Partnership
Mrs. Morris's fifth
grade reading class and Mrs. Walton's second grade class formed a partnership
to read and write about the animals at the Zoo. Twice a week for twenty
minutes, one to one, the fifth graders read
and discussed a book about zoo animals with the second graders. The
fifth graders selected books from the library
that they thought the second graders would enjoy.
In addition to reading
about the animals, the two groups visited the Brandywine
Zoo. The students walked around the whole zoo together, and then each
second grader selected one animal to draw and write about. The next few
days the fifth graders helped the second graders write
and type on the computer a story about the animals they chose. These
stories were combined to form a book Favorite Animals at the Brandywine
Zoo, and a copy was given to each second grader.
During the
last week the students were together, they switched roles. The second
graders read books they had chosen to the fifth graders and asked them
questions about what they had read. This was a practice for the second
graders who will now go and read to the kindergarten students.