Reciprocal Teaching: Session 1

Twilight Course Overview Session 1: An Introduction to Reciprocal Teaching Introduction to the 4 key strategies used in RT (predicting; questioning; clarifying; summarising) Session 2: Reciprocal Teaching cont….. Importance of metacognitive skills. Importance of providing cognitive challenge Importance of collaboration More approaches to improving comprehension Session 3: Developing Questioning Skills Session 4: Developing Predicting, clarifying and summarising: A toolkit Further applications of RT methodology Session 5: Recall session Opportunities to share good practice and resources and to reflect on the use of the approach with pupils 17.5 CPD hours 7 ½ contact hours 10 hours on tasks

Aims of Session 1 Provide an overview of Reciprocal Teaching: -Introduction to the 4 key strategies -Explain how the strategies are integrated into a Reciprocal Teaching lesson Foster enough confidence for you to go away and give it a go.

Workshop 1: Teaching Comprehension What / how do you teach comprehension? To what effect? Identify potential barriers?

The Teaching of Comprehension: The Findings of Hall et al (1999) Hall et al found that, in a study of 12 classrooms, lessons: Were characterised by the use of worksheets / workbooks Contained limited reference to the specific strategies used in comprehending text Were dictated by teachers Contained limited teacher / pupil interaction Were low in motivational demands Offered little opportunity for learners to reflect on their learning Provided questions which were literal in nature Emphasised outcome rather than process Offered little in terms of cognitive and metacognitive demands

What is Reciprocal Teaching? RT is a framework for teaching the skills necessary for good comprehension It is dialogue based. Initially, the teacher acts as the facilitator - modelling the use of 4 key strategies to the pupils Gradually, with teacher support, pupils confidence and competency will increase and adult input will decrease The eventual aim is that the pupils will be able to work independently

The 4 Strategies Competent readers sub-consciously use a number of strategies to monitor and aid comprehension RT works by making these strategies explicit to learners. Predicting Questioning Clarifying Summarising

Discuss given strategy with your group and try to say why it is an important strategy for developing comprehension. Choose an expert from your group who will take your views to another group. Why?

Why Predicting? Gives the reader a purpose to read on in order to check out their predictions Encourages pupils to utilise knowledge previously acquired in reading the text (when making predictions part way through the story) Provides a mechanism for monitoring comprehension (i.e. were my predictions correct, and if not why not)

Why Questioning? Allows readers to pick out the main points in the text Introduces children to different kinds of questions, which in turn should help them with answers.

Why Clarifying? Trains pupils to monitor their comprehension (rather than just reading blindly) Permits children to admit to not understanding a word. Develops skills so that pupils can decipher the meanings of unfamiliar words or phrases

This is the ultimate test of whether a pupil has fully understood the passage – an extremely difficult skill to master Why Summarising?

Professor P. Brain and the Magic Potion Author: Mary Mullen Illustrated by: Joe Jenkins

Workshop 2 Task Generate predictions about this story. Make predictions about the character(s), the genre, the plot, the setting. Highlight evidence used to make the predictions Discuss in pairs / small groups

Workshop 4: Clarifying Read passage Which words / phrases might pupils flag up as unfamiliar? What strategies do we use, as adults, to figure out the meanings of unfamiliar words / phrases?

What does a classic RT lesson look like? Small group of children One pupil acts as a teacher. They lead the group through a structured dialogue discussing each of the 4 strategies outlined in turn Step 1 – Teacher begins by asking group members to make predictions about what they are about to read Step 2 – Teacher reads a small section of text to the group or pupils read the section on their own Step 3 – Teacher facilitates the generation of questions Step 4 – Group are asked by the teacher to list unfamiliar words or phrases or to outline sections of the text that they are unsure of. Group work together to clarify the meanings of the identified words and phrases Step 5 – Teacher asks a pupil / pupils to summarise the piece of text that has just been read Step 6 – The cycle begins again. Pupils are asked, by the teacher, to make predictions about the next section of text before going on to read it. Questioning ClarifyingSummarising Predicting

What can Reciprocal Teaching offer teachers? A structure for teaching the skills required for enhanced comprehension Easy to resource Can be used across the curriculum Can be used for whole class lessons, group activities or for individual work Effective for pupils of almost all abilities including those of lower to average ability A mechanism for assessing comprehension skills and identifying areas for development HMIe hold it up as an example of good practice RT is not, however, a quick fix

What can RT offer learners? Most pupils enjoy RT Opportunities to develop their comprehension skills Comprehension not associated with having to write a million sentences Opportunities for peer and adult support to improve skills Opportunities to be active learners

Introducing RT Method 1 – Straight in – introduce all strategies in one go. Use the approach in day to day teaching (whole class or at reading group time) with you, as teacher, acting as a model. Slowly hand over responsibility to the pupils Method 2 – Systematically teach each strategy one-by-one and then pull the strategies together Method 3 - A combination of 1 & 2! Introduce all the strategies together and then, through the use of careful assessment, use standalone lessons to build on pupils skills.

Over the next couple of weeks… Introduce the idea of Reciprocal Teaching to pupils with the class or, if you prefer, with one group that youll work with over a number of weeks Discuss all the strategies each time. When modelling – share your thought processes - give praise and immediate feedback Encourage pupils to use the language of RT explicitly Be interactive! Involve pupils as much as possible. Record findings in your log book

Have I got the time? No …….. if you use it as an add-on to an already crowded curriculum! Yes ……. if you use it as part of your on- going comprehension teaching or as part of your group reading programme