DQ2: HELPING STUDENTS EFFECTIVELY INTERACT WITH NEW KNOWLEDGE Element 10 Strategies for Helping Students Process New Information Reciprocal Teaching This technique involves small groups of students discussing and analyzing sections of the text and is an excellent way to strengthen reading comprehension and analytical reasoning skills. The four strategies that are used in this activity are prediction, questioning, summarizing and clarifying. The strategies can be taught in any order. The teacher begins with direct instruction, modeling each strategy. When ready, the responsibility of leading the discussion is handed over to the students. One interpretation of reciprocal teaching has each student being the leader for a section of text. The student leader facilitates the discussion asking questions like the following: What is the main idea of what we read? What questions do we have? Is there anything that we need to clarify? What predictions can be made about what comes next? After the discussion and all four strategies are applied to that section of the text, the leadership role rotates to another student for the next section of text and then the process repeats. Another interpretation of reciprocal teaching assigns a role to each student. For each section of text, there is a Predictor, a Summarizer, a Clarifier and a Questioner. Everyone reads the text, but the Summarizer highlights the key points. The Questioner then asks about anything that is unclear or confusing. The Clarifier attempts to answer the questions that the Questioner asks. The Predictor might suggest what comes next in the story. The roles rotate and the process continues.the teacher acts as a support or guide during the group process. No matter which interpretation you choose, it is helpful to utilize a handout to keep the students organized during the process. Role cards are sometimes helpful as well. Samples follow this description. A Reciprocal Teaching Example A reciprocal teaching example in A Handbook for the Art and Science of Teaching refers to a folk literature lesson on the African tradition of Anansi tales. The teacher begins by reading a sample tale and modeling the kinds of questions the students will use in their groups. They are: Who is the main character? How would you describe him? What does he appear to stand for or symbolize in human nature? What do you predict will happen next? What moral or lesson does this tale seem to be teaching us? After modeling this process, the teacher puts the students into small groups and tells them to take turns leading and summarizing. By the end of the lesson, the students have read three other Anansi tales. The lesson closes with the students summarizing what they learned about trickster tales in Anansi tradition. 1
Reciprocal Teaching Worksheet Student s Name: Use the Reciprocal Teaching Cards to help you complete this sheet. This worksheet may be completed in any order as you read, but you must fill in each section. PREDICT Write one or two sentences that predict what the passage will be about. Base your response on the title or any other information contained in this text. CLARIFY Write down any words, phrases, or ideas that you do not understand as you read. After you have written down the words or ideas that need clarification, try to figure out what they mean by using the clarification clues you have learned. Do not use a dictionary. You may ask the teacher or a family member for help if you are not able to clarify a word. If you do not need to clarify any words, phrases or ideas, write NONE in the space provided. 2
VISUALIZE MAKE A PICTURE IN YOUR MIND After you finish reading, draw a picture of what the passage makes you see in your imagination. Draw it on this paper in the space below. QUESTION ASK TEACHER-LIKE QUESTIONS Pretend you are the teacher and are going to give a test about what you have just read. Using the reciprocal teaching cards, write three teacherlike questions about the passage. 1. 2. 3. SUMMARIZE Complete this summary frame about the passage you have just read. The passage about begins with, discusses (or develops) the idea that and ends with 3
Reciprocal Teaching Worksheet Text: Prediction: Before you begin to read the selection, look at the title or cover, scan the pages to read the major headings, and look at any illustrations. Write down your prediction(s). Predictions: Support: Main Ideas: As you finish reading each paragraph or key section of text, identify the main idea of that paragraph or section. Questions: For each main idea listed, write down at least one question. Main Idea 1: Question 1: Main Idea 2: Question 2: Main Idea 3: Question 3: Main Idea 4: Question 4: Main Idea 5: Question 5: Summarize: Write a brief summary of what you read. Clarify: Copy down words, phrases, or sentences in the passage that are unclear. Then explain how you clarified your understanding. Word or Phrase: Clarify: Adapted from http://www.readingrockets.org/content/pdfs/reciprocalteaching_worksheet.pdf 4
Predict: Based on what you ve read and what you know, what do you think will happen next? Clarify: Was there a word you weren t sure about? What is it? What page is it on? What clues helped you to think about what will happen next? What can we predict it means? How can we check it? Is your prediction logical? Were there any ideas that were confusing to you or that you don t understand? What strategies can we use to figure this out? Question & Connect: Is there anything that you did not understand? Summarize: What are the most important ideas or events? Is there anything that did not make sense? What were you thinking about as you were reading? Has anything like this ever happened to you? What does the author want you to remember or learn from this? What is the most important information in this passage? Have you ever known anyone like this character? What are you curious about? What was this passage mostly about? In your own words http://www.readingrockets.org/content/pdfs/reciprocalteaching_handout.pdf 5