Working+with+Reading,+Math,+Writing+Buddies

Lesson Name: Working with Reading/Writing/Math Buddies


 * Submitted by** Alix McKee

3D Student can read social cues. 4B Student develops constructive relationships.
 * Standard**(s):

Chart paper & marker Feelings/emotions list from Connected & Respected Gr. 4 Lesson 7 or Grade 3 Lesson 8
 * Materials**:


 * Time**: 2 sessions, 30 mins each, one before buddy time and one after.

Students will notice social cues, infer emotions, and make appropriate decisions about actions to take. Students will be more effective reading/writing/math buddies to their younger peers.
 * Goals**:

Previous to this lesson, you may find it helpful to do a lesson regarding basic reading of social cues. One possible way to do this is contained in the Inferring Emotions from Social Cues lesson on this wikispace.
 * Assessments/Activities:**

Many classrooms have a weekly time working with younger aged students as reading, writing or math buddies. This time can be very effective or frustrating depending on elder students’ ability to read the social cues of their younger partners and keep things engaging and supportive. Elder students may not realize how important their decisions are to keeping things going well. An explicit conversation can help.

Meet as a class before your buddy time and point out skills that are easy for us as elder students are often quite difficult for our younger buddies. Additionally, younger students my have strong emotions they bring from other things that have happened to them during the day. We can use our inferring skills to figure out what our buddies might be feeling and adjust our own behavior to help. Have students imagine that their buddy is feeling overwhelmed, confused or frustrated. Ask what body language, tone of voice and facial expressions you might see? Teacher charts

If you see your buddy doing this…

He or she might be feeling…

Continue this process with a couple other appropriate feelings: nervous, scared, uncomfortable, embarrassed, etc. Then continue the discussion by asking students to watch for these social cues and try to adjust their interactions appropriately. Let them know that you’ll be checking in after buddy time to see how it went. They should be ready to share about social cues they noticed and their thinking.

Alternately, you could start this process off with a role play, but you will need to be specific with your actors about what body language and type of facial expression to show…it may be easier having the teacher play the role of the younger student.

After the buddy time, be sure to have a second meeting with the class to debrief: Did anyone notice the body language we discussed earlier? What did you infer? What did you try? How did it go?

Brainstorm a list of things to try when your partner is stuck, not participating, confused, nervous, or distracted. Come back to this list and the t-chart before each buddy time. Add to it as students have suggestions or observations.

Writing prompt: Today I inferred my partner was feeling __ because I noticed the following social cues (facial expressions, body language and/or tone of voice):
 * Assessment**: