Literacy Leaders
High School Teachers Taking
Charge of Their Professional
Learning
Today’s Strategy is:
Reciprocal Teaching
Literacy Leaders
We have started a collaborative study group that
will meet once a month to:
Discuss, develop, and organize resources for
teachers to incorporate literacy strategies
… in all content areas
Inspiration …
• Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (2008)
“A Content Literacy Collaborative Study Group:
High School Teachers Take Charge of Their
Professional Learning”
One year of secondary teachers attempting to
integrate literacy strategies & content
instruction
Literacy Resources for Teachers in
D128
On the D128 homepage, under Literacy
Resources you will find:
• Content Literacy Instruction Strategies
• Strategy Descriptions
• Templates & Examples
Today’s Strategy: Reciprocal Teaching
Based on the paper:
Reciprocal Teaching of ComprehensionFostering and Comprehension-Monitoring
Activities
Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar & Ann L. Brown
Center for the Study of Reading
University of Illinois
(1984)
Original research available as a pdf file if you are interested
Why Teach Literacy Strategies?
• 70% of 8th graders read below the proficient
reading level on the NAEP (National Center for Education
Statistics, 2009)
Difficulty Understanding Text
Some students can decode
words– but have
difficulty understanding
what they have read
Difficulty Summarizing Text
Many students have trouble
summarizing or pulling main
ideas from their reading
What Does Recent Research Say?
• Students from all grade levels from primary to
secondary grades need comprehension strategies
(Block, Parris, & Whiteley, 2008; Pearson & Duke, 2002; Kincade & Beach,
1996)
Need for:
• Strategies to clarify unknown words
• Guided instruction to question & predict
• Ability to sort out main ideas and order events in
text
Why Use Reciprocal Teaching?
• Based on the gradual release of responsibility
model of instruction (Pearson & Fielding, 1991)
• Multiple-strategy technique (Palinscar & Brown, 1984)
• Has been extensively researched & has
produced positive results with:
First graders (Palinscar & David, 1991) through college
students (Fillenworth, 1995)
Goals of Reciprocal Teaching
• Improve students reading comprehension
• Scaffold strategies while reading
• Guide students to become metacognitive &
reflective in their strategy use
• Monitor comprehension
• Improve & scaffold through social setting
• Strengthen whole-class sessions & guided reading
groups
(Harvey & Goudvis, 2007; Keene & Zimmermann, 2007; McLaughlin & Allen,
2002; Oczkus, 2004; Pearson, Roehler, Dole & Duffy, 1992)
Palinscar & Brown Findings
Groups of Students
• Palinscar & Brown, the
creators of reciprocal
teaching found that when
RT was used with a group of
students for 15-20 days, the
students reading on a
comprehension assessment
increased from 30%
previously to 70-80%
Tested a Year Later
• Students not only
maintained their improved
comprehension skills almost
immediately, but also
maintained their improved
comprehension skills when
tested a year later
How is Reciprocal Teaching Used in
the Classroom?
Whole-Class Session
• To introduce RT strategies
• To model for students in
think-alouds
• To establish common
language & terms
• To provide reinforcement in
content area reading
Guided Reading Group
• To introduce/reinforce
strategies in a teacher-led
small group
• To provide extra support or
intervention to students
• To differentiate instruction
based on needs
The Four Reciprocal Teaching
Strategies
Predict
Question
Clarify
Summarize
Oczkus Reciprocal Teaching Method
(2010)
• See Reciprocal Teaching Comprehension
Chart
• Notice additional box for background
knowledge
• Notice order of questions
• The “Fab Four” Strategy Starters
Focus: The Original Research by
Palinscar & Brown
• Significant improvement in the quality of
summaries & questions
• Sizable gains on criterion tests of
comprehension
• Reliable maintenance over time
• Transfer to other tasks
• Improvement in standardized comprehension
scores
What do expert readers do?
They proceed
automatically
until a
triggering event
alerts them to a
comprehension
failure
How do expert readers comprehend?
When comprehension failure
is detected, they slow down,
allot for extra processing to
the problem area, deploy
debugging devices and utilize
active reading strategies
Main Focus of Palinscar & Brown’s
Paper
• Practiced readers’ split mental focus seen in
successful reading/studying:
Comprehension-Fostering Activities
Comprehension-Monitoring Activities
Palinscar & Brown’s
4 Concrete Activities
1.
2.
3.
4.
Important to note
the order of the
activities
Questioning
Summarizing (self-review)
Clarifying
Predicting
Embedded in the instruction of the
reading is a clear purpose for reading,
and a discussion of relevant
background knowledge
Questioning
Ask students:
“What main idea question would a teacher or test
ask about this section of the text?”
Summarizing
This is an activity of self-review
Ask students:
“State what has just happened, or summarize this
section of text” (to see if they have understood
it)
Remedial action (clarifying) may be needed
Clarifying
• Clarifying occurs only if there are confusions
either in the text or in the student’s interpretation
of the text
• Requires that students engage in critical
evaluation
Is a natural part of the discussion process
Predicting
Ask students:
“Make a prediction about the future content of
this passage”
Basic Procedures
1. Teacher or student readers assigned passage
silently
2. Then, ask a question that a teacher or test
might ask on this segment
3. Summarize the content
4. Discuss/clarify content, as needed
5. Finally, make a prediction about the future
content
Acquisition of Question-Asking
• Charles, 7th grade minority student , (IQ=70),
reading comprehension was 3rd grade level
• Sara, 7th grade competent student
Initially, Charles could not formulate questions at all
Sara’s questions were classified primarily as
inventions
Comparison Graph of Study 1
• See last page of packet
Next Month’s Plans
• Bring your ideas, questions, successes, failures
with reciprocal teaching
• We’ll share and discuss what worked & what
didn’t
Science Teacher Models RT
•
•
•
•
Shared Reading of an informational text
Small group setting
Uses reciprocal teaching model
Her students are early in the RT process (not
ready to student-lead)
• She uses Think-Aloud strategies also