Language Arts

Cross-age learning is an excellent means for enhancing reading and other language arts abilities. Just having children read to one another is a proven method for increasing the reading skills of both the older and younger student while, at the same time, increasing their teamwork attitudes and behaviors. Besides these specific lesson plans, be sure to take a look at the How to use Cross-Age Learning? and Research Briefs pages on this site for proven ways to organize cross-age learning.

Title of Lesson: Reading and Writing Cursive

Grade Range:3/5 or 3/6
Introduction:
After 3rd graders have learned cursive, Big buddies write to them in cursive, providing practice writing and reading in cursive for both buddies.

Materials needed: Paper, pencils

Methodology

1. Big buddies (in own class) discuss importance of neatness in cursive. Each big buddy writes 3 questions to the little buddy in cursive (leave space for answers).

2. During buddies time, little buddies read questions and big buddies help with unknown words and letters, sounding out.

3. LB answers questions in cursive. BB can answer any questions about how to form letters that may come up.

4. Early finishers write back and forth to each other or practice forming letters.

Title of Lesson: “Letters Home” – Addressing an Envelope

Grade Range: K/3
Introduction:
Kindergarteners study about the Post Office. They mail a picture or note home.

Materials needed: Pens, crayons, legal size envelopes with line drawn on, pencils

Methodology

1. Kindergarteners design their own mail with their teacher.
2. 3rd graders practice addressing envelopes in their own class.
3. During Buddy time, the younger buddy is given her/his address to copy onto an envelope.

The older buddy help the younger buddy to copy the address correctly. Younger buddy does the writing and th eolder buddy helps to guide placement and assists younger buddy with editing.

4. Early finishers can design the back of the envelope together.
5. Put mail in envelope and seal.

Title of Lesson "Guess how much I love you"

Grade Range: Grade 4 and 8
Intro:
We present the story in English language to the school audience in a New Year celebration, besides two other books "Elmer's Hide and seek" by grade 2 and 6 and "Es klopft bei Wanja in der Nacht" (Author: Tilde Michels).

Materials needed:
We used the book of above title by Sam McBratney and Illustrator Anita Jeram, a Walker Book, London, 2000. The eldest understood and read the full text, helped to rewrite a shortened easily reproducable text version. The same with the song, which we found in internet 'now the sun is sinking.'

Methodology:
Pre-information about new vocabulary and repeating of some sentence structures. An acting child had always one or two helping children behind. The elder students read the introduction and the longer explaning parts of the text. As props we used ears and a fluffy wool in nutbrown colour. The background a spring landscape. The elder helped with translations.

Title of Lesson: Reading “Back to Back”

Grade Range: K-6. This project was done with a first and fourth grade class that had worked together for about 4 months.
Introduction: Buddies sit side by side facing opposite directions, as teacher displays pictures from a short book to one side of the room.

Materials needed:
The Paper Bag Princess or any other appropriate book

Methodology:

1. The teachers have the younger and older partners sit side by side (shoulder to shoulder) facing opposite directions. Two teachers are on opposite sides of the room.

2. As the teacher displays the first page of the book to one side of the room (we used The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch), the children who are facing the book describe what they see to their partner. This part can be noisy, so it’s important that partners sit close together.

3. After the description, the next page is shown to the other side of the room. The children describe what they see on their page. This continues back and forth until the whole book has been shown and described by the partners.

4. Now the younger students tell their older partner what they think the story is about. Next, the older student tells what they think the story is about.

5. Finally, partners can come up with a name for their version of the story. (Teachers don’t let the children know the name of the story before the activity begins.) These invented titles can be shared with the whole group.

6. The last step is for the teacher to read the story to the whole group.

Title of Lesson: Color Poems

Grade Range: K-adult. The following is designed for children who can read and write, but can be adapted for others.

Introduction: 1) Students work in pairs to brainstorm sensory adjectives to describe a favorite color. 2) They then select their favorite words to plug into a format that creates a vivid, interesting poem. 3) Partners read their poems aloud to the class.

Materials needed:
Chart paper, colored markers, student writing paper, and two-page prompt.

Methodology:

1. Students sit in a semicircle on the rug to help brainstorm ideas and write a class poem. Teachers model the creative process of writing a poem, using the students’ own ideas. Using blue as a favorite color, the teacher asks and pauses for responses to each question:

1. What things look like blue?
2. What things sound like blue?
3. What things smell blue?
4. How does blue feel?
5. What makes you blue?
6. What tastes blue?
7. What ideas or experiences are blue?
8. What places are blue?

2. Students then work in partners at their desks. Each student is expected to decide how to share the work, how to help each other, to ask each other questions, and to take turns writing and thing of ideas. Before they begin, the teacher hands out worksheets and asks questions to check for understanding of the process. The first worksheet has a box in the center labeled “Color,” with a line in it large enough for a color name to be written in. The center box is surrounded by 8 other boxes, each labeled with abbreviated versions of the 8 questions listed above (e.g., 1. Looks like?) and with lines in them for writing answers. Each student should contribute 2 ideas in each of the 8 categories.

3. After checking their work, the teachers model, at the board, how to use the poem sheet.
This is an abbreviated version of a full sheet:
Name, Date, Title, then _____(color) is ____(list 1) and ____ (list 1) and ____ (list 4) and ____. _____(color) is the taste of ____(list 6). ____(list 3) and ____(list 3) smell _____(color). _____(color) is the sound of _____(list 2) and _____(list 2). _____(color) is t_____(and list).
The students copy the words they think sound the best onto their poem sheets. Encourage them to read out loud to each other to see how it sounds.

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