We're Loving Book Buddies at The Mann!

Being a 5th grader at Horace Mann has lots of perks and opportunities:  playing an instrument, being on Safety Patrol, working on News Crew...and being a Book Buddy.  If you've been at The Mann for awhile, you might already know about Book Buddies, a sweet collaboration between our 5th grade and kindergarten teachers that gets the two grade levels together each Friday morning for read alouds. 

Students are matched with the same student(s) each week, and 5th graders choose picture books from our rich library they think their little buddy will enjoy.  They use skills gained from being read to, themselves, to help the kindergarten kids engage with the story.  The teachers get a kick out of pairing up students who will have compatible personalities and then watching as they kids read with enthusiasm and joy!

Activities like Book Buddies are one of the special gifts of a district like Lakewood that has neighborhood schools.  In districts I experienced prior, a "campus" set up was used, meaning there were only 2-3 grades per building.  While cross grade partnerships can happen in those settings, it is easy to see how the larger age difference makes this experience better.

While we value the reading, itself, the benefits of Book Buddies goes far beyond.  It contributes to a caring culture in our school, where kids have friends outside their grade levels.  It lets older grades teachers connect with our younger students, and builds partnerships between teachers who might not otherwise even see each other very often in the building.  The ethic of kindness is well-served by Book Buddies, since bigger kids need to be patient with the younger ones.  This is evident not only in the reading, but also in the way the 5th graders model the way to behave in the classroom.

We are grateful to our kindergarten and 5th grade teachers:  Mrs. Martzolf, Mrs. Rini, Mrs. Robinson and Mrs. Sloan for arranging Book Buddies again this year.  Best wishes for lots of fun learning ahead :)