Book Buddies Reading Program
Book Buddies is a guided reading program developed in-house at Piney Lakes which utilises high-level literacy texts to support student learning. Educators work through a different book with the children and work to increase their comprehension and vocabulary skills through story-telling and activities that support high-level thinking skills. Students are given accountability in the way they echo and explore ‘tricky’ words in the texts.
All books are carefully chosen by the team of teachers and educators, and align closely with Pie Corbet’s Australian Literacy Spine.
The program consists of classic books and high-quality literature to help form the core of a read-aloud program, and will directly assist in their school-readiness as they explore new words, topics and themes. These books are kept by the educators, and only read during specific instruction where the children engage in the program.
The program has been designed around the core principals of creating life-long readers.
Some of the story books in the program, selected by the team at Piney Lakes includes:
Handra’s Suprise – Eileen Brown
The Gruffalo – Julia Donaldson
Six Dinner Sid – Inga Moore
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – Michael Rosen
Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see? – Bill Martin & Eric Carle
Jasper’s Beanstalk – Nick Butterworth & Mick Inkpen
On The Way Home – Jill Murphy
Knuffle Bunny – Mo Williams
Not Now, Bernard – David McKee
Children will spend time analysing and reading through these books alongside an Early Childhood Teacher.
Some of the skills and activities the educators will build around these story books include strategic reading activities which are proven to demonstrate understanding, and include:
- Improving their prediction vocabulary.
- Reading from a story map to memorise sentence types and syntax.
- Discussing key themes, such as the nature of heroism and bravery.
- Reciting and using ‘tricky’ vocabulary to expand their word knowledge.
- Engaging in high level discussions, such as asking children what could have happened before or after the text.
- Connecting characters to ourselves, or people we know.
- Drama and role play
- Painting and describing their favourite scene.
- Innovating their own interpretations of a story using beginning, middle and end
The program also incorporates reading for pleasure – that is, allowing children to read through a large selection of picture books that are available to them in the Centre Libraries. The team at Piney Lakes believe in order to foster a life-long love for reading, exposure to books both individually and guided is vital.
