Halloween!

On Halloween, we set up five different stations in the classroom, each with a different activity: themed coloring sheets, playing bingo, Halloween spelling words, other worksheets, and free drawing/mask making.  Each station was directed by a team of two-four big buddies.  The little buddies rotated stations, so each child was able to partake in every activity. 

Weekly Routine

We begin the visits by playing games as a group on the rug in the classroom.  The games consist of Telephone, Simon Says, Copy Cat, Do This Do That, and many others.  Oftentimes, we pose a question to the entire group and go around the circle having everyone answer (What are you thankful for?, What is your favorite color/food/animal?, What are you going to be for Halloween?, etc). Then, we break off into preassigned groups (identified by colors, i.e, the red, green and blue groups).  The groups were created keeping in mind personalities and learning styles of each buddy.  The activities completed in these smaller groups vary week to week.  There is always a reading comprehension worksheet, a page in a fill-in-the-blank story and the option of completing homework from school.  Each little buddy has a personal folder that serves as a portfolio to hold each handout, assignment, drawing, etc. When the activities are completed buddies can either read, quietly play or draw.

Getting to Know Each Other ~ Questionnaire

Below is the questionnaire that both the Lab students and UCCS students who participate in the program completed in order to get to know each other.  Everyone indicated interests, hobbies, basic family info, info about pets, likes/dislikes (food, music, books, television). The questionnaire is age-appropriate, both in terms of reading level and content. It was completed during the first visit with Lab students there to help.