Partner Reading: A Constructivist Based Approach to Developing Reading Skills in the Elementary Grades

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether partner reading can elicit a high level of comprehension of text while utilizing a style of learning that is natural for young children. A comparison between the partner reading technique and the traditional basal reading method on student comprehension was studied. Twenty-three second grade students from two classrooms were tested on two story selections. A counterbalance design was applied so that each story was presented in both the traditional teacher centered basal method and the partner reading technique. The questions which followed tested literal, interpretive, critical, and creative thinking. The partner reading approach accessed constructivist methods of teaching in which the students interacted with each other, building and creating ideas on the selection independent of teacher intervention. The basal method placed a heavy emphasis on phonics skills, scope and sequence, and presentation of material in a teacher centered manner. A dependent t test used to analyze the scores indicated that there was no significant difference between the two reading approaches. These results suggest that educators may confidently apply the more natural and motivating method of partner reading to their lessons with no negative impact on student comprehension scores.