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Creating a Design Solution
Creating a Design Solution
After careful consideration and discussion, we realized that the idea that met the learning goals the most was the Reading Buddies idea; however, both SEL Integration and the Audiobook Workshop provided valuable approaches to reading skills that would boost and support students. As a result, we considered how we could integrate those ideas on a smaller scale into our main design solution - Reading Buddies Mark II.
Building student fluency and confidence through peer collaboration.
Building student fluency and confidence through peer collaboration.
Pairing students with peers slightly above, below, and on the same reading level allows them to engage with reading in different ways; it also fosters a supportive and collaborative environment for students to develop their reading skills in a low-stress setting. Reading partnerships also allow for modeling fluency to occur in an authentic manner, allowing students to develop literacy skills in a situated context. It also encourages socio-emotional development as students build teamwork, communication, and empathy through interactions.
READING BUDDIES
READING BUDDIES
Reading Buddies is repeated, situated practice that takes place in three contexts:
Reader-Mentor Partnership: Students partner with older students to read books at their target literacy level together. They are on the receiving end of modeling, taking cues and guidance from older students. With the assistance of more knowledgeable peers, they focus on applying problem-solving strategies to words they don’t recognize, and practice reading comprehension through guided activities.
Teamwork Island: A collaborative storytelling game where small groups of students co-create a story centered around an SEL topic. Each student gets assigned a character and is responsible for writing character reflections in a shared journal.
Reader-Peer Partnership: Students partner with others at their same age and/or reading level and read together. This partnership emphasizes schema-building (developing strategies for fluent reading, word recognition, and reading comprehension).
Teacher Guidance: During Reader-Peer Partnership, students will primarily partake in teacher-led sessions aimed at learning strategies and building schemas for fluent reading. They choose a story and engage in collaborative reading for short passages, putting their new strategies into practice.
Reader-Mentee Partnership: Students partner with younger students and read books that are slightly below their reading level to them. It builds their confidence by allowing them to take on a role of importance and responsibility, while also completing work that they know they are already capable of. Students practice reflection as they take on the role of a guide to the younger students
Teamwork Island: Students read a story centered around an SEL topic, and do activities relating to the SEL theme. They create a story map of characters, settings, and events with the major theme in mind.
Reading Passport: Students maintain a record of all their self-reflections and completed learning materials in their Reading Passport, a journal where they can log and track their progress.
Twice a year, an Audiobook Workshop will be held after school on a weekly basis, giving students the opportunity to put their fluency practice to create and perform in a short audiobook to share with others.
Audiobook Creation:
Students will choose a story together. Through group readthroughs, they will analyze the text through punctuation, dialogue, and character emotions, making creative decisions with performance choice and sound editing.
After rehearsing their story, students will record their lines, allowed as many takes as they'd like to get it right. Teachers and support staff will make the final audio edits.
Storybook Log: Students practice self-evaluation as they record what they felt they did well or couldn't do well, keep track of team tasks, note down creative decisions, and record each others' participation.
Audiobook Showcase: Students hold a listening party with peers, families, and communities to celebrate their project completion, boosting confidence in the students and reinforcing the value of their work.
Learning Theories
Vygotsky's Social Development Theory
Vygotsky's theory emphasizes social interaction as a critical component of learning as an active process. Through collaborative activities, students develop their knowledge and skills by building on their previous knowledge and engaging with their peers. (Vygotsky, 1978)
Application:
Pairing reading buddies with differing levels facilitates mutual growth. The more knowledgeable peer can guide the other student and improve their own understanding through self-reflection.
Peer partnership and collaboration in activities promotes active learning through discussions.
These activities are scaffolded by teachers, who guide students towards fluency and comprehension through teacher-led activities, before becoming more hands off and allowing students to take control of their reading practice.
Constructivist Learning Theory
A learning theory that emphasizes active learning through experiences. Students build their knowledge and skills by directly interacting with the world and other peers, and constructing artifacts as a way to negotiate understanding. (Oyarzun & Conklin, 2021)
Application:
Students directly participate in reading out loud, performing, and storytelling.
Active participation in the construction of an audiobook, interacting directly with the text. Students practice their reading skills and fluency directly in context.
Constructionism
A learning theory developed by Papert that draws from Constructivism but with a focus on the creation of tangible artifacts--learning by doing. Students externalize their learning process through building or creating, deepening their learning. (Papert, 1991)
Application:
Students directly participate in reading out loud, performing, and storytelling.
Active participation in the construction of an audiobook, interacting directly with the text. Students practice their reading skills and fluency directly in context.
Cognitivism
The internal mental processes involved in learning. For example, learners organize information into schemas, a mental structure that can be used as a base for processing and connecting new information. (Oyarzun & Conklin, 2021)
Application:
Students build schemas for reading text aloud. They recognize patterns in the text, particularly in the dialogue and pronunciation, and how it affects the flow of reading aloud.
Chunking breaks down reading long texts into something more manageable for students while they are working on building their stamina.
Reading material is presented through both verbal and visual channels (reading out loud with the text and performing), aiding students in creating multiple models to increase comprehension. (McGraw-Hill Canada, n.d.)
Social Emotional Learning Theory
Developed by CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning), SEL theory focuses on five core competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. (Elias, 2023)
Application:
By integrating SEL themes into routine paired reading practice, the program promotes empathy and collaboration between students.
Students take on leadership roles when working with their peers or mentoring younger readers, building their self-awareness and confidence.
Character analysis and performance builds their understanding of emotional expression and how to identify it, enhancing their ability to understand and interpret stories.
Growth Mindset Theory
Developed by Dweck believed that students who believe their abilities can grow through effort and perseverance are more likely to succeed. (Oyarzun & Conklin, 2021)
Application:
Repeated, situated reading in multiple contexts encourages students to view reading skills as something that can be grown and develop with effort and practice.
Reflection activities can help students recognize their progress and foster resilience.
Supportive, low-stakes environments help create a safe space for students to try to overcome challenges.
Learning Strategies
Learning By Design: Students take part in project-based design and real-world tasks, such as audiobooks and story journals. Rehearsal and self-evaluation allow them to take an iterative, hands-on approach to their learning. (Kolodner et al, 2003)
Keller's ARCS Model: Students choose their own texts (attention/relevance); use scaffolded partnerships and self-reflection tools to track their growth and build confidence; and reinforce their motivation through tangible, celebrated achievement (satisfaction). These combine to make a meaningful, engaging learning experience. (Oyarzun & Conklin, 2021)
Modeling: More knowledgeable peers demonstrate reading fluency, allowing students to observe and learn from them in a low-stakes, authentic way. (Vygotsky, 1978)
Self-Reflection and Monitoring: Progress-tracking tools like journals (Reading Passport, Storybook Log) encourage students to self-evaluate, providing visual markers of achievement to boost confidence and build a sense of ownership over their learning.
Media & Technology
Audio:
Sound effect and music resources to support creative decisions in audiobooks
Recording equipment to record students' reading aloud to create their audiobook
Spoken presentations by the teacher on new topics
Reading aloud with partners to develop oral communication and storytelling skills
Visual:
Visual media that accompanies spoken presentations
Story maps that visually display students' comprehension of story elements and SEL topics
Computing:
Editing software for audiobooks
Text:
Leveled books for students to read in appropriate contexts
Story scripts used for preparing for audiobook recording
Progress tracking journals (Storybook Log, Reading Passport) that serve as self-reflection tools for students to record and evaluate their progress over the program.
(Bates, 2019)
Pros & Cons
Pros:
Engaging, low-stakes activities to encourage reading fluency and comprehension
Encourages student autonomy through personal choice, creativity, and self-reflection
Offers consistent, structured practice in situated learning environments
Collaborative work builds social skills as well as improving learning
Cons:
Requires time, planning, and equipment that may cause barriers in schools with more limited resources
May be challenging for students who need additional support with digital tools and specialized learning.
The activity requires in-school time that may not be available
Considerations:
Evaluate how much oversight and support is needed to run the program
Provide teacher/facilitator training to make sure the implementation is effective
Culturally responsive examples/content that represents diverse learners
References
References
Bates, A. W. (2019). Teaching in a digital age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning (pp. 189–257). https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/
Elias, M. J. (2023, March 30). The role of SEL in developing reading skills. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/sel-reading-skills
Kafai, Y. B., & Burke, Q. (2015). Constructionist Gaming: Understanding the Benefits of Making Games for Learning. Educational Psychologist, 50(4), 313–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2015.1124022
Kolodner, J. L., Camp, P. J., Crismond, D., Fasse, B., Gray, J., Holbrook, J., ... & Ryan, M. (2003). Problem-based learning meets case-based reasoning in the middle-school science classroom: Putting learning by design (tm) into practice. The journal of the learning sciences,12(4), 495-547.
McGraw-Hill Canada. (n.d.). Richard Mayer's Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. McGraw-Hill Education. Retrieved April 11, 2025 from https://www.mheducation.ca/blog/richard-mayers-cognitive-theory-of-multimedia-learning
Oyarzun, B. , & Conklin, S. (2021). Learning Theories. Design for Learning: Principles, Processes, and Praxis. https://edtechbooks.org/id/learning_theories
Papert, S. (1991). Situating constructionsim. In I. Harel & S. Papert (Eds.), Constructionism (pp. 1–12). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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