Big Boys and Little Boys

Yesterday I discovered 4 middle school boys in the lower school library just as a kindergarten class was due to arrive.  The older boys needed a place to be for an hour because of a conflict with a special event hosted in the middle school.  They were sent to my library with a book and told to read independently.  3 of the 4 were former lower school students and all 4 are reluctant readers.

Middle school boys are like rock stars to kindergarteners.  There is no way they could attend to class while ignoring the big boys.  Just prior to the kindergarten class arriving I asked the middle schoolers if they would mind reading to the little boys.  Two of the boys said they couldn't read aloud.  I suggested they read a favorite book from their kindergarten days.  Another boy said he's never had a favorite book.

The kindergarten class arrived and the middle school boys were thrown into my lesson - reluctantly.  Each big boy was paired with 3 little boys and they read to them.  It was AMAZING!  The big boys read David books by David Shannon, Seuss books, and The Day the Dog Dressed Like Dad by Amico and Proimos.  The reluctant big boys were poised and fluent.  The enthralled little boys hung on their every word.  One of the little boys end up on one of the big boy's lap by the time the book was finished -- he couldn't get enough.

Developing positive attitudes about reading is half the battle in creating life long readers.  What happened yesterday in class went far beyond any lesson I could have offered for either the big or the little boys.