Announcing ...

Ms. Leom's fourth grade class is excited to announce ... we have READING BUDDIES!!! We'll be meeting with Mrs. Stuckmayer's Kindergarten classroom on Fridays this year.

Today was our first visit. Ms. Leom chose Amelia Bedelia as our first series to share. We started by picking out a book to read.

Then, we talked about what it means to be a fourth grade reading buddy ... we need to:
* smile and be friendly
* we need to be responsible, a role model
* read fluently with expression

So we needed to practice:

 Then, we also had to talk "details" ...

* ENJOY the book! Stop after each event, and ask your kindergartener to explain what goofy Amelia Bedelia moment happened on these pages (and if they can't tell you, you explain it to them)

* If you have time, invite them to help you summarize the book. You can work together to use the "5 finger summary" that we are practicing in class:
-- characters
-- setting
-- problem
-- events
-- solution

* Invite your kindergarten buddy to participate! They can turn pages or read "Amelia Bedelia" when you come to that on each page

* We also talked about what to do if your reading buddy doesn't know how to be a respectful listener, or doesn't know all of the school rules

Finally, we were ready!!!

 

These may not be the exact buddies we'll have as the year progresses, but it was an exciting opportunity to connect with another classroom in our school. The best part, while we are "helping" our kindergarten friends make connections in our school, exploring books, and modeling school expectations, they are also helping us develop our reading fluency, leadership skills, and more!

We look forward to our Friday Reading Buddy Time!