Reciprocal Teaching At Work Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension

Reciprocal Teaching trains readers in four specific metacognitive processes that proficient readers use… ? Generating Questions about what the reader does not know, needs to know, or would like to know. Predicting where the text is going by using information already given in the text in conjunction with prior knowledge. Summarizing by condensing the most important points in the text. Clarifying lack of understanding that poses a roadblock to comprehension

Predicting Preview the text-include: elements of the genre being read, title, illustrations, and any other features such as maps, captions, tables. Stop periodically during the preview to gather clues and discuss predictions. You may use a graphic organizer that fits the text type. Language you may want to encourage students to use: I think… I wonder… I predict…

Questioning Students can be asked to “be the teacher” as they create questions to ask one another based on important points in the story. Initially focus on questions that are answered in the text. Later in the process, model how to ask questions based on inferences.

Clarifying Identifying and clarifying difficult words will enhance your vocabulary instruction. It will also scaffold students to independence in word solving. Clarifying ideas such as unclear passages, an inference or main idea will be more difficult for students. However, this step will make problem solving during reading more explicit for students.

Language of clarifying: Identifying the problem: I didn’t understand the part where… This (page,chapter,etc.) is not clear… This doesn’t make sense… I can’t figure out… This is tricky because…

Clarifying The Strategies Clarifying an Idea I reread the parts that I didn’t understand. I read on to look for clues. I think about what I know. Clarifying a Word I reread. I look for word parts I know. I try to blend the sounds. I read on to find clues. I try another word that makes sense.

Summarizing Students must recall and arrange in order only the important events in a text. Organization of the summary is based on the type of text-narrative or expository. For a narrative story, the summary should include the setting, characters, problem, events, and resolution. An expository (nonfiction) text requires the student to determine important points and arrange them in order.

The following prompts will guide the summary: The most important ideas in this text are… This part was about… First… Next… Then… Finally… The story takes place… The main characters… A problem occurs when…

Planning a Reciprocal Teaching Lesson Select the text Read through the text for possible questions, predictions, and problems. Script responses that you will make when reading aloud to the students that model the metacognitve processes. Plan a summary to share with students.

Conducting a Reciprocal Teaching Lesson Model each strategy for students-generating questions, predicting, summarizing, and clarifying words and/or ideas. Invite students to join in the strategies. Involve students in guided practice and observe students going through the process. Provide time for independent practice.

Common Questions I am so busy that I can barely teach what I have on my agenda now! How can I fit reciprocal teaching into what I am doing already? You do not have to overhaul your curriculum to fit reciprocal teaching into your schedule. After introducing the four strategies, you can incorporate the strategies easily into mini-lessons, literature circles, and/or guided reading by using the social studies, science, and district adopted texts to practice the four strategies.

Common Questions What is your best piece of advice for using reciprocal teaching? Be consistent. If you want results with struggling readers, use the strategies at least twice a week in intervention groups and two to three times per week in whole-class. Using the strategies just once a week may help but will not have the impact that consistent exposure produces.

Common Questions Are there any common problems that students experience? Predicting Students may not make logical predictions based on clues from the text or their experiences. Questioning Students may generate only literal questions and may need more modeling in or guidance toward inferential or main idea questions. Clarifying Students may initially clarify only difficult, confusing, or new words. Model and encourage the to clarify confusing or difficult ideas. Summarize Students may miss the main points of a given selection, or they may supply a summary that is too long. Modeling and peer practice will help with this strategy.

The Ultimate Goal The goal of reciprocal teaching is to improve reading comprehension by providing strategies that become automatic in the reading process and support the higher level thinking skills. (refer to the ELA 3-5 Handbook) “It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.” -Rene Descartes