Hi. I teach Title 1. We have one 1st grade class that has a lot of struggling readers. They are considering having us teach PALS for this section of 1st grade. Does anyone do this? Is it effective? Thanks in advance.
We use PALs to assess, but it is a really poor assessment. In my opinion, it focuses too much on spelling lists and word lists, and very little on actual reading. I would suggest just doing guided reading with these students... and lots of it! I really like Jan Richardson's plan. We primarily use her plans at my school, which is also T1 (the classroom teachers and specialists both use them).
We use both Math and Reading PALS. In second grade, the PALS program is a bit different from the K and 1st program in which it's more focused on reading for fluency and retelling. The 1st grade program is more focused on letters and sounds. It's difficult to find time to incorporate the program, but I can see it being helpful. I like Math PALS more than the Reading PALS, but I have a coworker who is opposite and likes Reading more than Math.
To which PALS are you referring? In Virginia (and many other places), it is the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening. There are other reading programs called "PALS" of one kind or another. PALS Math and PALS Reading usually refers to Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies. I think some posters are talking about the PALS assessment, and others are talking about the learning strategies. The same thing with STARS -- there is more than one reading program that goes by that acronymn. Just thought you might want to make sure you are comparing apples to apples.
Haha, thanks for clearing that up! I live in my little bubble and just think of the PALS here (obviously I am a UVA grad, where it was created). We use it to assess at the beginning of the year and end of the year, and we get some funding for interventions through the program.
I use Teacher Directed PALS, which I believe is a different intervention that the peer-assisted PALS. It focuses on letter sounds, sight words, segmenting, and fluency. I don't know the name of the publisher off-hand, but I can look this week if you want.
