Last year in our building each classroom was paired up with a classroom in a different grade level to teach leadership habits. I'll be honest, at first, I thought to myself how are my first graders going to have the same lesson as their fourth grade buddies and also understand, comprehend and apply the leadership habit. I was extremely skeptical during our first few meetings with our fourth grade buddies, but something magical happened. After a few lessons together (we did them every cycle day 1 and we have 6 cycle days) my first graders started applying these leadership traits because their fourth grade buddies were modeling them so well and actually helping my first graders! My kiddos LOVED it because for 40 minutes every cycle day 1 they had the attention of a "cool" fourth grader who was kind and treated them nicely. The magic continued when our fourth grade buddies would wave to my kiddos in the hallway during transitions. My kiddos thought it was the coolest thing, and so did I. To see these fourth graders waving to first graders happily with big smiles on their faces, matching my kiddos joy, made my heart so happy.
Thanks to these leadership meetings our two classrooms built relationships with students that they likely never would have talked to or interacted with before. These relationships became so strong that when our "buddy classrooms" switched after the new year, the fourth graders asked if they could still see and hang out with their first grade buddies. So, as teachers we collaborated and set-up special events for our kiddos! On Valentine's Day we had an ice cream sundae party together and watched "Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown" together. Afterwards they exchanged valentines! For St. Patrick's day they worked together to create Leprechaun traps. In April we got the buddies together again for some recess time since they never got to play together on the playground. In May we got them together one final time for a summer kick off party.
Our students built such strong relationships and connections with students who were years apart from themselves. During the meetings and fun events the students practiced communicating clearly and respectfully, they practiced listening empathetically, and they learned how to problem solve so that everyone involved was happy. My skepticism turned into beautiful friendships among fourth and first graders. Giving our students the opportunity to work with another grade level changed everything about how my students saw themselves, viewed other students, how they valued friendships, and how they communicated with others. Myself and the fourth grade teacher felt the impact in such a large way, that this year we are buddying ourselves up without it being planned for by our principal. By personally seeing the value and change in our students we know that these benefits can continue to happen so we are making it happen!
This year since we can't see each other on cycle day 1, we are starting the kiddos off as pen pals! The students have been writing letters back and forth to each other introducing themselves and created posters of themselves to give to their pen pal. My students have LOVED getting their pen pal mail and really enjoy writing back to them. My students are already establishing a relationship with a fourth grader that they have never met before and are learning how to communicate clearly through written expression.
Buddying up with another classroom has taken such little time out of our day but has added so much! I highly recommend that you find a classroom in a different grade level and reach out to that teacher. See if you can start as pen pals. Match students up on your rosters so that they create a strong relationship and connection with a student. Pick certain days that are your "pen pal" days during writing workshop. Show students that it is important to make connections with other people by putting time aside for this. Giving your students a break from their mode writing (opinion, persuasive, etc.,) and allowing them to express themselves to their pen pal will teach them how to build relationship skills and build connections with others. Teaching these relationship skills to our students is vital to their success in building relationships later on in life when we aren't there to guide them along the way. Let's guide them now and give them a chance to make a friend, a buddy, a connection that just may last a lifetime. If you want help in doing so, click that "Get in Touch" button and send me an email. I would LOVE to help you create and establish connections multi-grade level connections with your students!
Scroll through the pictures below to see my students receiving their first piece of mail from their fourth grade pen pals!
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