Read and Explain Pairs

Athlone Springs Hotel

2nd October 2010

Gabrielle Moran

Read and Explain Pairs

Whenever you give material to students to read, students may read it more effectively in cooperative pairs than individually.

1. Assign students to pairs (one high reader and one low reader in each pair). Tell students-what specific pages you wish them to read. The expected criterionfor success is that both members are able to explain the meaning of the assigned material correctly.

1. The task is to learn the material being read by establishing the meaning of each paragraph and integrating the meaning of the paragraphs. The cooperative goal is for both members to agree on the meaning of each paragraph, formulate a joint summary, and be able to explain its meaning to the teacher.

1. The procedure the student pairs follow is:

1. Read all the headings to get an overview.
2. Both students silently read the first paragraph. Student A is initially the summarizer and Student Be is the accuracy checker. Students rotate the roles after each paragraph.
3. The summarizer summarizes in his or her own words the content of the paragraph to his or her partner.
4. The accuracy checker listens carefully, corrects any misstatements, and adds anything left out. Then he or she tells how the material relates to something they already know.
5. The students move on to the next paragraph, switch roles, and repeat the procedure. They continue until they have read all the assignment. They summarize and agree on the overall meaning of the assigned material. .

1. During the lesson you (the teacher) systematically (a) monitor each reading pair and assist students in following the procedure, (b) ensure individual accountability by randomly asking students to summarise what they have read so far, and (c) remind students that there is intergroup cooperation (whenever it is helpful they may check procedures, answers, and strategies with another group or compare answers with those of another group if they finish early).

Reading Comprehension Triads

Tasks

1. Read material (handout, chapter, poem) and answer the questions.

2. Practice the skill of checking

Roles

Reader: Read through the material slowly, carefully and with expression so that group members never forget it for the rest of their lives.

Recorder: Write down all of groups’ good ideas. Make sure that there are three possible right answers then circle the one that you like best as a group. (use split page methodology LHS - What? One sentence definition, RHS - How? Three different ways to do task or possible answers)

Checker: Ensure that everyone in group is sharing ideas. require other group members to demonstrate comprehension and help diagnose problems. Also act as gatekeeper - before anyone signs make sure that they know / can do it.

Criteria for Success

One set of answers from each group. Everyone must be able to answer all questions correctly.

Each group member must be able to explain the groups’ answers to a member of another group.

Inter-group Cooperation

Whenever it is helpful check answers, strategies with another group

Little Book

This is a way of getting students to learn small pieces of information (e.g. definitions) by teaching one another.

Divide the material to be learned into a number of small parts.

Teach the students to make The Little Book (see last page of this pack)

Preparing the little book for use

Instruct students to

Write the title of the book on the front cover

Write their name on the front cover

Number each page

Place a title (e.g. definition term) on each page

Using the Little Book

Each student is given a slip of paper with a small amount of information.

They learn their piece of information and write it in their own words on the appropriate page in their book. The teacher takes back the slips of paper (to ensure that they explain the information to each other and do not simply copy it)

The students’ task is to fill their book.

Student A teaches student B the piece of information he/she has learned. When student A is satisfied that student B knows it, student B writes it onto the appropriate page in his/her book and student A checks that B knows the information and then initials the page to confirm this.

Student B then does the same.

The students circulate around the class until they have all completed their little book

Notes

It is recommended that students teach their piece of information at least three times before being given permission to teach something they have been taught by a class mate.

Jig Saw

Procedure:

Divide the material to be learned into three parts.

1. Cooperative groups

Place the students in groups of three. Distribute a set of materials to each group. Give each member one part of the set of materials

1. Preparation Pairs

Each student finds someone with the same piece of material. This pair has two tasks:

Learning and becoming an expert on this material

Planning how to teach the material to the other members of their cooperative group.

1. Practice Pairs

Each students find someone who has learned the same material and share ideas on how they plan to teach it to their cooperative groups. These practice pairs’ review each others plans on how to teach. The best ideas are incorporated into both presentations.

1. Cooperative groups

Students return to their cooperative groups and

Teach their area of expertise to the other group members

Learn the material being taught by their group members

1. Evaluation

Assess students’ mastery of ALL the material.

Note Taking Pairs

(For use when encountering new material)

Aim to increase the quality and quantity of the notes taken during a lesson

Students are assigned to pairs, A and B.

Each is asked to take notes on material being taught during the lesson.

Every 10 mins or so the teacher stops the lesson and gets students to share their notes.

A summarises his/her notes to B

B summarises his/her notes to A

Each person must take something for their partner’s notes to improve their own notes

Think Pair Share

(Useful for pre-teaching and revision))

Students individually think about and write down an answer or a set of answers to a question.

Students then pair with a partner.

The pair share answers and arrive at either

a combined answer which is better than the individual ones

a more comprehensive list of terms etc

Twos and Fours

In pairs

Student A interviews Student B.

Student B interviews Student B

The two pairs merge into a four.

Each student tells the other pair what his/her partner told him/her.

An alternative is:

Students do a test in pairs, agree answers and then share their answer with another pair.

Adult Paired Reading

(also called - Read a little talk a little)

This method was developed for professionals and for advanced students reading complex legal, medical and scientific material and journals. Students are paired up into teams.

Step 1. The material to be understood and / or learned is broken up into small sections of approximately 10 lines.

Step 2. Team mates read a section silently. Then they stop and ask each other questions such as:

• What information have we got here?
• What did you get from that?
• What sense do you make of it?

Step 3. Both team-mates share / integrate their understanding of the material.

Step 4. Summary notes may be made if appropriate.

Step 5. The process continues until all the material has been read and understood

Step 6. Each team member may pair up with a member from another team and share their summaries. Each student is required to learn from the other and add something to his/her own summary. They return to their original tem-mate and share their new learning.

Place Mat

Place Mat involves groups of four students working alone and together around a single piece of paper to involve all members at the same time. It is very useful when trying to extract the main ideas or arrive at consensus.

1. Get a sheet of chart paper and have the students divide it as shown.

Each student now has a section of the mat which is his/hers. Students are provided with time to work alone to answer the question on hand – the social skill is respecting silence and privacy.

1. Student then share their thinking with the group using the Round Robin tactic.

Student no 1 reads his list out to his group.

The other group members tick the points which they have and add any new points to their own list – the social skill is listening.

The other students (in turn) then read out their original list and group members tick or add as appropriate. At the end of this round robin any thought which has three ticks means all four students.

Note:

The teacher may decide to allow students the right to pass and either not to share or to share later. Teacher may also decide to introduce the skill of active listening or probing for clarification.

1. Each student now circles two or three ideas and stars the most important issue in his own section

1. Students take turns in calling out their most important issue. The next person writes the key issue in the box in the middle. When finished the group has the key ideas of the group, with each person knowing their voice was heard and respected.

1. The group works to arrive at a consensus as to the main points.

1. Once finished the students can cut their section and either recombine with others from different groups and share thoughts or simply take the section home to answer the question on their own.

If students are struggling to complete their section at the beginning the teacher may introduce the Walk about where students go and look at other groups mats and pick up ideas

The Wisdom of Flying Geese

In the Spring, when you see geese heading North for the Summer or South in the Fall, flying along in "V" formation, you might be interested in knowing what scientists have discovered about why they fly that way. It has been learned that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following.
By flying in "V " formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own.
Basic Truth #1- People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.
Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front.
Basic Truth #2- If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are heading in the same direction as we are.
When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point.
Basic Truth #3- It pays to take turns doing hard jobs, with people or with flying geese.
These geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
Basic Truth #4- We need to be careful what we say when we honk from behind.
Finally, when a goose gets sick, or is wounded by gunshot, and falls out, two geese fall out of formation and follow him down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly or until he is dead, and then they launch out on their own or with another formation until they catch up with their group.
Final Truth- If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other, protect one another and sometimes make new friends who seem to be going in our direction.

Making the Little Book

Take an A4 or A3 piece of paper

1. Fold it in two on the long side

1. Fold in two along the short side

1. Fold the front part in two back on itself

1. Fold the back part back on itself – there should now be an accordion type of movement possible

1. Split the top of the front and the back of the accordion

1. You now have a book with five leaves (one very thick leaf in the middle)

1