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| We've set up a day each week to go an read to the Rainbow Room in our preschool. It was pretty tender to see just how excited my class was about our first visit. They carefully selected picture books they thought would be of interest to four year olds and practiced and practiced and practiced. |
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| They paid attention to their reading expression, words they didn't know and pausing at the punctuation. They made sure they weren't leaving words out because they didn't want the stories to be hard for the preschoolers to understand. They were so diligent in their preparations. |
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| And when the time came to visit, the older children got to return to teachers they had had long ago, only now they were the big kids visiting. It was so fun to watch the third graders connect with the younger children. They asked their names and let them choose the book they wanted to hear first. They found ways to connect to the children who wanted to talk about their ages or the puppies and kitties they love. My class listened so intently to the information being shared with them and commented thoughtfully back. |
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| They read and read and read. Turns out the two books we prepared weren't nearly enough. We'll be better prepared next time! |
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| The third graders chatted on the way back to class, telling stories about their little buddies and what they had learned about each one. They also shared with their friends advice about which books had been more successful and which had been least successful, so that others would know what to take next time. These cross age interactions are so valuable in so many ways. For some, it is valuable fluency practice with an authentic reason to practice. For others, it is practice thinking about being a mentor, trying to figure out what THEY might like and how to help THEM enjoy themselves and have fun. For everyone it is a sense of connection-- a belonging the extends beyond the classroom and into the wider school community. We can't wait to go back. The children are already talking about what books they want to take next time! |
This is what I love about being part of a school that has children from age 2 to age 14; the cross-age interactions are so beautiful - and often so important and memorable for all the children involved. The gifts the third graders bring to the preschoolers are obvious; I wonder what the third graders will learn from the younger children, and from revisiting the scene where many of them spent their own early childhoods?
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