Topic

International Day of Friendship (celebrated on 30 July)

Learning outcomes

• Practise speaking
• Review vocabulary related to friendship
• Discover the importance of friendship
• Use English creatively
• Celebrate the International Day of Friendship

Age group
Aged 5 - 8

Level
CEF level A1 +

Time
50 - 60 minutes. This can be done over 2 lessons.

Materials
• Friendship worksheet A (1 per learner)
• Friendship worksheet B (1 per group)
• Large sheets of paper or card, coloured pencils or crayons, plenty of imagination

Introduction
The United Nations have declared 30th July as the International Day of Friendship with the idea that
“friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build
bridges between communities.”
In this lesson pupils celebrate friendship. Firstly, learners are introduced to the topic of friendship through
a simple word game. Then they join in a teacher-led discussion about what makes a good friend. They
do a puzzle activity to find 10 key words and use these to complete a gap-fill text about what makes a
good friend. Finally, learners work in groups, using the ideas from the lesson to make classroom posters
celebrating friendship.

www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2017 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
 Procedure

Before the Download and make copies of the worksheets you need for the lesson.
lesson

1. Warmer Introduce the topic of friendship on the board using some simple drawings.
(5 mins)
• On the board, draw yourself as a stick person. Ask ‘Who’s this?’ Elicit an answer
(It’s you!)
• Then draw another stick person next to you. Ask ‘Who’s this?’ Elicit an answer
(It’s your friend.)
• Explain that this lesson is all about friendship. If appropriate explain that July 30th
is The International Day of Friendship.

2. Discussion For higher levels:

• Write the following question on the board: What makes a good friend?
• Ask learners to put up their hands to suggest ideas. Accept any reasonable ideas
and make notes on the board, e.g. a good friend is kind to you. Encourage all
learners to participate by sharing their ideas.

For lower level learners

• Ask learners to write a list of all the words or phrases they associate with
friendship. If necessary, let them write in their own language. Give them a time-
limit of 2 minutes. When they have finished write the words on the board and go
through any translations or meanings for weaker students.

3. (20 mins) Give each learner a copy of Worksheet 1.

• Put learners into pairs and ask them to complete Activity 1 to find the words in the
grid. If necessary, go through the words and explain the meanings.
• Ask your learners to complete Activity 2 - using the words to complete the
sentences and Activity 3 - tick the sentences that they agree with. Answers: See
Appendix 1
Note: This could be the end of lesson 1

www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2017 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
 4. Making a • Put learners into small groups to make a poster celebrating Friendship.
poster • Give each group 1 copy of Worksheet 2. Check the instructions with the whole
(15 mins) class. Monitor and support as needed

5. Class • Make a classroom display of the posters for parents to see when they visit the
display
school.
(10 mins)
OPTIONAL

Contributed by

Katherine Bilsborough; Edited by Suzanne Mordue

Appendix 1 - Wordsearch grid - answers

A D M S N A D F M 0 L I E S

H R S H A R E S B S F C Q B

M A S B D G F I P O A A L E

X D W U E A N G R Y Z N R F

Y O U F S E T X W I T A B A

L O F X T I A K I H H O M V

P K I N D X S I C O L D B O

R W N G S O A K H M W U Z U

O E D P E U C I M E K A S R

B X S A F B N S W X L Y I

L H I C H S C Y O S E B T

E S H L E N D S J R T A L E

M G O L D I M L X K V W Q Y

S G J O K E S S K L L Y M A

www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2017 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.