PALS: A Reading Strategy for High School
Wrap Up
PALS is a research-validated approach for increasing students’ reading performance. For students in high school who are struggling with reading, it can be used to increase fluency and comprehension skills. Through reciprocal peer tutoring, students have the opportunity to practice reading and to receive immediate corrective feedback.
Listen as Devin Kearns summarizes PALS (time: 0:52).
Transcript: Devin Kearns, MA
PALS 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. 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 points system allows students to feel a sense of success about what they’re doing and to be acknowledged for their hard work.
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. Garcia look for in a reading approach?
What types of activities can Mrs. Garcia use to increase her students’ reading skills?
How can Mrs. Garcia implement these activities?
When you are ready, proceed to the Assessment section.
