Dakota Writing Project

by Connie Jensen, Gayville-Volin Public School

If someone were to walk into our school cafeteria on a particular day, they might see twenty-five third graders eagerly reading, writing, visiting or doing an art project with an equal number of senior citizens. The visitor’s presence would probably go unnoticed, as the two generations have eyes only for each other. This unique relationship began seven years ago as a result of my concern over comments I’d heard my third grade students make regarding older community members. I realized that senior citizens are an untapped free resource available in my small rural community that could help build some strong ties between the community and the school. Being a life-long member in this community, I knew what these senior citizens, my friends and neighbors, could offer my students, yet I never fully expected what I actually received.

As I thought more and more about my particular situation—small rural school, relatively small classes, and zero start-up cash—I needed proof to show my principal the potential effectiveness of my idea. Chris Benson and Scott Christian said it perfectly in Writing to Make a Difference:

When considering community-based learning, the most useful model of community is one that helps students acquire knowledge and understanding that can only come when they look someone in the eye. There are lessons about consequences and responsibilities that students can learn most effectively when they are dealing with another human being in their community. (24)

I had my rationale. Living and learning in a community should go hand-in-hand. Not all learning needs to come from the school setting, nor should it. Real life learning continues beyond school walls. That was the tie-in I needed. I considered the ideas in Hillary Rodham Clinton’s book It Takes a Village . . . to raise a child. Certainly, senior citizens support the school with tax money and fund-raisers, but raising a child goes beyond that. This was a way for them to give back to a younger generation who needs to know the recent history of their community. What better place was there to accomplish this?

Getting Started

Convincing my principal was easy. I proposed meeting once a month throughout the school year for ninety-minute sessions. The students would not miss any core classes, and the first year they only missed forty minutes of PE once a month. She expected me to keep her informed on topics covered and any problems encountered. I mentioned that I wanted to include an article in the community newspaper to emphasize the school-community connection. I promised that the janitor would not have extra work to prepare for or clean-up after our buddy gatherings. My principal felt I was on to something, and the fact that it cost the school district nothing to implement was a bonus. She cautioned me about the selection of senior citizens. I assured her that I would only contact people I knew. Since our school is a consolidated school, I made sure to invite seniors from both communities. I was pleased when the principal gave me her approval.

My first task was contacting twenty-five area senior citizens. It took three Saturday and Sunday afternoons explaining and defending my plan to friends and neighbors in my community and others in the area. I contacted people at church, on the phone, or in person over a cup of coffee. A few turned me down because of prior commitments, and some did not want to commit for that long of a period. But, I got twenty-five to commit for the year-long meetings and even another five who were willing to be a substitute in case one of the seniors could not make it. My confidence grew.

It wasn’t hard to involve my third grade students. Children are always game for something new, and my students didn’t disappoint me. They, too, had lots of questions that I tried to answer to the best of my ability. I had planned it in my mind, and I just needed to pull it all together in reality. I knew I had to make the very first session impressive. I wanted both the third graders and the senior citizens to have a memorable gathering and to be eager for more.

The “Hook”

For the first session, I decided to use Tomie dePaola as the featured author. I collected about thirty-five books from area libraries and put them in baskets. While reading Chicken Feet in My Soup, I found a recipe to make bread dolls that Tomie dePaola’s Italian grandmother had made for him as a child. I knew I had found the “hook!” I contacted our school cook and asked if she would prepare an extra batch of bread dough for our project. She is a trooper and was willing to cooperate. Had she not agreed, I was going to bring frozen bread dough. So our September Senior Buddies was falling together with relative ease.

About a week prior to the gathering, I asked my students to write letters introducing themselves to their prospective Senior Buddies. This took a couple of days to complete, but the Senior Buddies enjoyed receiving the personal contact from their little buddies. In the letter, I also included a step-by-step direction sheet laying out what we would be doing and the time frame that we would need to follow. I encouraged the senior citizens to arrive about ten minutes early so I could troubleshoot any questions they might have.

Senior Buddy Day

Excitement grew as the special day approached. I told my students the expectations I had for this endeavor. The seniors were our guests and should be treated as special company. Therefore, only company manners would be used. Students not using company manners would be excused to the principal’s office for the remainder of the session. I explained the schedule in complete detail for the third graders, also. I wanted no surprises. After visiting with the senior citizens, I am not really sure which generation was more nervous.

The appointed time came, and the two buddy groups met. Since the seniors knew a little bit about their little buddies, the welcome period went well. Because the buddy session needed to be completed in a timely fashion, we proceeded with making the bread dolls. This involved making two ropes of bread dough into a long rope and a short rope. A raw egg was placed on the table and the smaller rope butted against the egg forming the body. The longer rope went around the egg and braided into the shorter rope. Since many of the seniors were comfortable with bread dough, they immediately felt at ease helping their little buddies. The next step was making features on the egg face with a permanent marker. Then the bread doll was carefully transferred to a baking sheet and given an egg yolk/water wash. While all this activity was going on, I was walking about taking pictures of the groups. No one seemed to even notice me because they were so involved in making their bread dolls. No two bread dolls looked alike, but no one seemed to care.

When a baking sheet was filled, I started baking the bread dolls in the school kitchen. The buddy pairs cleaned their areas at the table and chose a dePaola book to read. It was fun watching the interaction. Some pairs took turns reading; some read in unison; some had only one buddy reading. It didn’t matter. They were reading and communicating on another level.

As the wonderful smell of bread baking sifted through the cafeteria, excitement rose. It was hard to stay focused at times. My job was getting the bread dolls baked as quickly as possible. When the baking was completed, I brought out the finished products. Everyone was amazed at how cute the bread dolls looked and how good they smelled. I continued taking photos of the buddy pairs with the completed bread dolls. Smiles radiated from every group.

The bread dolls were wrapped in waxed paper, ready to go home. The seniors wondered how many bread dolls would actually make it home. The students returned to the classroom to ready themselves for dismissal as the senior citizens departed the school. The next day at school, I had my students write thank-you letters to their Senior Buddies. It wasn’t hard to compose the letter, as each student had something important to write about. But the foremost question was: when is the next Senior Buddies Day? Then, I knew it had been a success!

Future Ventures

That was my first experience with Senior Buddies. The rest of the year involved a variety of activities. I had an abundance of pumpkins in my garden that year, so I brought a pumpkin for each student. Their Senior Buddies helped estimate height, weight, and circumference and how many seeds the pumpkin contained. After the estimation was complete, the pairs used exact measurements of the same. The best part was watching the buddy pairs dig into the pumpkins and retrieve and count pumpkin seeds. Then the pumpkin was carved into a jack-o’-lantern ready for Halloween. It was messy, but the conversations proved that connections were being built between special friends. In December, we read Dr. Seuss books and watched the movie cartoon How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The buddy pairs exchanged small hand-made Christmas gifts. In January, we created poems. I provided examples of several types. The buddies created and illustrated the poems they composed together. March inspired us to create windsocks. In April, we read the condensed versions of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books in the buddy pairs. Next, each team chose a particular scene from the book to illustrate on a block of paper. The blocks were assembled into a Laura Ingalls Wilder “quilt” that was proudly displayed by the third grade students. Our May session was a time for celebration, which included a PowerPoint presentation that I had compiled using all the photos I had taken at each gathering.

All had gained a new lifetime friend. The buddy pairs had built a strong connection. It was very evident from the letters the students wrote to their Senior Buddies each month. The connection was felt by the senior citizens, too. Senior Buddies had proven successful.

Other Themes

The six years following have included a great variety of themes. I had no particular guideline for choosing what theme to use for Senior Buddies. Sometimes the theme was based upon interests of the class or topics that the class was studying. At times, I chose a theme around an area of strength in the class, or sometimes, even an area of weakness that needed more practice. Some of the topics used were a monthly trip around the world in which we studied a different continent each month, or another time we created a manners book that the Pilgrims might have used. One time we learned about the different kinds of penguins and how they survive the vicious cold in Antarctica. Often, themes were a selected children’s author or a topic like spiders or sea animals. When we were studying poetry, the students presented a program of choral readings. Making a patriotic booklet about Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln during February was another fun activity. Once, the students presented a play written by the class and adapted from a student’s story. Every month’s topic was new and different, which created a lot of interest. However, I have used the bread doll activity each September to kick off the year because it is a great way to get the year started in a positive way.

Problems Encountered

Few new ventures happen without hitches, and the same goes for Senior Buddies. Occasionally, a senior citizen needs to cancel due to an appointment or church activity. Once in a while, a senior feels too ill to join the group. That’s when I use my senior citizen substitute list to call another buddy. However, in the seven years, there have been very few serious problems. What I’ve found is that the senior citizens will actually schedule their appointments around the Senior Buddy Day. That’s why I schedule them about the same day every month, working around school holidays and early dismissals. For our school schedule, the third Friday of the month works best. Of course, we have to divert from that once in awhile, but that date usually works. If a student is absent on buddy day, I call his/her buddy to notify them. But there are generally very few student absences because third graders do not want to miss Senior Buddy Day.

Benefits Received

My initial expectations for Senior Buddies have been surpassed. The community connection along with the joys of creating friendships between senior citizens and third graders has been most rewarding. Students now look to older citizens as the wise sages they really are. Benson and Christian (Writing to Make a Difference) state, “We can structure learning environments that reinforce the ethical and interpersonal lessons we try to build into our assignments. We can make opportunities for students to grow as participants in a group and as citizens of a community” (23). Senior Buddies has accomplished that. Seven years later, it is still growing stronger. As soon as my new third grade students arrive in the fall, they quickly ask, “When does Senior Buddies start?” If that isn’t validation, I don’t know what is.

Work Cited

Benson, Chris, and Scott Christian. Writing to Make a Difference. New York: Teachers College Press, 2002.