The Ruark Connection

Last Friday our kindergarten class partnered with Mr. Ruark's 5th grade class in a mentor reading program. We thought it would be a great idea to keep it in the family by having both Ruark and Ruark/Timmons classes team up throughout the year. This program pairs one of Mr. Ruark's 5th graders with 2-3 of our kindergartner's. The older students model reading books with intonation, as well as, discussion about the books many elements (characters, setting, plot, etc). This not only provides a great read-a-loud to our class but also builds a big brother/big sister relationship with our older students. Both the 5th grade students and our students loved the experience and can't wait for next Friday's read-a-loud. Mr. Ruark told me later that evening that his students were arguing over how each of their little reading partners were better than anyone elses! They absolutely loved it!