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Classroom Strategies
Paragraph Shrinking
Paragraph shrinking is an activity developed as part of the Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS). The paragraph shrinking strategy allows each student to take turns reading, pausing, and summarizing the main points of each paragraph. Students provide each other with feedback as a way to monitor comprehension.
Why use paragraph shrinking?
- It helps students develop their reading comprehension skills.
- It allows each student to take turns reading, pausing, and summarizing the main points of each paragraph.
| When to use: | Before reading | During reading | After reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| How to use: | Individually | With small groups | Whole class setting |
Note: Paragraph shrinking was developed as one of the Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development. Because of that, the directions below describe a procedure where students work with a peer to complete the strategy.
How to use paragraph shrinking
- Choose the assigned reading and introduce the text to the students.
- Create pairs within the classroom by identifying which children require help on specific skills and who the most appropriate children are to help other children learn those skills.
- Model the procedure to ensure that students understand how to use the strategy.
- Have each member of the teacher-assigned pair take turns being "Coach" and "Player."
- Ask each student to read aloud for 5 minutes without rereading a text. After each paragraph, students should stop to summarize the main points of the reading. Ask students to then summarize the following information:
- The who or what of the paragraph
- The most important thing about who or what
- The main idea
- Ask students to state the main idea in 10 words or less which will encourage them to monitor comprehension while taking turns reading.
- Award each pair points when the above goals of the strategy are met.
Click here for a concise routine for teaching paragraph summarization.
Watch two students demonstrate paragraph summarization in this PALS video.
Download a blank template
- Paragraph shrinking cards (162K PDF)
Children's books to use with this strategy
Annie and Simon
Fiction/easy
Talkative Annie and her patient older brother, Simon, share small adventures on a summer day.
Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman
Biography/picture book
Two nerdy teenagers turn into heroes when they begin they craft them. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster are still remembered for their now classic creation, Superman.
Lady Liberty
Nonfiction
Readers are introduced to the Statue of Liberty from many perspectives from both sides of the ocean
Differentiated instruction
for second language learners, students of varying reading skill, and younger learners
- Have students work together to write out the main points of the reading.
- Change the pairs regularly so that all students have the opportunity to be "coaches" and "players."
- Monitor and support students as they work together.
See the research that supports this strategy
Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L., & Burish, P. (2000). Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies: An Evidence-Based Practice to Promote Reading Achievement. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 15(2), 85-91.
Fuchs, L., Fuchs, D., & Kazdan, S. (1999). Effects of peer-assisted learning strategies on high school students with serious reading problems. Remedial and Special Education, 20(5), 309-318.
Saenz, L., Fuchs, L., & Fuchs, D. (2005) Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies for English Language Learners with Learning Disabilities. Exceptional Children, (71).
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development. (n.d.). Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies. Retrieved 2008, January 21, from http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/pals/
Comments
reading paragraphs and quesions games
Posted by: arfa shaik | September 08, 2010 10:14 PM