Buddy Reading

In our classroom, students have assigned reading partners with whom they share a common interest in literature. Partners are assigned after I became familiar with the students as readers. You can also use a Reading Partnership Interest Survey to help pair up your students.

Unlike typical buddy reading where students read with older or younger students during a set time period or when students read a shared book aloud together, Reading Partnerships in Room 13 is an experience that takes place over time. Using our classroom library index, students search for books that are "double copy" books. I try to collect more than one copy of many chapter books. In the classroom library, these books are located on a special "Double Copy" bookshelf so that students are able to easily located books when choosing a new book to read with their partner.

When students first begin a reading partnership, they agree to read the same chapter book over a period of time. The book is not read aloud together, but rather partners read the book independently and meet occasionally throughout their reading of the chapter book. Before a reading partnership begins, students meet to plan their reading experience using the Reading Partnership Planning Sheet

Partners set a specific page number in the book to which they will read before meeting for their first real discussion of the book. When both partners have reached the specified page number, they get together during the independent reading segment of Reading Workshop. As noted on the Reading Partnership Planning Sheet, partners come to the meeting prepared with thick questions and connections they have made while reading. (See Partnership Response Sheet and Asking Thick Questions Handout.)

Click here for more information about Thick vs. Thin Questions

As students read, they must also keep tracking of their thinking on sticky notes that they place inside their books. These notes are used during the partnership meetings to refer back to the text and to push students' thinking during their discussions. When students are done with their meeting, they remove the sticky notes and attach them to a form in their Reader's Notebooks (see picture to the left) so that I can use the notes for additional assessment. Students also then have a record of their thinking to reflect on at the end of the book.

The number of meetings held during the reading of a single chapter book depends on the length of the book and the students' rate of reading. The meetings provide an important time for students to discuss literature in a meaningful and natural way. It is fun to listen to the great questions that arise and the different opinions that students have about the books that they are reading. Inferring, questioning, and making connection are all important reading strategies that are put into effect when students meet with their partners.

At the end of a Reading Partnership, the partners must plan and give a book talk of the book that they have read to the class. The book is then placed in the Student Recommended Books basket for others to enjoy on their own if the partners decide it is one that their classmates will enjoy. Students must read at least one chapter book independently in between their partner reading so that they are also reading books on their own.

Watch a Video of a Reading Partnership Discussion Meeting

Click on the image below to watch the movie.

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