your students to describe their best friends with the personality adjectives from the previous exercise. What bad traits do they have that you would like to change? Why?

Task 7

Play the video and ask your students:

1. What is the main cause of distance between people?
2. What can bring people together?
3. Do you agree with the idea that a stranger is just a friend that we haven’t met yet? Explain your choice.

Keys:

— distrust

— a simple gesture of friendship.

Task 8 (optional/homework)

Ask your students to work in pairs and to choose one of the world-known brands and try to use as many ideas as possible to film a commercial dedicated to Friendship day.

Task 9

Discuss the questions with your students.

1. Do you prefer to have many friends or just a few that you are close to?
2. What are the benefits of having just a few close friends? How about the benefits of having many friends?
3. Do you have a childhood friend? If so, how much have you and your friendship changed?
4. How can social media influence friendship and friend’s behaviour?
5. Do you know any celebrities who became friends on the scene? How different is their friendship? Can they be true friends forever?
6. How are you going to celebrate Friendship day?
7. What is the best gift you have ever got from your friends?