Tips on How to Teach Students to Be Coaches During Paired Reading
(from a workshop with Dottie Hall)

Reading Comprehension Posters
  • Initially you use your better readers as coaches. 
  • Have partners from another grade level that sometimes help.
  • The more modeling you do in whole group,  the better able the children are to understand and use the lessons in coaching.
  • Coach students to use 4 basic strategies and to follow each one 1-4 in sequence when coaching others. 
1. Say all the letters actually spelling the word aloud. More than 50% of the time the child will get the word using this strategy. (D. Hall)
2. Use the letters and picture clues. Make sure what the picture says matches the letters in the word you do not know.
3. Look for words that rhyme with the words.
4. Keep your finger on the word and finish the sentence. Pretend you are playing Guess the Covered Word. Ask yourself what sounds right...will it fit with the letters... Use all the information you would use when playing this game.

The key is for the teacher to model...model...model.. before expecting little ones to do it as coaches.