Encore, encore
By Doug Buehl,
Madison East High School teacher
October 1997
Reviewing in pairs helps comprehension
“Could you run that by me again?” As mature learners, we know
that understanding is not a one-step process. Often, we need to revisit
what we are learning to make sure we “have it.” Therefore we
return for a second look, to clear up any uncertainties and to mentally
reconstruct the material so that it personally makes sense to us. Reflecting,
clarifying, and paraphrasing are automatic responses during our learning.
In contrast, many students cling to the habit of taking only one trip
though new material, whether they truly understand it or not. They may
become preoccupied with completing an assignment rather than pondering
the meaning of a passage. As a result, their “trip” through
the textbook becomes a race to get done. Homework may be accounted for,
but these students close the book with only a vague notion of what they
just read.
The Strategy
Classroom strategies that encourage review and reflection help students
to better understand and remember what they are learning. Teachers can
enhance clarifying and paraphrasing skills through a variety of paired
review activities.
Step 1: Begin by creating interactive settings for students to
practice “summing up” what they have read or learned. Costa
(1997) advocates the Paired Verbal Fluency strategy. Students take turns
reviewing with a partner what they learned from a reading, a video, a
class presentation, or a discussion.
For example, students in a World History class have completed reading
a textbook section on the ancient Greeks. Pair the students and have the
partners determine which will be “Reviewer A” and “Reviewer
B.” Next outline the ground rules for the activity, which consists
of three phases. During phase 1, “Reviewer A” begins by recounting
something that he or she remembers or found interesting in the chapter.
“Reviewer A” must talk steadily for 60 seconds while the partner
listens. After 60 seconds, the teacher calls out, “Switch,”
and the students exchange roles. But “Reviewer B” cannot repeat
anything that was recalled by “Reviewer A.”
When “B” has talked for 60 seconds, the teacher calls, “Switch”
again to start phase 2. This time “A” has 40 seconds to continue
the review, once more with the stipulation that nothing stated by either
partner can be repeated. Another switch and “B” gets a 40-second
turn. The last phase follows the same pattern, with each reviewer getting
20 seconds to recap.
The Paired Verbal Fluency strategy is a fast-paced way for students to
summarize their learning. The “no-repeat” rule forces them to
dig a little deeper into the information and mandates that the partners
listen to each other during the review, rather than mentally rehearse
what they might say when their turn comes up. The time limits can be adjusted
to fit the needs of the students, and when the activity has been completed,
confusions or questions that surfaced during the review can be addressed.
Allowing students access to their notes or textbook during the review
is optional.
Step 2: As students become comfortable retelling what they learned,
activities which engage them in paraphrasing and clarifying content can
be planned. The Reflect/Reflect/Reflect strategy (Costa, 1997) involves
breaking the class into triads. The members of the triad take turns assuming
the roles of Presenter, Reflector, and Observer.
In phase 1 of the strategy, the presenter is allotted about two minutes
to cover some part of the material that was interesting, familiar, confusing,
or perhaps difficult to learn. Next, the Reflector has the task of paraphrasing
what was said. Finally, the Observer comments on how accurate the paraphrasing
was and whether anything important was omitted.
Phase 2 starts with each student switching to a different role and proceeds
as before. But this time, the Reflector has a larger responsibility: to
paraphrase the Presenter's remarks and in addition to clarify by asking
questions of the Presenter. The Observer evaluates the paraphrasing and
comments on whether things were cleared up by the questions.
During phase 3, students each assume a third role, with the Presenter
continuing as before. The Reflector this time does three things: paraphrases,
asks questions to clarify, and identifies any emotions that the Presenter
might have exhibited (such as excitement, frustration, confusion, or disagreement).
This step adds empathy with a fellow learner to the interaction. The Observer
completes the activity as before, commenting on the paraphrasing, clarifying,
and empathizing.
Step 3: A third paired review strategy involves students approaching
the material as if they were an expert explaining the new content to a
novice. The expert must talk about the material so that a person not knowledgeable
with the information can understand it. Unfamiliar concepts and vocabulary
have to be “translated” so that they make sense to the novice.
The novice asks clarifying questions and then repeats what is understood
about the content to the expert, who verifies that the novice has gotten
it right and clears up any misunderstandings.
As students become more independent, they can practice this “expert”
role with people not in the class. For example, a student studying chemistry
might explain the day’s concepts to her mother each evening. Her
challenge is to translate the technical language of chemistry into layman
terms. If her mother can understand the material, the student knows that
she has successfully paraphrased it.
Advantages
Paired review strategies help students internalize the importance of
reflecting upon and personalizing their learning. Other advantages include:
- Students are reminded that merely completing assignments is often
not sufficient for learning new material.
- Students are encouraged to use their classmates to help them clarify
and remember new information.
- These strategies can also be used for eliciting student knowledge
about a topic before introducing a new lesson.
Further Resources: Costa, A. (1997) Teaching For Intelligent Behavior.
Search Models Unlimited, Davis, CA.
Posted October 6, 1997