PALS: A Reading Strategy for Grades 2–6
Wrap Up
PALS is a research-validated approach for increasing students’ reading performance. Through reciprocal peer tutoring, students have the opportunity to practice reading and to receive immediate corrective feedback.
Listen as Devin Kearns summarizes PALS (time: 1:09).
Transcript: Devin Kearns, MA
PALS for grades 2–6 is a great way for students to improve their reading comprehension skills. It includes Partner Reading, which is a great fluency building activity. It includes Retell and Paragraph Shrinking, which are great for improving students’ recall and students’ ability to summarize information. It includes Prediction Relay, which is a great way for students to improve their prediction skills. In total, PALS is a great way for students to improve a lot of the skills they’re going to need throughout elementary school and going into middle school. It’s structured so that they have a clear idea of what to do all the time, and the activities aren’t difficult for them to do, but they feel a sense of accomplishment because they are able to use the text to make meaning in ways that often they haven’t really experienced before. And it’s also really reinforcing. The point system allows the students to feel a sense of success about what they’re doing. And having teams and being able to announce a winning team and a second-place team every week gives everyone a chance to be acknowledged for their hard work, which is really exciting for everyone.
Revisiting Initial Thoughts
Think back to your responses to the Initial Thoughts questions at the beginning of this module. After working through the Perspectives & Resources, do you still agree with those responses? If not, what aspects about them would you change?
What characteristics might Mrs. Nash look for in a reading approach?
What types of activities can Mrs. Nash use to increase her students’ reading skills?
How can Mrs. Nash implement these activities?
When you are ready, proceed to the Assessment section.
