Mrs. Banham’s Grade 6 class at École Sir John A Macdonald Public School enjoys a positive ongoing collaboration with their Kindergarten Learning Buddies.
Each week, the oldest students at the school join the youngest for a different learning task, from letter writing to visual art activities to coding on Chromebooks. Students in both classes look forward to this weekly interaction and relationships build throughout the school year.
In January 2019, these Grade 6 students had a chance to experience kindergarten learning through play. Students joined their Kindergarten counterparts for a morning of interactive, collaborative games focused on developing literacy and numeracy skills and critical thinking. Kindergarten students played the role of both teacher and learner as they demonstrated the board games they knew to their Grade 6 pals, then learned new ones from their older Buddies. Partners rotated through different stations to get a taste of a wide variety of skills and collaboration was the goal for all involved.
Interacting with their Kindergarten Learning Buddies provides the Grade 6 students with ongoing opportunities for creative collaboration for both students and teachers while developing empathy and understanding. It offers Grade 6 students the chance to build leadership skills and allows our Kindergarten students to develop trust and confidence with their older buddies. Through this collaboration, all students benefit from the chance to practice a wide variety of skills and find ways to work together towards common, creative goals.