READING P-Peer A-Assisted L-Learning S-Strategies Overview by Gail Gilmartin

What is PALS? A class-wide peer tutoring program Students work in pairs or triads to practice and strengthen reading fluency and comprehension.

Why Use Peer Tutoring? Increasing diversity in classrooms Broad range of achievement levels within classrooms Increasing need to address variety of individual needs through differentiation

Important Features of PALS Reciprocal roles (Coaches and Readers) Structured Activities Individualized More time engaged on task Includes ALL students Opportunities for success for all students Encourages positive peer interactions Practical AND effective Opportunities to monitor student progress

PALS Research Statistically significant differences between students who participated in PALS vs Control group Received ‘Best Practices’ status from Department of Education

PALS 2-6 Experimental Results Improvement in Reading: Words read correctly in 3 minutes

PALS 2-6 Experimental Results Improvement in Reading Comprehension: Number Questions Answered Correctly

ROLES: Coaches and Readers Provides prompts and helps ‘Reader’ Readers Reads and accepts help from ‘Coach’ Partnerships rotate every 3-4 weeks PALS is conducted 3 times a week for 35 minutes

PALS Timeline Week 1 Weeks 2-4 Weeks 5-17 Student Training Partner Reading with Retell Paragraph Shrinking Weeks 5-17 Prediction Relay

Required Materials for PALS Teacher Materials Timer PALS Rules Student Assignment Chart Scripts Command Card PALS Video of lessons for students to watch (to model what PALS LOOKS and SOUNDS like)

Required Materials for PALS Student Materials Book Question Card Point Sheet Pencil Coach & Reader Folders

Teacher’s PALS Duties Assign Pairs and Teams Select Text of Appropriate Difficulty Monitor Student’s Reading and PALS Behavior Assist ‘Coaches’ as needed

Absent Students and Uneven Pairs If two students are absent, their partners may be paired for the day. If the two students are in different books, the pair should use the weaker reader’s book. Allow a ‘high-performing student’ to read independently. Form a triad

Reading Triads Assign each of the students to be the coach during one of the three reading activities. If a permanent triad is necessary because you have an uneven number of students, designate one as a ‘floater.’ Never place learning disabled or extremely low readers in a triad for more than one day, if at all possible.

Selecting Text of Appropriate Difficulty Each pair may read from different texts. Text should be at weaker reader’s level-no more than 10 errors per 100 words. Determine page numbers or stories to be read ahead of time.

Monitoring Student’s Reading Provide positive feedback Ensure correct PALS implementation Ensure students are using proper correction procedures Ensure cooperation between partnerships Award BONUS points Listen to EACH student Listen for FLUENCY Listen for quality of main idea statements

PALS RULES Talk to only your partner (or Mrs. G) and only about PALS Keep your voice low Cooperate with your partner Try your best

Partner Reading Conducted for 11-12 minutes Stronger reader reads aloud for 5 minutes Weaker reader reads the same text for next 5 minutes Weaker reader retells the story for 1-2 minutes Readers should read quickly, accurately, and with expression Coaches listen, correct mistakes, and mark points (earn 1 point for every sentence read correctly and 10 points for correct retell)

Correcting Errors There are four types of mistakes to listen for: Saying the word wrong Leaving out a word Adding a word Waiting longer than 4 seconds Use Correction Card to help with correction procedures

Demonstration and Practice Coach and Reader read and mark points Coach makes corrections, if needed Reader retells story using Question Card Both Coach and Reader are engaged at all times!

Paragraph Shrinking Conducted for 10 minutes Stronger reader reads new text aloud for 5 minutes, summarizing each paragraph as they read Weaker reader reads new text aloud for 5 minutes, summarizing each paragraph Coach listens, corrects mistakes and marks points

Paragraph Shrinking After each paragraph, using the Question Card, the Reader : Identifies the most important ‘Who’ or ‘What’ (1 point) Identifies the most important thing about the ‘Who’ or ‘What’ (1 point) States the main idea of the paragraph in 10 words or less (1 point) Training includes identifying paragraphs and the main idea

Prediction Relay First 5 minutes- using the Question Card, the Stronger Reader: Make a logical prediction (1 point) Reads half of a page (1 point) Checks the prediction (1 point) Makes a new prediction Continues to read Second 5 minutes- using the Question Card, the Weaker Reader: Make a logical prediction ( 1 point)