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Grade 1
In grade 1 I loved reading buddies. My class got paired with a grade 8 class. It was so exciting to get to read and work on literacy activities with a grade 8 student. This experience made reading fun and was a motivational piece to get me reading more. -
Grade 1 Reflection
Reflecting back on my experience as a young reading buddy, there are many meetings with my older buddy that I can still remember to this day. I believe that students are social learners and learn best from hands-on meaningful experiences. Reading buddies is a great example of one way to provide student with a meaningful experience with an advanced reader to learn more about reading and literacy. -
Grade 5
Grade 5 was very exciting because it was my first time getting to be the bigger reading buddy. It was fun getting ti pick books and activities to work on with my younger reading buddy. This allowed me to take on a teacher tole in a literacy setting. -
Grade 5 Reflection
I realized then that the material has to be meaningful to the student. Sometimes I picked books that I liked and that weren’t as interesting to my younger reading buddy. This does not allow for a meaningful connection to literacy and reading for that student. -
Grade 9
In high school writing became more intimidating. I did enjoy writing more than reading, but I did not have the best writing skills. My sister spent a lot of time helping me edit my work and it helped me become a better writer. She acted as a "reading buddy" for me in the sense that she helped me and motivated me to write more. I began to write letters and journals. -
Grade 9 Reflection
This allowed me to see that as a teacher, we must be dedicated to giving our students that extra help, whether at recess, before or after school, a little one-on-one assistance can help students go a long way. -
Grade 10
In grade 10 I joined a reading buddies program at the public library where I met a student once a week to read and help them with their school work. -
Grade 10 Reflection
This was an additional step towards teaching and working with a student one-on-one with their reading and writing skills. Joining this program at the local library allowed me to explore and utilize different resources and programs available. Not only did we work on reading and writing, but we were able to tie language and literacy into games and other activities. -
Reflecting on Reading Buddies
Reflecting on my experience with reading buddies throughout my childhood, I realized what an impact these experiences had on me as a reader and writer. As early as grade 1, I shared many memorable literacy experiences with my older reading buddy. Transitioning to being the older reading buddy also allowed me to reflect on meaningful literacy experiences. Evidently, reading buddies (or other similar interactions) had a great impact on my childhood and my literacy experiences. -
Implementing Reading Buddies
As a classroom teacher, I would implement a reading buddies program for my students to share literacy activities with other students. I strongly believe that students should engage in literacy activities with older or younger students as it can have positive impacts for both buddies. -
Implementing Reading Buddies
As the younger buddy, you can practice reading skills and listening skills with the older buddy, as well as share thoughts and ideas. As the older buddy, you can explore different literacy strategies and activities with the younger buddy.
