PALS Reading Activities Grades 2-6

[Norah Hooper]

the site below links to a very good description of the PALS reading program, which is different from the phonological awareness screening that is given in Virginia. This is a program for older readers that involves partner reading, summarizing, etc. The prodecures and very specific and well researched. The module includes some video clips and statements from the developers to listen to. If you are looking for a good way to help your students help each other learn to read, this may be it! Let us know what you think.

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/pals26/chalcycle.htm

[CS]

I really like this program. I think that students can learn a lot from each other and that this would be a great confidence builder in struggling readers. By pairing the students up, the struggling reader can see that everyone has difficulty in learning something at some level. Also, students know how to talk to one another in a way that their friends understand. So they can sometimes explain things easier than an adult can. Finally, anytime students have the opportunitie to work with a partner, they are building skills that will be helpful in life such as working with others at work, cooperative decision making and problem solving. These are skills needed beyond the classroom and should be practiced often. With this program, the students finally get to practice them with reading.