Buddy Readers
/Last week we launched our buddy reading program! Our Otter readers have made immense gains in reading since the beginning of the year. Students have learned many new spelling patterns and word decoding techniques. They are now able to read trickier texts. One of the primary objectives of the buddy reading program is to help our first and second grader readers increase their fluency and expression as they are reading. Another objective is to build community in our school and help the Otters learn strong leadership skills. On Mondays students choose a new buddy book for the week. They practice reading that book with good expression and cadence. Later in the week they had the opportunity to read that book to a classmate to get feedback on their reading. Then on Thursday afternoons they get to share their book with a Seal preschool buddy. On Friday afternoons they share that same book with their Dolphin preschool buddy. Our first meetings with our buddies this week was a tremendous success! Our preschoolers loved hearing books read aloud by older students and our Otters loved getting to be strong leaders and fluent readers. They quickly learned that they must be fluent, engaging readers in order to keep the attention of their three, four, and five year old buddies. We can’t wait to watch the relationships between the Otters, Seals, and Dolphins deepen over the course of the school year! This week we also finished our winter silhouette art pieces, decorated valentine boxes, continued adding to our acts of kindness wall, practiced counting money at our popcorn stand, learned a place value math game with Ms. Alicia, and played some exciting games of football.
