Once a month, students at Blue Star Elementary set aside time to read, learn and connect with reading buddies from another grade level. The schoolwide tradition pairs older and younger students with the same partners throughout the year, giving them a chance to build relationships as they share books and activities.
Blue Star kindergarten teacher Kelly Slagh came up with the idea and helped bring All School Reading to life. Each month, teachers plan activities for the pairs. Students might explore a book together, work on vocabulary, take part in a relationship-building activity or share a special project they’ve been working on in class.
The experience gives students a chance to get to know classmates they might not otherwise meet. One fourth-grade student said, “What’s fun is like you get to know other people in the school that you probably haven’t actually been friends with before ’cause you’re in different classes.”
Students also enjoy having time together. “It’s just a fun time to learn and have fun at the same time,” one student shared.
For some buddies, the connection carries into other parts of the day, too. One student said, “I’m glad that we’re reading buddies ’cause he’s kind of my bus buddy and he is such a good kid.”
All School Reading is a fun way for Blue Star students to learn together, strengthen their reading skills and build a stronger school community—one book and one friendship at a time.