Reading Buddies

One of the fun things about SPH is the emphasis it places on developing students with a service mindset.  A few weeks ago, Lauren (who teaches middle school English) and I pulled our students together for a reading day.  We'd been talking about it all year, and finally made it happen! It was fun to see the 7th graders take the kids under their wings and read to them.  Almost all of the groups connected really right from the beginning.

The reading day was just as fun for the teachers.... since we got to spend time together during the school day... which I don't think has ever really happened for us!

Side note... here's a picture of Lauren and I being read to as children... She's the squirming one on her mom's lap.  And I'm the one who looks slightly less than interested in the red onesie.  Michelle is the beauty that is showing us the wonders of literature.  Oh how things come full circle!

As kids came into the room to get more books, they found one group on the carpet and joined in...  they were taking turns reading.  The rule was, you had to read in a funny voice!  It was so cute to see what they came up with!

As my class was headed to lunch and grade seven was headed back to class, they boys got into an arm wrestling match.  It was hysterical  watching them unite to try to take down their competition!

Today, my class took a trip to a nearby kampung to visit the school there, BBB.  We've been interacting with the school all year for our Mission and Service Learning (MSL) project.  The kids raise money each week to provide snacks, gifts, and supplies for our times with this other school.  We first met our MSL friends when we took a trip to the kampung as we studied how people meet their needs.  Since then, we've had BBB over to SPH a few times, once for a swimming day and once for a Christmas party.  Today we returned to BBB for a morning of reading and crafts.  It was awesome to see my class turn around and be the grown ups, leading the reading time and taking care of their buddies.  I was so proud at the way they were so intentional about interacting with their buddies and helping them enjoy the reading time.  They were also excellent at helping their buddies with the crafts.  They didn't necessarily need help, but it was such a good experience for my kids to serve someone else, since they are never the ones serving, always being served by nannies and drivers.

This is my favorite pair.  The BBB boy has always been the trouble maker when we've had events together.  It's been so frustrating because he never listens to directions.  And my student here isn't always the biggest reader.  But the match up between these two boys was magical.  Because they were both so into the reading and picked up book after book, and even opted to read instead of play on the playground when they had a chance!