Reciprocal Teaching: A Platform for Strategic ESL Instruction, Classroom Teacher Collaboration, & Renewal John Helfeldt, Texas A&M University Betty Helfeldt & Ann McMullin College Station Independent School District, TX 52nd International Reading Association Convention Toronto, 2007 Contact Info: jhelfeldt@tamu.edu

Reciprocal Teaching (RT) Can you describe or define RT? Do you use RT during reading instruction? How intensively/extensively do you teach RT? Have you encountered problems during implementation of RT?

RT widely researched and reported in journals (1984 – 2006) Most studies support RT’s effectiveness Vast majority of articles are reports of research Focus on describing subjects, 10-20 day treatments, data analyses & results Far less written re: implementation of RT teaching procedure (Hacker & Tenant, 2002,Oczkus, 2003)

Far Fewer RT studies involving ESL S’s Knight, Padron’ & Waxman (1985) Investigated Strategy use of ESL S’s Monolingual S’s more strategic than ESL Monolingual S’s used predicting, questioning, imaging ESL S’s most concerned with S’s perceptions of teacher expectations

Findings & Implications LEP S’s not taught strategies until English is fully mastered ESL instruction centered on pronunciation, word meaning Many teachers assume S’s aren’t able to comprehend L2 text until fluently speaking L2

RT instruction is beneficial for ESL S’s Padron’ (1992) found that: RT more beneficial than QAR and Controls RT used summary and self generated questions more than other S’s Gr. 5 more strategic than Gr. 3 LEP S’s should get strategy instruction along with other reading and language

Klingner & Vaughn (1996) found that: 7th & 8th Gr. ESL S’s benefited from RT Greater range of S’s benefited than anticipated Oral language proficiency benefited along with reading comprehension Full proficiency not needed before implementing strategy instruction

Fung, Wilkinson, & Moore (2003) researched RT with 6th & 7th Gr Fung, Wilkinson, & Moore (2003) researched RT with 6th & 7th Gr. Bilingual S’s RT in L1 and L2 on alternating days RT in L1 facilitated RT in L2 RT increased English Reading Comprehension

What do we know about implementing RT STRATEGY? Pressley & Harris (1990): Teach 1 or 2 strategies over several weeks Provide S’s with understanding when & how to use strategy Paris, Lipson, Wixson (1983) Levels of strategic knowledge Declarative, Procedural, Conditional

IT TAKES TIME!! & IT TAKES COMMITMENT! Hacker & Tenant (2002) Scarce data re: number of teachers using RT, but implementation problems are not uncommon Teachers construct their own versions of RT over time 3 basic adaptations of RT differing emphases on component strategies Writing frequently added

Conclusion Practice of RT changed over time and in response to many variables. Future attempts to implement RT may meet with even greater success if teachers: receive adequate training in traditional RT, are encouraged to construct their own practice of RT using prior knowledge about it, are provided with sustained feedback from knowledgeable RT person.

What Stimulated Ann’s Involvement with RT? ESL Students “savvy”, active learners in classroom

Why Reciprocal Teaching for ESL Students?

RT Addresses the ESL Domains

Speaking Listening Reading Writing

Predicting 2-3 Weeks

Book Walks Picture Walks Graphic Organizers Text Features

Clarifying 2-3 Weeks

Phonetic Spelling Simplified Meanings Illustrations Concrete Objects

Questioning 2-3 Weeks

Begin with literal questions: Who, When, Where

Utilize summary to develop question strategy

Utilize questions as an assessment of language proficiency

Why he like chicken? Where dit Senora Amelia try to get a bicycle for Amelia? What did all the stores say? Did Senora Amelia get the bicycle?

The Five “W’s”

Who? Characters and Their Relationship

Summarization 2-3 Weeks Initially

When? Time – Period, context, etc.

Where? Place

What? Events or Happenings

Why? Reason for Events or Happenings

Teaching the 5 W’s: Shared Reading for several weeks Shared Writing for Several Weeks

Teaching the 5 W’s: Guided Reading &Writing for Several Weeks Guided Reading & Writing Thereafter

Experienced a Sense of Renewal Excitement Energy Renewal

Professional Collaboration Modeling Practice Coaching Validation

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT Eagerness to learn Confidence Flexibility Cooperative learners Examples of student work, student comments, principal’s comments, teacher’s comments, testing results!

Personal Construction of RT Flexible Grouping (including whole class) Student Writing Emphasized Shared Reading Guided Reading Parent RT Academy

RT as “Springboard” Leadership in Professional Development Working with other teachers Enhanced Communication Integrated Curriculum

But...does RT really work?

Impact on ESL Students Reading Proficiency Test in English Oral Language Proficiency Test Texas Assessment of Knowledge & Skills (TAKS)

Impact on Classroom Students TAKS Results 93% S’s met standard 27% S’s commended level 7% did not meet standard (2 S’s)

Student Survey Responses During 4th Gr. My reading attitude has been: 65% much better, 29% little better, 3% same, 3% much worse

The most helpful strategy: 41% ALL 19% clarifying, 19% summarizing 9% predicting, 6% questioning, 6% none During 4th Gr. My ability to read science text is now: 57% much better, 37% little better, 3% same, 3% little worse

Observations, Comments, Anecdotes Principal “Language Arts/Reading Class is the only place where some of these kids don’t cause problems or get in trouble.” Teachers Children Parents

References Fung, I., Wilkinson, I.A. & Moore, D. W. (2003). L1-assisted reciprocal teaching to improve ESL students’ comprehension of English expository text. Learning and Instruction, 13, (1), 1-31. Hacker, D. J. & Tenent, A. (2002). Implementing reciprocal teaching in the classroom: Overcoming obstacles and making modifications. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, (4), 699-718. Klingner, J.K. & Vaughn, S. (1996). Reciprocal teaching of reading comprehension strategies for students with learning disabilities who use English as a second language. The Elementary School Journal, 96, (3), 275-293. Knight, S. L., Padron’, Y. L. & Waxman, H. C. (1985). The cognitive reading strategies of ESL students. TESOL Quarterly, 19, (4), 789-792.

Oczkus, L. D. (2003). Reciprocal teaching at work: Strategies for improving reading comprehension. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Padron’, Y.L. (1992). The effect of strategy instruction on bilingual students’ cognitive strategy use in reading. Bilingual Research Journal, 16, (3&4), 35-51. Palincsar, A.S.& Brown, A.L. (1984). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension-fostering and comprehension monitoring activities. Cognition and Instruction, 2, 117-175. Paris, S.G., Lipson, M. Y. & Wixson, K.K. (1983). Becoming a strategic reader. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 8, 293-326. Pressley, M. & Harris, K. R. (1990) What we really know about strategy instruction. Educational Leadership, 48, (1), 31-34.