Buddy Reading: A Literacy Activity to Support First Graders' Academic, Social and Emotional Development

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to observe what happened when my first grade students utilized the buddy reading activity over the course of six weeks. I was curious to see how the process enhanced my students' reading ability, enabled them to gain confidence and motivation while reading as well as enhanced their social and emotional development. Specifically, I will be researching the questions: 1. How does buddy reading help enhance a first graders' literacy abilities and skills? 2. How does buddy reading help to enhance the social and emotional development of first graders? During the study, I focused on my first grade students' buddy reading with peers from the same age group within our classroom. I conducted whole group discussions with the class to see how their feelings about buddy reading changed or stayed the same. I had student's complete quick writes as a way to understand their individual thoughts/questions/concerns/input about their experiences. I used a teacher checklist (see Appendix B) during my observations of five case study students. I also videotaped my students during the buddy reading sessions. These various methods of data collection enabled me to capture the most authentic view of buddy reading from my students.