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 26th. See you all there!
Best Regards,
Jesse Jack
