{"id":487,"date":"2017-11-15T19:52:32","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T00:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kaslblog.com\/?p=487"},"modified":"2017-11-15T19:52:32","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T00:52:32","slug":"book-buddies-building-fluency-with-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/15\/book-buddies-building-fluency-with-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Buddies &#8211; Building Fluency with Fun!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 20%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-487 gallery-columns-5 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/file_003-2-2\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/File_003-1-1-150x150.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/file_000-2\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/File_000-1-150x150.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/file_000\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/File_000-150x150.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/file_002\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/File_002-150x150.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/file_002-2\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/File_002-1-150x150.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While there is always more I can teach a student in the library, sometimes I have those weeks where I get stuck planning for my 4th and 5th grade students with my fixed weekly schedule. \u00a0We do a lot of great activities with research, library skills, and makerspace materials, but what I really wanted to add to it all was a meaningful literacy experience. \u00a0My students read a lot, but silently and independently. \u00a0In my experience with the students reading aloud in the library, I found that many of them read with little expression or enthusiasm.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I decided to form a partnership with some preschool classrooms on campus. \u00a0Our 4th and 5th graders would go over to the preschool to read to their students every 3 weeks or so. \u00a0I set the schedule with the preschool teachers based on my schedule and the preschool schedule, so different classes went different weeks. \u00a0Classes that get more sessions (those Tuesday and Wednesday groups) tended to get to go over more often, but all classes went at least 2 times this fall. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before we started going to the preschool, \u00a0I read picture books to my big kids so they could see how I made it interesting, added voices or side comments, and asked questions related to the stories or illustrations. \u00a0I gave my students a chance to read books to each other and help each other become better at reading. \u00a0We also talked about the type of book and length of book that would be appropriate for a 3 year old child. \u00a0\u00a0My students check out their picture books the week before we go so that they have time to practice. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When we go to the preschool, the little buddies get to pick a big buddy to read to them. \u00a0Some base their choice on the book the big buddy has selected, but others just choose someone at random. \u00a0The big buddies read the book, trying to engage the preschool student in the story. \u00a0After the book, little buddies can choose another book from the classroom, or they can chose to show their big buddy one of the learning centers in the room. \u00a0\u00a0The little buddies love being able to show their big buddies how to do something. \u00a0At the 2 minute warning, I ask my big buddies to make sure to find out something about their buddies including their name.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When we return to the library, my students write a short reflection about their experience in their library notebook before we have check out time. \u00a0I have enjoyed reading these reflections. \u00a0In September, students wrote about preschoolers not being interested in the book or about how they didn&#8217;t know their preschooler\u2019s name. \u00a0Now reflections often include additional activities they did with the books or something interesting they learned about from their preschooler. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Next year I would love partner with my teachers to use the data they already have from fluency checks on the students before and after, but this year I have chosen to evaluate the program based on my informal evaluations of students as they read to the preschool students. My shy students don\u2019t seem shy talking to a preschool student. \u00a0In the library, students are also more likely to chose a nonfiction or picture book to read for pleasure. \u00a0They still read away on their chapter books, but they are also exploring more sections in the library.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We hope to add more groups to our book buddies program! \u00a0It does depend on the schedule, but you could even do this with a kindergarten or 1st grade class if you do not have preschool students available to you. \u00a0\u00a0I highly recommend the Book Buddies program to all librarians.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While there is always more I can teach a student in the library, sometimes I have those weeks where I get stuck planning for my&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,8],"tags":[23,26,33,45,57],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaslblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}