By Marta Mestre & Patricia Soria, Spanish Language & Literature teachers in MYP & Diploma.
We always seek solidarity outside of our regular circle because we believe that we cannot help anyone around us, but we’re really very wrong. The “Reading Buddies” project rethinks our standard frameworks: Year 9 students will use all their skills to help and encourage reading among their classmates in Year 2.
To stay informed and become inquiring and critically thinking students, one of the basic pillars is to develop reading comprehension. We begin to acquire this gradually at school with our teachers at an early age, but it is also encouraged from home by our parents every time they encourage us to read or even read with us.
From all the activities that our little ones carry out, reading is considered a fundamental pillar and that is why our school highlights it as a fun and interesting activity. However, reading is an activity that sometimes children come to consider an obligation over time. Should we give up and let them not enjoy something as beautiful as reading? The Year 9 students don’t give up, but instead they have taken on the challenge this school year, accompanying their younger classmates in their educational journey: learning to read and making reading a pleasure, not an obligation.
Every two weeks, the older and younger students get together for some wonderful reading time. Beforehand, the older students are in charge of preparing the reading adapted to the level of the younger ones. This is how the older ones are taught and they understand that it is important to adapt, understand and respect the differences and difficulties that may exist between people in the same group.
When they get together, the older ones accompany the younger ones in reading: listening to them and helping them to pronounce the pages they read. But not only that, they also encourage the little ones in the pauses they take, and check that their partner is correctly understanding the reading with a series of previously prepared questions. Finally, the older ones reward the younger ones for the effort and dedication in that reading session. These compliments fill them with pride and satisfaction to continue learning and improving in their learning process.
“Reading Buddies” is a project design expressly and exclusively for our IB students, since it both encourages good communication among the older students by having to explain the instructions to the younger ones and also encourages students in Year 2, as they begin to acquire the first brushstrokes of good communication, entering the beautiful world of reading. Additionally, it encourages an open mind to understand and appreciate the differences that exist between students. This, in the future, will help the older ones to tolerate and integrate the differences that exist in humanity. On the other hand, it promotes the solidarity of our students, since they act with respect and empathize with each other. Y2 students receive these sessions with special enthusiasm, since these are moments in which they enjoy special and exclusive attention from an older student. The teachers greatly appreciate the effort made by the Y9 students because it allows many of their younger classmates to lose their fear of reading aloud, feel more secure in this activity and learn to interpret the texts they read in a more profound way.
