SK Bukit Kenak

Mark Dodge, the ELC in the Jabi Zone of the Besut-Setiu Cluster in Terengganu has initiated the PAL Programme at SK Bukit Kenak. Teacher Tajul Ashikin Bin Jurid helping some students understand some new vocabulary while reading.

SJKC Pa Yai, Kluang

This enthusiastic GB MR Jee was the pioneer of PAL in Johor having one of the very first programmes in the state.  It  has grown into a forest of peer learning strategies.

The effects of a 15-week PALS program were assessed in a sample of 120 students from 20 classrooms in grades 1 through 3 in this school and based on student achievement we saw signifying increases with relatively high average reading scores within a high proportion of students whose mother tongue in not English.  Within Non-PAL groups (average-achieviers). Pre-test analyses revealed significant lower differences in reading Assessment and abilities

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SK Dato Onn Jaafar

Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) is not just about a reading programme or reading activity implemented two to four times per week. It is designed to complement, not replace, existing curricula. PALS supplements traditional peer tutoring with instructional principles and practices. Teachers identify and pair children who require help with specific skills ("players") with children who are the most appropriate to help other children learn those skills ("coaches").

The pairs of students are changed regularly, so, over a period of time, the students work on a variety of skills and all students have the opportunity to be "coaches" and "players." Approximately 13 to 15 pairs of students are created in the classroom, and each pair is geared to the individual student's needs (as opposed to a single, teacher-directed activity meant for all students, which may not address the specific problems that children face). The PALS peer-tutoring strategy enables teachers to circulate around the classroom and observe students, providing feedback and remedial lessons where necessary.

    Kluang -Timur 

                     Peer Assisted Learning - PAL

Peer Reading:

Here in Kluang we are putting the knowledge that we recently obtained to introduce Peer Reading 

programmes to our schools.

So what is Peer reading?

Paired reading is a research-based fluency strategy used with readers who lack fluency. In this strategy, students read aloud to each other. When using partners, more fluent readers can be paired with less fluent readers, or children who read at the same level can be paired to reread a story they have already read.That's it in a nutshell. We held a workshop to explore the merits of Peer Reading and to allow teachers to feel confident to use the technique with their students. The workshop also covered phonemic awareness, phonics and reading comprehension. All of these components are critical when trying to improve reading skills and allowing students to enjoy reading

Students practising reading comprehension from a simple passage.

We have been really encouraged by the response to the peer reading programme and have been able to negotiate and schedule weekly slots in the time table. The older students are really enjoying being the teachers and the younger students are having more exposure to reading in a 1:1 scenario.We have also started using this with students of the same age in the same class.The teachers have begun to do peer reading when students have finished their work. This keeps everyone on task and increases proficiency

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                   Students practising reading comprehension from a simple passage.

 Check out the following link for more information and ideas for carrying out peer reading in your own classrooms.

http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/paired_reading

SK Bandar Dungun

Briana Rogers working Dungun TRG has assisted teachers in SK Bandar Dungun implement the PAL program in their school.

Students from years 1-4 were paired up and had FUN reading. 

SK Panchor

Patrick Shelver, working in Sikamat, Seremban, negeri Sembilan is running the PAL programme in SK Panchor.

The SK Panchor teachers are using Peer Reading in their regular reading lessons as an integral part of the lesson.

SK Sikamat

Patrick Shelver, working in Sikamat, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan is running the PAL programme in SK Sikamat.

The SK Sikamat teachers are using Peer Reading in their regular reading lessons as an integral part of the lesson.

SK Paroi

Patrick Shelver is working in SK Sikamat, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan is running the PAL programme at SK Paroi.

The SK Paroi teachers are using Peer Reading in their regular reading lessons as an integral part of the lesson.

SK Bandar Mentakab

Martina Gilmartin working in Temerloh, Pahang is running the PAL - Reading program in her schools. Below are some pictures from her program in her SK Bandar Mentakab school.

Martina Gilmartin helped her mentee: Mr. Veera institute a peer reading program in her SK Bandar Mentakab school. Students improve their English reading skills by reading storybooks to each other and then together. She has been running the PAL program in her school the last few months and has really seen some notable improvement in the students' performances. They have gained confidence in their reading skills, improved their pronunciation skills, and have an overall good attitude towards their PAL Reading classes.

Please click the link below to visit the Temerloh Cluster's blog and find out what's going on in Temerloh.
Temerloh's blog

SK Bangau

TELL2 Mentor Jimmy Ma is working in Temerloh, Pahang and can be seen below running the PAL - Reading at his SK Bangau school.

Jimmy Ma did a PAL-Reading class in his SK Bangau class with his mentor: Suhana. Students were very happy and willing to take turns reading to each other. Many groups went through 2 or 3 books during the class. Jimmy's mentee, Suhana, plans to conduct more PAL - Reading classes and monitor them to identify any improvements to her students in their English skills.

Please click the link below to visit the Temerloh Cluster's blog and find out what's going on in Temerloh.
Temerloh's blog

Reading together at SJK(C) Sungai Jan in Jerantut, Pahang

The TELL2 mentor at Pulau Mansok sub-cluster, Stephen-Peter Jinks and teachers Lilly and Nuurul from SJK(C) Sungai Jan combined classes in the library to create a peer assisted learning environment for the pupils.

Pupils from Year 3 and Year 2 reading together
in the library at SJK(C) Sungai Jan.

We have implemented the PAL programme in two different ways at SJK(C) Sungai Jan. Firstly we took the Year 2 pupils in to the library and paired low-achieving readers with more confident peers. The atmosphere was more playful than we would have liked, but reading did take place and the teacher took advantage of the students' reading by introducing their NILAM books for them to fill in as well. The next time we took Year 2 to the library, we paired them with Year 3 students. The younger students became more engaged with the programme as a result of being paired with an older peer. Some of the Year 3 pupils excelled as reading mentors, but overall the noise levels in the library were too high for there to be a lot of reading going on. The teachers and mentor are working on new ways to introduce peer learning to the pupils at SJK(C) Sungai Jan.

Watch this space!

SK Teh in Jerantut, Pahang

Early every Wednesday morning the SK Teh English Panel teachers and the Pulau Mansok TELL2 mentor, Stephen-Peter Jinks, gather all the pupils from Year 1 to 6 into the the yard to read.

"Thank You BMS"
Pupils at SK Teh show of a selection of books donated to the
PAL programme by the British Malaysia Society.

The PAL programme has been running every Wednesday at SK Teh since the 9th of July. It is extremely popular with the pupils who come to school early in order to participate. For the first session, the teachers paired the older with the younger students, and suggested that the younger students to read to the older students who were to listen and help. During other sessions, the teachers and mentor have asked the older students to read and the younger students to listen and enjoy. we have also held 'free-style' and silent reading sessions. All the sessions have been enjoyable, and even though we suggest a particular style of peer assisted learning, pupils are free to enjoy the books in any way they like.

SJK(T) Merlimau

Sonia Makhetha working in Merlimau, Jasin, Melaka is running the PAL Programme in SJKT Merlimau.

The main focus of this PAL programme is for students to learn sight words in order to improve their reading.

Currently there are 10 students from Year 1 and 2 who are involved.

Every pair has a reading pack which consists of: a collection of graded readers, sight word flashcards, a sight word tracker and a reading diary.

The reading sessions are held twice a week for 20 minutes before school begins.

So far, things are going well and students seem to be enjoying it. Some students are zipping ahead, others need more time, but overall there has been some noted improvements. 

Depending on the success of this starter group, we plan to expand the project to include more students.

SJKT Jasin Lalang

Greetings from SJKT Jasin Lalang,

Here in Jasin, Melaka we've started a peer assisted reading program. The aim of the program is to help bridge the gap between the strong students and slower students in years 2 and 3. During these years, we see the gap widen between the faster and slower. The slower students need extra attention to keep up; we want to prevent the slower students from becoming too frustrated (and giving up and/or getting further behind). Teaching basic reading skills enables the target students to be able to follow along much easier in class and will also increase their independence. Building confidence and self-esteem will also be an objective of this program. All of this will be done using fun, student centered activities.

How the program works: Teachers run an initial diagnostic test and select participating students based on results. Students are then put into small groups; strong level two students are matched with slower year 2 & 3 students in groups of 3-5. Level two students receive training on how to properly mentor and facilitate learning activities.

The program centers on phonetically progressed readers. Each week the target students will hopefully graduate to a new reader in the series. The curriculum consists of a 5 day cycle with each session 20 minutes in length:

Day 1: This day focuses on phoneme introduction. Mentees make word family flowers with mentors and paste them into their books. The mentors practice the pronunciation with mentees and read the story for the first time.

Day 2: Mentees review the new sounds by segmenting and blending. The focus of this day’s session is word recognition and pronunciation. Mentors facilitate the first activity called ‘Smack It.’ In this activity, one student will start the game by reading a word while the others smack the word card on the table. The first student to smack the word takes a turn as the reader.

Day 3: Phonemes and words are reviewed again quickly before the activity starts. The aim for day 3 includes form and vocabulary meaning. Mentors ask mentees to spell the new words with mini whiteboards. The mentees then match the words to the correct flashcard on the table.

Day 4: This day starts off just as the previous few as the mentors will review the words and phoneme sounds before beginning the day’s activity. The aim on day 4 is reading comprehension. Mentees receive a series of pictures and sentences from the story. They must match and sequence the two to form the entire story. They will then read the story together to the mentor.

Day 5: This day reviews all 3 activities. Each group will cycle through the activities while the teachers call students up one at a time. The students will read the story to the teacher and the teacher will determine if the student graduates to the next reader or stays on the same reader for another week.

The target students are encouraged to take their readers everywhere with them and read them in their spare time. Any good learning habits are praised and rewarded with stickers on a chart. Students can receive stickers for reading independently, reading to mom/dad, always bringing book, etc.

Each sticker represents a ‘guess’ towards winning a jar of candy. This merit system is in place to help praise and motivate the students.

So far the implementation of the program has not gone exactly has drawn up, but that was to be expected with tight schedules and other conflicting obligations. Nonetheless, the program is doing what it has intended and that is improving reading skills.

I will keep you posted on the program’s progress and report findings during the presentation on August 26^th. See you all there!

Best Regards,

Jesse Jack

SJK (C) Tanah Merah

Dora Parr, Lukuk, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan is doing a Peer Reading Programme for students in Year 2.