Each member of the teacher-assigned pair takes turns being "Coach" and "Player." These pairs are changed regularly, and over a period of time as students work. Thus, all students have the opportunity to be "coaches" and "players."
Note: It is important for teachers to monitor and support students as they work together.
The stronger reader begins this activity as the "Player" and reads orally for 5 minutes. The "Coach" follows along and corrects any mistakes when necessary.
The pair switch roles and the weaker reader becomes the "Player." The "Player" rereads the same passage for the next 5 minutes and the "Coach" provides corrective feedback. One point is earned for each correct sentence read (optional).
After each partner has read the selection, teachers may wish to include the following additional activities:
Story retelling - students work together to retell the story by cooperatively providing input and correcting mistakes
Summarization - students support each other in developing a summary of the passage in 10 words or less
Writing - students write down the summary they developed and/or responses to the following:
the who or what of the paragraph;
the most important thing about who or what; and
the main idea