Reading Buddies. 

 

Every other Thursday, our 1st and 5th periods will partner with the 4th grade team for Buddy Reading [BR]; our 2nd, 3rd, and 4th periods will partner with the 3rd grade team for BR. The goal of BR is for 6th graders to take the skillsets they have gained in the 5 years they have been reading, and help those in lower grades to become better readers. This activity is two-fold, in that it ties together 3rd grade Common Core Standards [CCS], while reinforcing 6th grade CCS. Students in the 6th grade move from becoming Language Arts learners to Language Arts teachers!!! Students in the 6th grade apply their abilities of determining, describing, and analyzing textual information from books to help lead their 3rd/4th grade buddies to becoming better readers of literature. These skills engage 6th graders in their own CCS curriculum through the standards of Reading in Literature. Students in 6th grade engage with text to determine key plot and character elements, so that they may create appropriate questions and discussion points for their reading buddy. Likewise, students in 3rd and 4th grade will engage with their own CCS curriculum [3rd grade CCS, and 4th grade CCS], as 6th graders help their reading buddies apply new knowledge content and understanding of better reading strategies, including: phonics, fluency, and word recognition. In the end, our 6th grade students created a special book for their book buddy. See more at the Children's Book Project page.