Book Buddies that Work!
Implementing the Strategy WELL Benefits Everyone (Virtual Tour)
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 3: Literacy for GrowthAges:
8-12
Grade Range:
3rd 4th 5th 6thFood Groups:
Primary: Reading Fluency & Expression, Reading Comprehension Strategies Secondary: Motivation for Literacy, Oral Language & ELL
Transcript
My class has partnered with the 3rd grade for book buddies. Each student in my class has partnered with a 3rd grade student. They meet once a week for 1 period and they read together. In order to make this a rich learning activity for both grades, weve decided to focus on things like comprehension strategies, reading with expression, and peer tutoring. The first thing we did was we developed a set of guidelines of how to be an effective book buddy. We want the 5th and 6th grade students to be mentors, to show responsible behaviour, to help the 3rd grade students pick the right books, to make good decisions like sitting in an appropriate place, not being distracted, trying their best, being respectful. The first assignment was to work on retells. This is something that the 3rd grade class was working on and that the 5th and 6th grade students had been working on for years. We like to empower the 5th and the 6th grade students as the teachers. We did a little review about how to do a retell in our class and then we used an activity called roll and retell. The 5th and 6th grade students would read with the 3rd grade student. At the end of the story, they would roll the die and it would give them a prompt. Some of the prompts were "What is the story mostly about?" This would help the students retell the story. For example, if they rolled the number 2, it asks them "Who are the main characters?" If they rolled the number 3, it asks, "Where does the story mostly take place?" So all 6 of these questions are important in a retell, but its a way to make retelling fun. Once theyve finished working on this, weve moved on to a beginner novel study. For the 3rd grade students, this was one of the first novels a lot of them had read. It was exciting to them to read a chapter book. What we wanted to focus on with this was their voice. So reading with expression. We created a bookmark for their novels. The bookmark was divided into 10 chapters. For each chapter, there was a little checklist of how to read with expression. Are you showing emotion in your voice? Is your voice changing volume? Are you reading too slow, are you reading too fast, or are you reading just right? The students used this bookmark to help the 3rd grade students read with expression. There was also a prompt at the end of each chapter. This was a simple question to help the students follow along with the story. The first chapter was to write a short summary of the story. Some of the other questions were: Who are the other characters? What is the plot? What is the setting? Had there been any changes in the book? This really started to empower the 5th and 6th grade students as the teachers. This led to the next activity. In the 5th and 6th grade year, the students are doing district tests. The 3rd graders are also doing this. In order to practice for these tests and become comfortable in taking these tests, I start to work with my class on how to take a test, how to answer multiple-choice questions, how to write clear answers. My class will take example tests and theyll practice doing them with the 3rd graders. They help them figure out how to answer multiple-choice questions, they help them understand the texts, and they help them write high-level answers. This activity is really important for the 3rd graders because there can be a lot of anxiety around taking these district tests. Sometimes my class feels really confident about taking the test and when it comes time to take them, theyre not sure how to do it. This helps them practice for the test without really realizing that theyre practicing for the test. By practicing with the younger grade and by being the teacher, it helps them become more comfortable along the way.
Related References
Additional Link:
Books for Buddy Reading: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/books-book-buddy-reading
Activity Objective
The goal of Book Buddies that Work!: Implementing the Strategy WELL Benefits Everyone (Virtual Tour) is to illustrate how pairing older students with younger students can be beneficial for all. This teacher explains that focusing on skills like comprehension strategies, reading with expression, and peer tutoring can help the 5th and 6th graders learn to be good mentors and can help the 3rd graders make good choices like selecting the right books and behaving appropriately. The teacher also explains the benefits of using a retell game to make retelling fun for both grades. She then describes how the 5th and 6th graders can introduce novels to 3rd graders for the first time using a checklist to help students learn to read with expression. Lastly, the teacher asks the students to work together in reviewing material for district tests, but in a relaxed way. This empowers the 5th and 6th graders while reducing test anxiety in the 3rd graders.
Quick Tips
Additional Comments:
- Book buddies can be adapted to just about every grade, but it's a good idea to pair grades that are at least two years apart in order to scaffold appropriately. - It's important that teachers conference with each other before pairing students together to make sure they're pairing students that will work well with one another. It's also a good idea to consider changing partners once in a while to switch things up.
Other Recipes by this Teacher
Real World Class Jobs: Sharing Responsibility in the Classroom (Virtual Tour)
2nd - 6th
Great Expectations!: Co-Constructing Classroom Rules to Build Community (Virtual Tour)
2nd - 6th
Bobbleheads in the Classroom: Building Community through Student Introductions (Virtual Tour)
2nd - 6th
Stay on Green!: A Point-Based Behavior Management System (Virtual Tour)
2nd - 6th
Global Partners Junior DETAILS: Implementing a Cross-Curricular Program (Virtual Tour)
3rd - 6th
