Cover of We Are Going to be Pals
We Are Going to be Pals
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Friendship 1st & 2nd Grade
By Mark Teague

Book Guide

We Are Going to be Pals

A story that explores friendship and opens a conversation with your child.

★★★★★ Loved by families
Read the Guiding Questions Find this book →
♥ This book teaches: Friendship. showing up for someone else.

Before, During & After Reading

Guiding Questions for Parents.

Definition: A friend is someone you like spending time with because they make you feel happy and special, and help you when you need it.  In short: Build bonds that last forever. Summary: An egret meets up with his symbiotic partner, the rhinoceros. He educates the rhino about what he needs, and what he can do for the rhino. Together they learn certain principles of friendship, like respecting the other’s personal space, accepting each other’s differences, being willing to make compromises, communicating, and helping your friend out when there’s trouble.    Lesson Objectives: 
  1. Teachers reinforce the relationship skills that are taught in this imaginative and factual story ( rhinos and egrets do have a symbiotic relationship) through (a) posting a chart that has graphic reminders of the skills, (b) providing frequent discussions on the topic, and (c ) complimenting students when they use the skills. 
  2. This story can be an opening for a science lesson about symbiotic relationships in the natural world between two different species, like the rhino and the egret. Teacher note: Egrets clean ticks and parasites off of the backs of rhinos. The rhino helps the egret by providing a source of food and the egret helps the rhino by getting rid of the annoying and harmful insects.  For more immersion on this topic, do the activity about animal symbiosis on this website. 
  Guiding Questions: 
  1. What did the egret mean when she said to the rhino, “We are going to be pals”? 
  2. What does the rhino not want the egret to do?  
  3. What’s one difference between the rhino and the egret? Is it okay that they are very different? Why or why not? 
  4. Do you think the egret feels safe around the rhino? Why or why not? 
  5. “Communication is the key to friendship” - what did the egret mean? 
  6. How did the rhino show kindness to the egret? 
  7. When you and a friend have different ideas about what to do, are you able to work it out so that you both are happy? Can you share about a time when you were able to do that? 
  8. Even though the rhino didn’t talk much to the egret, was he a good friend? Why or why not? 
  9. Did you ever help someone who was in trouble? 
  10. Did anyone ever help you when you were in trouble? 
 
🌿   Virtue Connection: Friendship means showing up for someone else, consistently.

Hands-On Practice

Activities for This Story.



Note to teachers: This activity goes well with this story (on our website): We Are Going to be Pals by Mark Teague  

Resource: Weird Friends Unlikely Allies in the Animal Kingdom - myView 3rd Grade, Unit 2, Week 2 - Read Along  

Activity: Students watch the video and discuss what they learned. Each student picks a pair of animals that have a symbiotic relationship. They are instructed to draw a picture and write 3 sentences or more about how they help each other.   

Materials needed: The video, paper and materials for drawing and writing  

Directions: Explain: “Today we will watch a video about symbiotic relationships among animals. These amazing stories about unlikely friendships in the animal kingdom will help us understand more about human relationships. People can learn from animals who find ways to cooperate with one another, even though they are very different. Let’s try to apply what we learn through this video and find new ways to connect with the people around us, especially those who seem to be not at all like us. Maybe we can find something in common, some way to help one another and get along better.”  Show the video and pause frequently to discuss the animals it features. Direct students to pick an animal pair, draw a picture of the pair, and write 3 sentences or more about how they cooperate. Conduct a show and tell or pair share, so that students can explain their work.   

Wrap it up: Ask: “Which pair of animals surprised you the most and why? We humans often had a hard time getting along. Can you explain how this book might help us get along better?  Let’s be more curious about people who are different from us, instead of avoiding interaction with them. Maybe we can find something in common, some way to help one another and get along better. “

About the Story.

This guide is part of the Values & Virtues library, a free collection of 400+ book guides and activities organized around 12 core virtues for children from pre-K to 6th grade. Each guide includes Guiding Questions designed to open a real conversation with your child in 10 minutes or less.

Read-aloud video · Best with headphones

Find this book at your library or bookstore →

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