PALS

I recently earned a Master's degree in Reading Instruction which has been so, incredibly useful for me as a Kindergarten teacher! In one of my classes, we were introduced to a strategy called PALS that I want to share with you today.

PALS = Peer Assisted Learning Strategies - a.k.a. students helping each other to learn.

I never thought that I would allow Kindergartners to play teacher and help each other learn before I learned about and tried out PALS, but now it is one of my favorite ways to work on reading skills. 

Before giving my students an activity to work on together, I model how PALS is going to work. I ask a volunteer to be my partner and I have him or her read aloud to me (they could be reading letters of the alphabet, simple sentences containing sight words, or more advanced text depending on grade level and reading ability of the students). While he or she is reading I say "great job!" at the end of each sentence. If he or she makes a mistake I say "Stop! Try Again". Then, I ask the student volunteer to listen while I read and give me feedback. He or she tells me that I am doing a great job and corrects my mistakes by telling me to stop and try again (which they all find hilarious for some reason). After modeling the voice level (WHISPER) that I would like them to use, I assign pals and pass out the reading passage for the day. 

Today we did a fun Halloween reading passage that began with very simple sentences such as, "P is for Pirate". Once they showed me that they could handle that, I let them do the next page with passages that were a bit longer and said things like, "P is for Pumpkin. I see 5 pumpkins". They spent about ten minutes taking turns reading these to their pals and all really enjoyed not only getting to read, but also having the chance to correct and give feedback to their partners. 

I got today's reading passages from this awesome Freebie made by Common Core Connection.