Thematic Buddy Books

I am a grade 5 teacher and have been working with a kindergarten teacher to enhance the learning of both students. We have been teaching a variety of reading, writing, and technology skills through hands on buddy activities for the past ten years. We have previously worked with our students designing books through our school publishing center, power point presentations, and videos. We would like to extend the student's technology learning by incorporating digital images into their final projects.


National standard: Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

Students use spoken, written and visual language to accomplish their own purposes for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information.

State of Connecticut Standard 3: Communicate with Others

Grade 5 Students produce written, oral and visual texts to express, develop and substantiate ideas and experiences.

Kindergarten students communicate through writing by taking part in the interactive writing process.

Thematic Books
Fifth graders will assist their buddy to complete a unique individualized book documenting the kindergartener’s learning from the unit. A fifth grader will be teamed with a kindergartner for the duration of this assignment.
Kindergarteners will dictate sentences to fifth graders using vocabulary from ‘the word wall’ related to thematic units. As a buddy team the fifth grader will photograph the kindergartner in various learning centers. The photographs will illustrate their book. The fifth grader will revise and edit the text for clarity. They will also advance their technology skills learning how to insert photos and text in a book format. They will interview the author for the inside cover and write a brief biography of the author. The cover will be designed and created by the kindergartner.
This book will continue the home/school communication having the kindergartener reading the book they wrote to their family and sharing their learning.