Coaching Reading Buddies for Success

Abstract

Reading buddies have been used by teachers for many years. The practice and benefits of having older students reading with younger students on a regular basis has been well documented. This article provides suggestions for teachers as they begin a reading buddy program and includes ideas for meaningful follow‐up activities that will help keep students on task, reinforce the purpose of their time together, and improve the comprehension of both reading buddies. لقد استخدم المدرّسون زملاء القراءة لسنوات كثيرة وقد تم توثيق فوائد القراءة التي يوجد فيها طلاّب أكبر سناً يقرؤون مع طلاّب أصغر سناً بشكل منتظم. وتوفّر هذه المقالة اقتراحات للمدرّسين الذين ينشؤون برنامج زميل القراءة وتشتمل على أفكار لأنشطة متابعة معنوية تجعل الطلاّب منتبهين مركزين على الواجب وتعزّز غرض قضاء وقتهم معاً وتحسّن استيعاب كلا زميلي القراءة. 阅读同伴这种教学实践已被教师采用多年。这种教学实践让年纪较大和年纪教小的学生经常一起阅读。在文献上亦有充分证据证明阅读同伴这种教学实践对学生的效益。本文为刚开始采用阅读同伴教学计划的教师提供建议并说明：如何进行有意义的后续活动以帮助学生专心阅读，如何增强与同伴一起阅读的目的，及如何改进阅读同伴两者的阅读理解能力。 Les enseignants font appel depuis longtemps à des camarades de lecture. On dispose de nombreuses informations sur la pratique et les avantages qu'il y a à ce que des élèves plus âgés lisent de façon régulière avec de jeunes lecteurs. Cet article fournit des suggestions aux enseignants qui démarrent un programme de lecture avec des camarades. Il donne des idées pour assurer un suivi significatif des activités qui aideront à maintenir l'élève au travail, renforcera la raison d'être du temps passé ensemble, et améliorera la compréhension des deux copains qui lisent ensemble. Для развития навыков чтения преподаватели уже многие годы практикуют объединение детей в разновозрастные пары. Существует много свидетельств в пользу подобного метода обучения. Учителя, только начинающие работу по такой программе, найдут в этой статье много полезных советов: по какому принципу подбирать пары; какие задания помогут ученикам сознательно выполнять общую задачу; как сделать, чтобы от проведенного ими вместе времени была польза; что будет способствовать более глубокому пониманию прочитанного обоими детьми. Los maestros han usado amigos lectores por muchos años. La práctica y los beneficios de tener estudiantes mayores leyendo regularmente con estudiantes menores han sido muy bien documentados. Este artículo ofrece sugerencias para maestros que van a empezar programas de amigos lectores, e incluye ideas para actividades de poslectura que hacen sentido y que ayudarán a mantener a los estudiantes enfocados en la tarea, reforzarán el propósito del tiempo que están juntos, y mejorarán la comprensión de ambos amigos lectores.

Impact of the Reading Buddies Program on Reading Level and Attitude Towards Reading

“…There have been a number of studies on tutoring programs for reading skills. Many of these programs took place in schools and run throughout the school year (Block & Dellamura, 2001;Burns, Senesac, & Silberglitt, 2008;Fitzgerald, 2001;Gattis et al, 2001;LaGue & Wilson, 2010;Marious, 2000;Paterson & Elliott, 2006;Theurer & Schmidt, 2008;Vadasy, Jenkins, Antil, Wayne, & O'Connor, 1997). Several programs specifically targeted students at risk of reading failure (Burns et al, 2008;Fitzgerald, 2001;Gattis et al, 2001;LaGue & Wilson, 2010;Paterson & Elliott, 2006;Vadasy et al, 1997).…”

“…The tutors also impacted the effectiveness of the programs. The age of tutors does not appear to be an important factor: programs with volunteers who were peers (LaGue & Wilson, 2010), older students (Block & Dellamura, 2001;Marious, 2000;Paterson & Elliot, 2006;Theurer & Schmidt, 2008), college students (Fitzgerald, 2001), adults (Jalongo, 2005), or a mix of community volunteers (Gattis et al, 2010;Vadasy et al, 1997), all showed improvements in students' reading. In all of these studies, tutors received some form of training.…”

“…2). Though not studied in depth, Theurer and Schmidt (2008) noted that while some of the "fifth-grade buddies were naturals and interacted comfortably with the first graders, others seemed uncertain and tentative, not quite knowing what was expected of them" (p. 261). They integrated training on choosing books, reading strategies, and interpersonal skills into the program.…”

Linking reading and writing with picture books: A literacy buddy approach in rural Taiwan

“…This study was primarily influenced by previous studies demonstrating the benefits of buddy reading (e.g., Friedland & Truesdell, 2006;Kreuger & Braun, 1998;Mak et al, 2008) and reading picture books (e.g., Louie & Sierschynski, 2015;Sheu, 2008;Sun, 2015). To begin with, buddy reading is a reading approach that involves students reading books to a partner who may be younger or at a lower reading proficiency level (e.g., Mak et al, 2008;Shegar, 2009;Theurer & Schmidt, 2008). It does not need to follow a standard implementation format (Shegar, 2009), which gives teachers considerable flexibility in adapting this instructive activity for their students based on their curricula and students' reading proficiency.…”

“…It was limited to 3 days because a short-term, intensive camp was technically more feasible in the target school during the winter vacation. To plan the camp and its curriculum, the researchers referred to studies on buddy reading (e.g., Friedland & Truesdell, 2004;Kreuger & Braun, 1998;Mak et al, 2008;Shegar, 2009;Theurer & Schmidt, 2008) and included two main pedagogical stages, buddy reading and buddy writing (see Figure 1), which involved nine lessons in total (see Table 1). All of the activities were implemented mainly by the first author, and the second author and another teaching assistant acted as student supervisors, circulating in the classroom to monitor and assist the students most of the time.…”