Roaming Readers

Teaching Team:

 Mary Bonanno-School Social Worker/SAC

School: Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School, Little Egg Harbor

Grade Levels: Grade 6.

Recipients: Kindergarten classes at George Mitchell Elementary School

Academic Focus/

Core Curriculum Standards:

Language Arts Literacy 3.1, 3.3, 3.4

Consumer, Family & Life Skills 9.2C, 9.2D

 Empathy. Responsibility, teamwork, compassion.

Hurdles: Training all students to be able to handle the responsibility. Having enough roles to include everyone.

Solution: Lessons given in expressive reading, leading a group, getting everyone’s attention. The stronger readers read the story, but giving some of the others a role helps to develop reading skills.

Sixth-grade students will hone their reading and presentational skills as well as show responsibility and empathy by conducting a reading lesson for kindergarteners. The character education children’s book that specifically deals with the theme of giving back to the less fortunate, empathy, and feeding the hungry) serves as the springboard for a lesson at the George Mitchell Elementary School. As preparation, the students will watch a short music video of the touching song “Moments” by Emerson Drive, to show them that poverty can happen to anyone. The students will work together as a team for the duration of this project, deciding which skills are needed for effective delivery, which questions to ask a kindergarten class, and how to maintain the little ones’ attention. One or more students can read the story; another team can pose questions, and a third can observe, takes notes, and take pictures of the kndergarteners’ expressions and reactions. After the book is read, the sixth graders will ask the kindergarteners to draw anything that represents how they feel about the story on a large poster sheet. This will be called the “Collage of Feelings” and will be hung up at Little Egg. They will also give the kindergarteners book marks and an information sheet to bring home about how to obtain a library card from the local library.

After their day at the elementary school, the” young teachers” will go back to Little Egg, and about a week later on their celebration day they will receive a Roaming Reader’s Memory Book, which will be a book full of the pictures from the day with the Kindergartners. Under each picture there will be space for writing. Each student will be asked to write a response to those pictures. They will write what they learned from the experience and what they felt. It will be like signing a year book. Copies of this book will be made for each student to have their own, so they can all have a reminder of the day.

Target Audience:

Kindergarteners at George Mitchell Elementary School

Four weeks to plan, prepare, and carry out the project.

Copies of children’s book; bookmarks; large construction paper;

multiple markers ;paper with library information; camera

The Arts Visual: The 6^th graders will explain what kind of drawings to do and may add their own to start the”Collage of Feelings.”

Language Arts Literacy: All students will be developing reading, listening, and speaking skills. Students will have to analyze the story for specific meanings and reflect on it. The 6^th graders will have to read aloud with clear and accurate speaking voices.

Social Studies: The students will learn how American citizens can actively participate in their communities, learn what responsibility means, and learn about the values of American public life.

Consumer, Family and Life Skills: Students will develop interpersonal communication skills and character development and ethics and also be able to recognize a problem and work cooperatively in a group to find solutions.

Celebration: Students will receive a pizza party and the memory book they wrote in. It is for their hard work and dedication, and a personal keepsake to represent their role in building character.

Performance-based Education; Students work toward a goal, utilizing hands-on techniques.

Cooperative Learning: Students work in teams

Interdisciplinary Approach; Different disciplines involved

Personal Growth Outcomes: Students will develop empathy for others and also develop pride in what they are doing to help others

Recognition: The “Collage of feelings” the kindergarten students created will be hung in the halls, along with pictures of the 6^th graders working with the younger students. There will also be recognition by the principal. through an announcement.

Key Findings: To be determined upon completion. It is anticipated that character-building will take place for both givers and recipients.

The community library was happy to give information on how the students can get their own library card.

Parents helped prepare the Memory book; provided additional snacks for Pizza Party.

The 6^th grader’s’ activity is to sign their memory book that contains the pictures of their visit. They are asked to write what they learned that day and how did the response of the kindergarteners make them feel. Also, a class discussion aims to elicit thoughtful reflections from the students on how the experience will shape their efforts to help others.

A rubric that evaluates student participation in all phases of the project; preparation, planning, delivery, questioning, observing, reflection.