[MOSAIC] Reciprocal Teaching [long]

[Heather Wall]

I didn't know about RT when I taught 2nd grade, so I've only done it with higher 1st graders and 3rd graders. I'm conducting a RT group right now in my 3rd grade class, and it's going fairly well.  Here's how I do it: I have 4 cards labeled in this way (I"m going from memory and so slightly paraphrasing): 1st card = Questions: Who? What? When? WHere? Why?; 2nd card = Clarify: Meaning of a word or phrase; 3rd card = Summarize. What was the section about?; 4th card = Predict. What do you thinhk will happen next?

I first met with the group and told them that I was going to teach them some strategies that readers use to help them understand texts. I would begin by being the teacher (strange looks from the kids here - of course... You already are the teacher!), and show them how to lead the group and use each strategy. Later, they would get to take over and take turns being the teacher (big grins here from the kids!). I found that it wasn't hard to model the strategies, and the kids piccked them up quickly, but that may be b/c we use the reading workshop model and they are very comfortable with metacognition, orally sharing their thinking, using their schema, questioning, and are getting better with inferring. In other words, this was not their first exposure to strategy instruction. 

So, I began with a text at the instructional level of the lowest kid in the group (I didn't want independent level b/c I wanted some words that needed to be clarified). After getting our background knowledge primed, we all read the first 2 pages, then I came up witha  question for the group about the text content. That question began a discussion, which I didn't discourage, even though it wasn't "following the cards". Then I asked if someone could clarify the word ____, whcih someone did, then I summarized the 2 pages in 1 sentnce. Finaly, I predicted what the next 2 pages would be about, and we continued in this fashion, reading about half the book. Eachtime we implemented a strategy, I displayed the corresponding card (i.e. when asking to clarify a word, I displayed the "Clarify" card mentioned above).

A couple days later we repeated this. And again the 3rd meeting (starting a new book by this time). Finally, onthe 4th meeting I allowed them to take over. I chose an outspoken student who I felt could be the teacher fairly successfully. The teacher was in charge of asking the questions, words to be clarified, etc. and choosing who got to answer them. Discussions ensued occasionally, but I also had to prompt them somewhat to have discussions. Sometimes kids got stuck with how to ask a question, b/c they were so nervous/excited they weren't truly comperhending as they read. Also, some of them simply weren't comprehending anyway, which is why they were chosen for this group. 

I have noticed a big improvement in them now that we're in the 2nd week of them being the teachers. The quality of their quesitons have improved, though they have difficulty with asking inferential questions. Of course, that's why they'r ein the group - they have trouble answering those types of questions when I ask them, so I can' treally expect them to compose them if they can't answer them. 

The next step is to give them their own sets of the 4 cards and have them do RT with themselves during independent reading, meeting back as a group to talk about how it's going. Then evenetually to do it without the cards as prompts. 

I hope this is helpful. I write this assuming you know the basics of RT - the 4 strategies, etc. This way of teaching it was shown to me by a local literacy coach and I've really liked it. I did it one year (the 1st year I taught 3rd grade) and really din't feel like the kids were making much progress. But all the kdis who were in that RT group made huge gains in their DRA and grade level tests, so it did show up later. In other words, progress might not be obvious at first, but it's happening!
 
Heather Wall/ 3rd grade/ Georgia
NBCT 2005
Literacy: Reading - Language Arts



----- Original Message ----
From: Patricia Kimathi <pkimathi at earthlink.net>
To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Listserv <mosaic at literacyworkshop.org>
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 10:48:02 PM
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Reciprocal Teaching


How did you introduce RT to second graders this is my first year at 
this grade level and I am not feeling very secure.  I am using small 
health booklets with vocabulary and highlighted topics.  Help!
Pat K

"to be nobody but yourself -- in a world which is doing its best, night 
and day, to make you like everybody else -- means to fight the hardest 
battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting."

e.e. cummings

On Oct 30, 2006, at 10:06 AM, Heather Wall wrote:

>  2nd grade level, t
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