Peer Assisted Learning Strategy (PALS)   Evidence-Based Practice!
PALS is a supplemental peer-tutoring program in which student pairs use a structured set of activities that incorporate highly structured activities that have been demonstrated to improve students’ learning, reciprocal peer tutoring (i.e., during the session, each student in the pair serves as a coach and as a reader), the use of scripted prompts, frequent verbal interaction and feedback between the coach and reader, and a competitive game format

Teachers first train their students in PALS procedures.  The designation of tutoring pairs and the skill assignment to each pair are based on the teacher's judgment of student needs and abilities. Then, student pairs alternate their roles as tutor and tutee.

PALS grades 2-6 consist of three reading activities:

• Partner Reading:  The higher-performing student reads first because this student will serve as a model for the less-proficient student, he or she should read carefully but quickly and with expression.  Then the lower-performing student reads the same text.  By listening before reading, this student has had an opportunity to take note of any hard words and so is more likely to be comfortable with the text and to read it fluently.  Then, the lower-performing reader retells the story.  

• Paragraph Shrinking: The higher-performing student reads, beginning where the second reader left off in Partner Reading and stopping at the end of each paragraph. At the end of each paragraph, the higher-performing reader identifies the main character (i.e., the who or what) and summarizes the main idea in 10 words or fewer. After switching roles, the lower-performing student picks up where the higher-performing reader left off in the text. At the end of each paragraph, the lower-performing reader identifies the main character (i.e., the who or what) and summarizes the main idea in 10 words or fewer.

• Prediction Relay: Beginning with the stronger reader, the reader makes a prediction about what will happen on the next half page.  Then the reader reads the half page and determines whether the prediction was correct.  The students then switch roles. 

Each strategy is taught explicitly through discussion, modeling, guided practice, and independent practice. 

Recommended Dosage:  Pairs work together three or four times per week during 30-35 minute peer-tutoring sessions for reading (WWC: PALS).

Mnemonics Promising Practice!
Mnemonics devices are structured ways to help people remember and recall information. Mnemonic instruction combines presentation of important information with explicit strategies for recall. It is most commonly employed in areas where individuals are required to recall large amounts of unfamiliar information or to make associations between two or more units of information at recall. Mnemonics can be applied to any domain requiring recall of information.