Journal of the Effective Schools Project, Volume 18, 2011 Page: 13
79 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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service teacher in many of the
aforementioned tasks is the Book
Buddy Program. In collaboration
with several of the Stephenville
Independent School District
(SISD) elementary schools, pre-
service teachers begin to develop
the skills needed to become suc-
cessful teachers. For example,
one student intern stated, "Book
Buddies helped me prepare to be
a teacher by giving me time to
spend with students. Spending
one-on-one time with a small
group of students highlighted the
importance of getting to "know
thy student. " Practicing phono-
logical strategies was also a
plus. Practice makes per-
fect" (Barrett, personal commu-
nication, October 14, 2010).
As participants in the Book Bud-
dies program, TSU pre-service
teachers provide reading instruc-
tion to public school students who
need extra support in literacy ac-
quisition. The TSU mentors meet
with students in one of SISD's ele-
mentary schools for one hour each
week for the course of a semester.
During these tutoring sessions,
TSU students and their tutees work
on phonemic awareness, phonics,
fluency, vocabulary, and compre-
hension. In addition to their tutor-
ing, Tarleton students collaborate
with individual classroom teachers
to create lessons that reinforce the
skills that the tutees need to ac-
quire twenty-first century literacy
skills. The pre-service teachers
create and share a dialogue journal
with their book buddy. The shared
journaling builds a bond between
the teacher and buddy that allows
both to learn from the community
service project.
The Book Buddy program has
goals aligned with pre-service fieldexperiences and service learning;
which are both part of the Tarleton
philosophy of effective teacher
training. The goals of the Book
Buddy community service project
include:
a) Expose pre-service teachers
and public school students to
the National Reading Panel's
Five Essential Reading Com-
ponents (phonemic awareness,
phonics, fluency, vocabulary,
and comprehension) and
bridge the gap from theory to
practice;
b) To immerse both pre-service
students and public school
students in language and liter-
acy development, combined
with a range of delightful ac-
tivities and learning experi-
ences;
c) Create enthusiasm for literacy
learning for both pre-service
teachers and public school
students; and
d) Increase the self-confidence
and self-efficacy of pre-
service teachers and their abil-
ities to teach reading and ad-
dress reading difficulties in
young children.
When asked what skills young
students were lacking, a counselor
at one of the SISD elementary
schools said that students needed
additional assistance with several
of the areas tested on the Texas
Primary Reading Inventory
(TPRI). After disaggregating the
data from the TPRI, the school
counselor came up with a list of
skills that would benefit students
the most. Based on this data, Tar-
leton pre-service teachers are in-
structed and asked to work with
kindergarten and first grade stu-
dents in the following areas: pho-
nemic awareness, phonics, fluen-
cy, comprehension, and vocabu-In addition to their
tutoring, Tarleton
students collaborate with
individual classroom
teachers to create lessons
that reinforce the skills
that the tutees need to
acquire twenty-first
century literacy skills.13
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Tarleton State University. Effective Schools Project. Journal of the Effective Schools Project, Volume 18, 2011, periodical, 2011; Stephenville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth201694/m1/17/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Tarleton State University.