Being Supportive Friend

Context

Year 3-4 Health Education Unit: Understanding Relationships Lesson 6 of 10 Duration: 60 minutes Class Size: 25 students

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Learning Objectives

Aligned with the NSW Health and Physical Education Syllabus (Years 3 and 4), this lesson targets students’ understanding and demonstration of respectful relationships and supportive behaviours:

• Identify qualities and specific strategies of supportive friends including offering help, showing encouragement, reliability, and celebrating others’ successes.
• Apply practical strategies for being supportive through structured activities.
• Reflect on personal behaviours and develop a simple action plan for supporting friends.

These objectives align with Developmental outcomes such as:

• Applying skills and strategies to interact respectfully with others.
• Describing influences that strengthen identities and relationships.
• Interpreting health information to enhance own and others’ wellbeing.

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Curriculum Links

NSW Health and Physical Education Syllabus (Years 3 and 4)

• Content focus: Relationships and respectful behaviours
• Outcome: Students demonstrate skills and strategies to interact respectfully with others and recognise qualities in friendships that promote inclusion and support.

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Resources Needed

• Case study cards depicting different friendship scenarios
• Chart paper and markers
• “Supportive Friend Strategies” worksheet
• Reflection journals or blank paper for action plans
• Colour pencils or crayons

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Lesson Breakdown (60 minutes)

1. Warm-up & Launch – 10 minutes

• Begin with a group discussion: Ask, "What makes someone a good friend?"
• Record responses on chart paper, highlighting qualities like kindness, listening, helping, encouraging, and celebrating others.
• Introduce today’s focus: learning strategies to be a supportive friend.

2. Case Study Exploration – 15 minutes

• Divide students into small groups (4-5 per group).
• Distribute different friendship case study cards to each group. Each card describes a scenario illustrating challenges or opportunities to be supportive (e.g., friend feeling sad, friend trying something new).
• Groups discuss and identify:

• What qualities are shown by the supportive friend?
• What specific strategies did the friend use?
• How could the friend show encouragement, reliability, or celebrate success?

• Groups share their findings briefly with the class.

3. Structured Practice Activities – 20 minutes

Activity 1: Role-play practice (10 minutes)

• In pairs or threes, students role-play turning one case study’s scenario into a short supportive interaction using strategies discussed.
• Encourage students to practise: offering help, verbal encouragement, and reliability (keeping promises).

Activity 2: Supportive Friend Strategies Worksheet (10 minutes)

• Students individually complete a worksheet that prompts them to link specific strategies (e.g. “I can encourage my friend by…”) with examples.
• Worksheet includes space for students to write or draw their ideas.

4. Reflection and Action Plan – 10 minutes

• Guide students to reflect on the lesson:

• What strategies can you use to be a supportive friend?
• How will you celebrate your friends’ successes?

• Students create a simple action plan in their reflection journals or on paper, stating at least three ways they will support their friends using specific strategies learned today.

5. Wrap-up and Sharing – 5 minutes

• Invite a few students to share highlights from their action plans.
• Reinforce that being supportive is a key part of healthy friendships and relationships.
• Praise the class for respectful listening and participation.

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Differentiation Strategies

• Provide sentence starters on worksheets for students who may need language support.
• Allow drawing responses for students who express better visually.
• Support group facilitation to ensure all voices are heard during discussions.
• Adapt role-plays for students who may be shy—offer observation or reporting roles.

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Assessment

• Observation of student participation and respect in discussions and role-plays.
• Review of sheets for understanding the supportive strategies.
• Evaluation of action plans to verify ability to reflect and plan respectful behaviour.

This formative assessment informs future lessons in the unit maintaining scaffolding where required to support positive social interactions and friendship development.

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Teacher Notes

• Use real-life relatable examples in case studies to engage students.
• Emphasise non-verbal encouragement and small acts of kindness.
• Model supportive language during the lesson.
• Reinforce the message that everyone can make a positive difference as a friend.

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This lesson empowers Year 3-4 students to understand and practise being supportive friends by linking explicit NSW curriculum outcomes with interactive, age-appropriate activities that promote empathy, respect, and positive social skills, key foundations for healthy relationships throughout life.