Reciprocal Teaching is a great way to teach students how to determine important ideas from a reading while discussing vocabulary, developing ideas and questions, and summarizing information while working in small groups. It can be used across several content areas. With an emphasis on research-based dialogue, short non-fiction text types are particularly suitable.
Reciprocal Teaching = .74 effect size (Hattie 2015)
Reciprocal Teaching is a research-based, close reading strategy that moves students through a process in small groups to coordinate the use of four comprehension strategies: prediction, clarification, student-generated questions, and summarization. The elementary version has been slightly modified with additional support where needed.
The class will be divided into mixed-ability small groups. While all students within the groups should be engaged in all four steps, it might help to designate one student as the “leader” for each step within each group. This student can help keep their small group on task. While working in small groups, the students use the comprehension strategies to engage in a discussion thereby jointly constructing and enhancing one another's understanding of the text.
Critical to the success of this strategy is that the teacher spends time modeling each of these steps before students work through them on their own. As they do, the teacher must remain hands-on, guiding students and offering feedback and clarification throughout. The teacher only begins to transfer more responsibility to students once they can demonstrate mastery of the four skills. Even then, the teacher continues to observe students and offer support or remediation as needed.
This strategy works well as an even blend in the 6-12 classrooms with teacher support and guidance and student discussion mostly offline, and student exploration and work documentation mostly online, especially when initially introducing and practicing this strategy. The blended learning spectrum can begin to shift more online, as students and the teacher begin to master this strategy; however, the teacher must remain hands-on, whether digitally or not. Google Slides is a great tool to utilize with this strategy, pairing well with Canvas, as well as the supports needed with this strategy.
This strategy works well mostly face-to-face (i.e. offline) in the K-5 classroom. The primary version contains all the components research has deemed essential to the success and effectiveness of reciprocal teaching (Palincsar & Brown, 1984), but focuses more on introducing, modeling, and practicing strategies which tend to work better offline, than on. Once students have reached Phase 4 and are continuously demonstrating skills proficiently, the introduction of a digital tool to record student work could be introduced. Flipgrid would be an excellent digital tool to utilize for this purpose, as it still provides the visual piece, as well as the back-and-forth, of dialogue and does not rely on writing which can be a barrier in the primary grades.
Provides a framework of support for students to develop comprehension strategies;
Provides explicit actions for what readers are to do;
Continues to develop students’ content knowledge and topic vocabulary;
Fosters meaningful dialogue among students from hearing one another’s perspective/interpretation of a text;
Helps students to develop skills in locating, recording, and organising information in preparation for writing
Improves student engagement (as long as the students are actively fulfilling their roles);
Rather than viewing reading as a static activity, reading is a living, moving, fluid process that benefits from intentional sequences as mastery is developed.
Blended Learning falls on a spectrum from Mostly Online to Mostly Face-to-Face and is fluid, always meant to enhance the learning enviroment. Where a lesson or strategy falls on this spectrum is up to many factors. Remember that your school's ITC can help brainstorm, answer questions, and/or help modify lessons or strategies. Reach out for additional support!
This resource was created by BCPS ITC csmith2@bedford.k12.va.us - Please reach out with any questions!