Reading Buddies is a popular program in elementary schools that promotes literacy. Many students have greatly benefited from buddy reading over the years. If you’re considering implementing this at your school, you’ll want to check out these must-read tips to ensure a highly effective reading buddies program for all of your students!
This is Part 2 of my Reading Buddies series. Don’t miss Part 1 where I explained the benefits of a reading buddies program!
If your entire school is on board, it is recommended to pair up a lower grade with an older grade with specific teachers being assigned to each other. Ideal pairings would be: Kindergarten with 3rd, 1st with 4th, and 2nd with 5th. These pairings should remain in place for the entire year, which allows students to build solid relationships. If your entire school isn’t on board, you can still pair up teachers that will remain consistent all year.
After the classes are assigned to each other, it’s time to pair up students. Students should have the same buddy all year. Obviously, things happen with students being sick, moving in/out, etc., but remaining as consistent as possible helps with the success of the buddies.
The two teachers should briefly meet to discuss students’ personalities and ability levels to create ideal pairs. If you have a 2nd grader who is reading significantly above grade level, you obviously wouldn’t want to pair him/her with a 5th grader reading below grade level. This defeats the purpose of the program for both students. Personalities should also be considered for effective pairs. Two students who lack focus would not be an ideal match.
You may also want to administer interest surveys and pair students by their shared interests. This immediately creates a natural connection with students that helps build a better relationship between them. (Find out more about reading interest surveys).
In order to make reading buddies a priority it helps to schedule a consistent time each week to meet. Teachers have busy schedules but if you know that on a certain day of the week you have reading buddies for 15-30 minutes, you’re more likely to stick to it. You’ll soon find that students look forward to those days!
Decide on a quiet place to meet with plenty of space for students to spread out. This could be a classroom, empty hallway, library, or even outside.
When students first meet their buddies you may want to plan some fun activities for students to get to know each other. You can use the same type of getting to know you activities you plan at the beginning of the year to build a sense of community. (Click to download Icebreaker activities freebie!) Buddies can also fill out an interest survey together so they can immediately discover their shared interests. This naturally gives them something to talk about and allows them to begin to form a connection.
Teachers should set expectations for students. How should the reading look? What should students achieve during this time? You may want to consider creating the desired structure for how you want the time to be spent. (Do students take turns reading each time or alternate by weeks? Who reads first?). These expectations will need to be modeled for students.
Along with modeling expected behaviors, you will want to provide prompts to help reading buddies be effective. These scaffolds may include visual reminders to remind students of the expectations during that time together. It is also beneficial to provide prompts for older students to support younger students when they get stuck.
The reading buddies program allows students to improve their comprehension as well as their fluency and accuracy. You can orally provide a comprehension prompt for all partnerships to discuss after reading. Students can also have discussion bookmarks with prompts depending on the desired skill you want them to focus on during that time. This could be retelling what they read, making connections, or reflecting on their reading fluency.
For teachers who want even more accountability during this time, you may want to assign a shared reading response sheet for partners to complete. This might not be needed in most cases, but some classes might require the additional structure.
Lead students in a discussion after reading buddies to reflect on what went well and what they can improve upon next time. Upper-grade teachers will want to provide time to help students problem solve and practice strategies to better support their reading buddies.
The reading buddies program isn’t just about reading. Teachers can plan other activities where older students help students with math tasks. Buddies can complete projects together such as holiday crafts or Stem challenges. It’s also important to plan a fun event at the end of the year to celebrate a year of growth together! This can be as simple as a popsicle party!
You can start a buddy reading program with your students using the above resources. You’ll find bookmarks, reading response sheets, and other activities your reading buddies can complete throughout the school year!
Hopefully, this has inspired you to start or enhance your reading buddies program. If you’ve already implemented reading buddies, what other tips were most beneficial for you? Pin the following image and share your tips in the comments!
