November 27, 2012
Paired reading is a technique to improve literacy which has really come to the fore in the past few years. It involves a sort of buddy system where a fluent reader is paired with a less fluent reader to improve their literacy. If the less fluent reader has trouble with a word or is struggling with something in the piece then their 'buddy' can jump in and give them a hand. The technique has been shown to be incredibly effective.
This year a paired reading program was introduced to De La Salle by Mr Kirwan. The program involves First Years being paired up with Transition Years. There are eleven pairs currently reading together. We started in October and as with all of these things it took us a couple of reading sessions to really get up and running. At this stage everyone is comfortable with their partner and progress is already starting to be made. So far feedback has been good from both the First Years and the Transition Years.
Due to the flexibility of their schedule the Transition Year students are ideal for this project and most have found the process to be extremely rewarding. Paired reading is definitely a shared experience and it is almost as gratifying for the more fluent readers to have been a positive influence on someone's literacy as it is for the less fluent readers to actually improve their ability. The future of this program is bright and it could benefit many more Lasallians in the future.
Jason Flynn, Transition Year
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