Enemy Pie – A Lunch Bunch Lesson Plan

One of my favorite lessons to do during lunch bunch is the lesson revolving around the book Enemy Pie. I like to tell the story of my childhood enemy turned friend Tony.

It goes a little something like this:

When I was in middle school, I had an enemy and his name was Tony. Tony sat behind me in EVERY class. He called me names, he pulled my hair, he said mean things about me to his friends. He made my life miserable and I did not like him at all.

I sat next to Tony in every class for 8 long years. And just as I thought my luck was about to change when we graduated and went to college… I was wrong. Who do you think went to the same college I did? Of course, Tony. I mean there are over 4000 colleges in the US, what were the chances? So not only did he go to the same college as me, but he also picked the same major and the same biology class. Even in our class of 500 students, he still managed to pick the same lab section.

As crazy as it may sound, out of all those students I ended up asking Tony if he would be my lab partner. After all, I did sit by him for 8 years. I knew he cared about his work, he got good grades, and well I knew I could trust him. We hung out, did our work, and helped each other study. Just like Jeremy Ross, Tony wasn’t being a very good enemy. Funny how things can change.

My students loved the story Enemy Pie. We had a great time talking about friendships and enemies. I always enjoy presenting the idea that if we change our attitude we may find a friend where an enemy once stood.

We made our own recipe for friendship, and before they left I gave each student an enemy pie of their own. I also used wooden spoons I found at the dollar store as discussion prompts.