A surgical derotator instrument comprises a shaft, a handle and an articulating coupler. The shaft comprises a first end portion having a bone anchor coupling and a second end portion opposite the first end portion. The handle comprises a body portion and a slot extending in the body portion. The articulating coupler connects the shaft and the handle. A method for coupling a plurality of derotator instruments into a series of derotator instruments comprises: attaching a plurality of derotator instruments to a plurality of adjacent bone anchor housings, each derotator instrument comprising: a shaft for connecting to a bone anchor housing, a handle having a slot, and an adjustable coupler connecting the shaft and the handle; adjusting one or more of the adjustable couplers to align at least one of the slots of the series with other slots of the series; and inserting an elongate member through the at least one slots that are aligned.