Reading Buddies and QR Codes

If you really want to see your kids be leaders and get excited, partner them with some younger children. We had the best time today reading with our 2nd grade friends. Two weeks ago, my kiddos worked to create QR codes to go along with the biography about George Washington Carver in the 2nd grade readers.  We put all our work in this Google Doc:

 

Then, I reformatted it to make it easier to print onto one page. The kiddos cut out the codes and taped them to the agreed-upon pages in the books. Then we borrowed as many iPads and iPhones as we could get our hands on and headed down to 2nd grade!

My class was so excited, and I was really impressed with them. They took charge of their groups, and worked well with the younger children. I heard them saying things like:

"Who would like to read first? Okay, you can start on this page..."

"Here's how you scan a QR code. You want to try it?"

"See this picture...?" 

"Good job reading that!"

"Let's focus on our story."

"Did you know...?"

And you know how you always wonder to yourself if your class really remembers what you're teaching? Well, I'm here to tell you, mine did! I was amazed to hear snippets from my kiddos that they'd learned in Alabama History as they explained things to the younger children. Segregation, Tuskegee University, boll weevils destroying the cotton crop, etc...It was so exciting to hear them explain these concepts! 

Probably the best moments of all for me were seeing my kids so engaged in literacy learning/teaching, and the comments they made when we came back to the classroom. 

"I love how they all looked up to us like we were the adults!"

"All the kids in my group were so interested in what we were doing!"

"My group took turns really well."

"Can we do this for the other 2nd grade?"

This was a fabulous learning activity that we'll be doing it again for the other second grade classroom very soon.