Reciprocal Teaching: A Reading

Comprehension Strategy

Joan M. Miller, Ph.D.Professor of EducationMount Saint Mary CollegeNewburgh, NY

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a proven strategy originally designed (by Palincsar and

Brown) for junior high students in remedial reading classes.

shown to work with a range of students from 4th grade through beginning college.

that works with expository and narrative text.

that is focused on metacognitive learning.

Reciprocal Teaching: What is it?

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predicting summarizing clarifying questioning

In reciprocal teaching, students are taught to use four strategies:

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students use the four strategies again and again for each section of the passage they’re reading;

students use the four strategies in small groups in which dialogue is an essential element;

students take turns leading the discussion; and the teacher participates as a member of the

group, serving MOSTLY as an expert model of applying the four strategies.

When using reciprocal teaching,

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social learning theory cooperative learning peer tutoring

constructivism

self-monitoring

scaffolding

So, if we want to consider it using current buzz words, reciprocal teaching incorporates

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Teaching a variety of strategies is “most promising” for instruction in comprehension.

The following instructional strategies have a “firm scientific basis” for improving comprehension in normal readers: cooperative learning graphic organizers question answering question generation story structure summarization comprehension monitoring

More importantly, reciprocal teaching is consistent with some findings of the National Reading Panel (NRP) (2000) (Torgeson et al., 2007)

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An effect size (d) of 1.0 for a particular variable means ◦ an increase of one standard deviation on

whatever is being measured.◦ a typical growth of two to three years in children’s

achievement, aka improving learning rate by 50%. ◦ students receiving that treatment would score

better than 84% of students not receiving that treatment.

In general, we can interpret effect sizes of 0.2 or less as low, 0.4 as medium, and 0.6 or more as high.

Reference: Miller, G. (n.d.)

a quick detour into “effect size” (before the research)

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on reciprocal teaching: ES = .33 on standardized reading tests a

ES = .88 on experimenter-designed tests of comprehension a

◦ a Rosenshine & Meister’s 1994 review of 16 studies

on reading comprehension programs: ES = 0.74b

ranks 11 out of 150 influences on educationb ◦ b Hattie’s (2012) summary of meta-analyses in education

Briefly, the research on reciprocal teaching:

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Let’s take a closer look at the four

strategies.

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Students make one or two predictions for the first/next section.

If they’re starting a new passage, ◦ students base their predictions on text cues + background knowledge

If they’re continuing with a passage, ◦ students base their predictions on what they’ve read so far + background knowledge.

Predicting

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Students learn to paraphrase the main idea of the section they just read.

Typically, the summary should be one sentence – no details.

============================== IF necessary, we can teach a subroutine for

summarizing:1. Cross out trivia.2. Delete redundancies.3. If there are lists of examples, think of a category title.4. Start thinking with the topic sentence (if there is one).5. Invent a topic sentence if there isn’t one. (Brown & Day, 1983)

Summarizing

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Students learn to self-monitor their own comprehension. They are taught to EXPECT and WATCH FOR parts of the passage that they don’t understand.

These problems (“clunks”) might be ◦ words they can’t read◦ words they can read but don’t understand, or◦ whole ideas they don’t understand.

Once they run into a problem, they use fix-up strategies to figure it out.

Clarifying

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Students learn to ask and answer “teacher-type” questions (aka “quiz” questions). They try to◦predict what questions the teacher might

put on a test and then make sure they can answer them.

◦ask higher-order questions more often than lower-order questions.

This one takes a LOT of modeling and support.

Questioning

Teaching Reciprocal Teaching

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Basic sequence: ◦explain

◦model (“I do”)

◦guided practice (“we do” “you do”)

Teaching and Scaffolding

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cue cards

sentence stems a, “Start with, ‘I think we will learn that …’”

prompting b, "What question did you think a teacher might ask?”

instruction b, "Remember, a summary is a shortened version; it doesn't include detail.”

modifying the activity b, "If you're having a hard time thinking of a question, why don't you summarize first?"

specific praise b : ◦ “You asked that question well; it was very clear what information you

wanted." ◦ “Excellent prediction; let's see if you're right." ◦ "That was interesting information. It was information that I would call detail

in the passage. Can you find the most important information?" (a

Oczkus, 2005; bPalincsar & Brown, 1984)

During “we-do” and “you-do,” use

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Use a LOT of modeling and thinking aloud as one of the group:

◦“A question I would ask would be ..." ◦"I would summarize by saying …”◦“Did you find this statement unclear? I

did.”

The teacher’s primary job is to be an “expert” thinker/comprehender.

CRITICAL about teaching

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Research clearly calls for students to complete the following repeatedly:◦predicting,◦summarizing◦questioning

There is less evidence for clarifying.

However … (my experience)

Are all four strategies equally important?

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It IS important to activate prior knowledge before beginning any new passage.

It IS important to appoint a “teacher” for each section.

It is NOT important to assign specific people to specific strategies (e.g., “the summarizer,” “the questioner,” etc.), even though it’s commonly done.

More tips for teaching reciprocal teaching:

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It IS important that students orally complete each strategy.

It is NOT important that students write any responses.

There are many cue cards, bookmarks, etc. available online to use with student.

You can evaluate individuals’ progress using the “four-door” technique (Oczkus, 2005).

More tips for teaching reciprocal teaching:

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I was surprised at how easy it was to use; also, how easily the kids adapted to (it).

Their eventual enjoyment of it, their desire to be more creative with their learning.

I learned how to engage my students to ask better questions. They can now self-regulate responses. I also learned how to model thinking aloud while including the students and their responses.

Reactions from teachers at an urban NY middle school about their students’ use of reciprocal teaching

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I was surprised at how quickly the students picked up on the reciprocal teaching.

I was amazed that they actually enjoyed it. They took control of the reading and helped their peers.

Effective. They enjoy it.

They were able to independently complete the RT model by themselves.

The students were actually able to sit long enough and do it. They were able to “take over” and run the class.

Reactions, continued

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How eager the students are to be involved with the process, i.e., fighting over who gets to be the summarizer.

The thing that surprised me was that the students were willing to participate and effectively use the strategy in core subjects.

FROM TWO STUDENTS I’m not really good at questions because when

people say, “Give me a question,” I don’t know. … I am good clarify, summarize, and predict.

I improve really good … and I really don’t have anything to improve.

Reactions, continued

PRACTICE AND QUESTIONS

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Brown, A.L., & Day, J.D. (1983). Macrorules for summarizing texts: The development of expertise. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 22(1), 1-14.

Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers. London: Routledge.Miller, G. (n.d.). Visible learning by John Hattie (2009). Retrieved

January 14, 2013 from http://growthmindseteaz.org/johnhattie.html

Rosenshine, B., Meister, C., & Chapman, S. (1996). Teaching students to generate questions: A review of the intervention studies. Review of Educational Research, 66(2), 181.

Stricklin, K. (2011). Hands-on reciprocal teaching: A comprehension technique. Reading Teacher, 64(8), 620-625.

Torgesen, J.K., Houston, D.D., Rissman, L.M. , Decker, S.M., Roberts, G., Vaughn, S., Wexler, J., Francis, D.J., Rivera, M.O. (2007). Academic literacy instruction for adolescents: A guidance document from the Center on Instruction. Center on Instruction for K-12 Reading, Math, and Science. Portsmouth, NH

References

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyys7Mj-JeE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW173D1KaCQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbzuycoHwts

video clips of reciprocal teaching26