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Reciprocal Teaching

Reciprocal teaching is formatted for small groups of 4 students. Each child takes a leadership role, hence the name "reciprocal" teaching. Students (or teacher) divide the selection into sections no longer than the width of a hand. Under the leadership of one student, readers work as groups to read section #1 to find unfamiliar words. They work together to determine meaning either through context clues, sharing definitions, or looking up the words.

A second student then takes the leadership role. The group rereads section #1 a second time and marks questions to discuss. They clarify the meaning of the text with the help of their group-mates. Leadership is passed to a third person. Participants reread the same section a third time to summarize it in just a few words. (I recommend a 4-6-word headline.)

They repeat all 3 steps with each section until finished. When they complete the reading, the final leader facilitates the last task. They reread all the summaries to determine the main idea of the selection. Once I teach reciprocal teaching, students work in groups independently.

Reciprocal teaching involves a high degree of social interaction and collaboration, as students gradually learn to assume the role of teacher in helping their peers construct meaning from text. In essence, reciprocal teaching is an authentic activity because learning, both inside and outside of school, advances through collaborative social interaction and the social construction of knowledge.

Alverman and Phelps

Adapt Reciprocal Teaching to Reading Assignments
for short, difficult selections

I. Overview
What can you determine in a few seconds by scanning the entire passage? (If you are working with a group, share your predictions.)


	What did you notice?		What can you predict?

	Words Titles Captions First lines of each paragraph		Setting Characters Topic Genre

II. Divide the selection into smaller chunks no larger than the width of a hand. Focus on one section at a time. Slow your reading rate to match the difficulty of the text.

III. Read and Code. Read each chunk 3 times. Yes, 3 times!

FIRST READING of the section: Draw a box around words you don't know. Look up words that interfere with getting meaning from the text. Otherwise, predict what the words mean and move on. Write a synonym above the words you don't know. (If you are working with a group, reach consensus on a synonym for the words brought to the attention of the group.)
SECOND READING of the same section: Read using the synonyms you predicted to get additional meaning from the text. During this second reading (of the same section) look for questions you have. Write a ? mark in the margin and underline the text that is giving you trouble. Try to think of something you know that will help you figure out what you don't know. (If you are working with a group, try to figure out the answers to your questions together. After a few minutes, move on to another question even if you are not entirely sure of the answers.)
THIRD READING of the same section: Summarize the chunk in 4-6 words in the margin - or even in ONE word! If you summarize, you can refer back to the text more easily later. You can find the paragraph you are looking for by looking at the summaries! (If you are working with a group, share your summaries. Write a summary in the margin that all can agree is your best. It may be a summary a group member suggested or a combined effort reflecting the group's thinking.)

IV. Determine main idea.
Look over the summaries to see what main idea surfaces. Reach consensus with your group. Write the main idea at the bottom of the page.

Talk Yourself into Comprehension

Then . . . Test Questions will be easy!

One reason I keep a daybook is to reflect back on progress. I first used reciprocal teaching groups in 2000. They are so easy to implement today. However, I sense some frustration from this entry I share with you. Remember! If you can't look back 5 years and laugh at what you were doing then you haven't grown.

Reflection on Reciprocal Teaching
These circles are more difficult to manage than I realized. It will take longer for me to get out of the circles than I thought at first. The good news is that we are discussing vocabulary and ideas in more depth and more often than ever. Sometimes these kids want to talk about 7 or 8 words per paragraph! They are interested in words that I always assumed they knew: words like hold, cries, and bolted came up in discussion this week.

On the other hand, one student wrote in his journal . . . "I'm sitting in this group with these people but I still don't know how to talk about words and get help from my peers." I agree. I still see a side-by-side mentality to reading in school like 3 year-olds playing in a sandbox. The discussion is not within the group. It's competition for center stage. It's looking for body clues from the teacher for help. It's acting helpless. It's about speeding through the task to get it done, not to understand what I'm doing.

It's getting better. By viewing videotapes of the circles, the kids admitted to this I'm-alone-in-this-circle phenomenon. So, I continue to teach them to talk to one another. I remind them to offer strategies for figuring out words to one another and to give their circle-mates time instead of just telling them words.

From videotaping myself, I see that I allow an over-reliance on me as the facilitator of discussion. Even when I try to bow out and let the kids control the group, I see from the body language that they constantly check my face for affirmation rather than turning to one another. I am too quick to help solve problems that I know they can solve for themselves if given the time.

Summarization gives us the most trouble. If the kids can master this strategy, it will help them get a handle on what exactly is happening in the text and a way to go back quickly and answer test questions. When the key word is in the margin, finding answers to test questions is a matter of matching questions to key words. Not to mention, if the reader is reading and summarizing, the reader understands the text better to begin with.

Reciprocal teaching reminds me of the study groups my husband used in his MBA program. The executives grappled with difficult readings and math concepts. They met once a week to help one another understand the concepts before they went to class to hear the lecture. The group came to value the assistance they could depend on from one another BUT it took time and trust.

I believe it will work eventually, but I can see why Linda Hoyt starts these circles in first grade.

Try reciprocal teaching with this passage . . .

The Boy

by Michael Haag

A small boy sits on a rock with his feet dangling to the water below. The boy sits on a large smooth rock half submerged in water and sand. The boy sitting on the rock is about four and a half feet tall with dirty blond hair that sways to and fro in the breeze, but his most notable feature is his eyes. They change colors from a bright shining blue to a dark sea green as the light changes in the forest. He sits as if deep in thought, staring into the rippling water that catches the light, reflecting it all around. The light filtered by the trees is a variable tapestry of green and white. The shimmering patterns dance across the boy's forehead as he sits.

If a common observer had come to this site they would see a nine-year-old boy sitting so still that they would have thought him dead. Indeed, animals of the forest forgot his existence after some hours. The tree-brown squirrels frolic all about as if no human is present. Birds feed on berries growing right next to the boy.

Suddenly, a sound penetrates the forest. The squirrels freeze and look up. The birds stop their ravenous feeding and endless chirping. Even the boy responds to the noise with the slightest tilt of his head. Then, with a sigh he shakes his tired limbs, sending dirt flying, and he stands straight up.

This movement sends the entire woods into a frenzy. The brown squirrel grips the soil and gathers itself for a great leap to the safety of the trees. There is much flapping and loss of feathers as the birds swarm up and away from the flailing monster. As for the boy, he stands straight and tall for just a moment. Then he propels himself into motion.

Planting his feet firmly the boy jumps across the stream, sending sand everywhere as his big boots impact the golden brown soil. His fingers clench the dirt as he pulls himself out of the stream bed. Once across the boy takes off in a blur, hitting nothing, not so much as a sapling, as he runs through the woods he knows so well.

He comes out in a clearing where a small fort has been built and where he confronts his last obstacle: a tunnel that rises at an eighty-degree slant surrounded by the undergrowth of the forest. The boy clenches his muscles and rallies himself for one last charge. He runs full force up the hill, trampling anything unlucky enough to be in his way. When he crests the hill, he sees his goal in front of him: his mother standing and waiting, calling him to dinner.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The main idea is . . .