Reading Buddies

This month, first grade students welcomed Upper School English Teacher Dan Roy’s Inquiry and Analysis class to Primary School in what Dan and the first grade teaching team hope will be the beginning of a special friendship. The first graders have a few things in common with this group of Upper School students. While the younger students are working on fluency, expression, and clarity in their reading, the Upper School students from Spain, Mexico, Korea, Japan, China, and Vietnam work on many of the same skills in Fay’s English Language Program.

Each first grader was paired with one or two Upper School students to read a fall story together during their first meeting. The excitement was palpable as first graders hopped up to give their reading partner a high five or a hug, leading them to a favorite reading spot in the classroom. First graders were happy to listen as the Upper School students read to them, but future visits will allow both classes to work on their skills. “They were so excited just to meet them today,” notes First Grade Teacher Jill Gibbons. “Hopefully, the next time they come down, our kids will feel confident enough to be the reader to share what they know and work on their expression.” For Dan’s students, the first graders in Jill and Kelly Porter's classes are an enthusiastic audience, offering them the chance to hear different pronunciations, ask questions, and engage with the English language in ways that differ from standard classroom work. Later this year, the teachers hope to pair students as pen pals to work on their reading and writing skills, crafting letters to each other and receiving responses in return.

Dan and Jill ended the class with a paired reading performance of Mo Willems’ Let’s Go For a Drive to model the power of expressive reading for their students. Voicing the characters of Piggy and Elephant, Dan and Jill’s animated lesson elicited giggles and applause from students, both large and small.

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