Get ready to supercharge your students' reading skills with the power of reciprocal teaching! 🚀📚 This deep learning, high-effect size instructional strategy is like a secret weapon for students who struggle with reading. 💪

Imagine a classroom where students who once forgot what they read, felt disconnected from the text, or were years behind in reading level are now actively engaged and thriving. 🌟 That's the magic of reciprocal teaching!

Through the four key strategies of predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing, students become active participants in their own learning. 🤔💡 They'll learn to tackle even the most challenging non-fiction texts with confidence and ease. 💪📖

Session Resources

Please find resources shared freely below. Note that if you want to be able to get a copy and edit materials, you will need to have a Canva account (free for educators). You don't need to ask, please provide attribution and share freely with others. (CC-BY-SA)

View Presentation (Get a copy)
Reciprocal Teaching Process and Bookmarks (Get Copy)
Reciprocal Teaching Resource Guide (Copies N/A)

Group Activities

3-2-1 Activity

Resources for 3-2-1 Activity

Directions: Gather 3 facts, 2 quotes, and ask 1 question you have. Use print or digital copy available.

Watch ONE of the following videos:

1. Meet the Fab Four (Drive) (4 mins)
2. Reciprocal Teaching Part 1 (7 mins)
3. Fab Four Read Aloud from Reciprocal Teaching at Work by Lori Oczkus SD (3 mins)
4. Reciprocal Teaching: Why, How, and Examples (5 mins)

Or, Read one:

- Reciprocal Teaching
- Reciprocal Teaching with Multimedia

Discuss:

Share your 3-2-1 notes from the resource you viewed or read with your team

Activity #2: Give It A Try

Ready to Give It A Try?

Get into small groups of five or six people each. Each person assumes one of the following roles:

Lead Speaker - Introduces the Fab Four group, and explains and discusses (like a news broadcaster) what we will be seeing to the Videographer
- Predictor - Predicts what will happen in the reading
- Questioner - Asks questions about the reading
- Clarifier - Clarifies answers and vocabulary
- Summarizer - Summarizes the reading
Videographer - Uses the camera app on a smartphone to capture team members modeling the Reciprocal Teaching strategy.

Content To Practice Reciprocal Teaching On

Practice #1 - NonFiction:
- Fascinating Science Discovery of 2024: The Super Slurper Seaweed! (English and Spanish available)
Practice #2 - Video:
- The Wonky Donkey
Practice #3 -Fiction:
- The Mysterious Noise

Digging Deeper - Explore the Resources

What Is It?

Read a summary of the research

"A deep learning, instructional strategy which aims to foster better reading comprehension and to monitor students who struggle with comprehension. The Reciprocal Teaching strategy contains four steps:

Summarizing (d=0.74)
Questioning (d=0.49)
Clarifying, and
Predicting

It is “reciprocal” in that students and the teacher take turns leading a dialogue about the text in question, asking questions following each of the four steps.

The teacher can model the four steps, then reduce her or his involvement so that students take the lead and are invited to go through the four steps after they read a segment of text. (Source: Visible Learning MetaX)

Why do we need it?

In the early years, students need time to read, not to do skills drills or reading “activities.” Schmoker points out that in the most effective reading classrooms, students “never, ever engage in cut, color, or paste activities that now occupy the majority of early-grade reading programs—more than 100 instructional hours per year.”
Students should be exposed to broad, wide reading of both fiction and nonfiction: “We learn to read well by reading a lot for meaning: to analyze or support arguments, to arrive at our own opinions as we make inferences or attempt to solve problems.”
Students should be involved in discussions at least three times per week, with established criteria to guide them

If your students face any or all of the following obstacles (adapted from ASCD Publication: Lori D. Oczkus’ Reciprocal Teaching At Work), reciprocal teaching may be what’s needed.

Students don’t remember what they read, even when they can decode text
Little to no engagement with reading material
Students read at two or more years below grade level
Informational text (non-fiction) is difficult to understand
Challenging words are difficult to decipher
Students may be unable to describe the difference between main idea and supporting details

As a result of reciprocal teaching technique’s effectiveness for over thirty years, it is worth adopting

Does It Work?

Looking for a comprehension technique that works across all content areas, media such as news, books, web, and video?

Reciprocal teaching, a research-based collection of strategies, has enjoyed long success (approx 36 years since a study* in 1984).

It consistently produces results of .74 growth per year. This effect size, measured by John Hattie’s meta-analyses in Visible Learning, accounts for almost two years growth in one year.

Across type of test (standardized, etc.), regardless of teacher, grade level, Reciprocal Teaching proved effective for all ages and situations.

*Note: COGNITION AND INSTRUCTION, 1984, I (2) 117-175 Copyright o 1984, LawrenceErlbaum Associates, Inc.

How Does It Work?

Web-based Reciprocal Teaching Resources

View video (6:18 min:secs) via Studies Weekly

Explore Reciprocal Teaching in Content Areas

Reading

See the Connection with Reciprocal Teaching

Science

See the Connection with Reciprocal Teaching

(alternate link) | Science Role Cards

Math

Article | Video #1 (Alt link) | Video #2

Social Studies

See the Connection with Reciprocal Teaching

Lesson Plan | Video (Alt) | Article

Get ready to supercharge your students' reading skills with the power of reciprocal teaching! 🚀📚 This deep learning, high-effect size instructional strategy is like a secret weapon for students who struggle with reading. 💪

Imagine a classroom where students who once forgot what they read, felt disconnected from the text, or were years behind in reading level are now actively engaged and thriving. 🌟 That's the magic of reciprocal teaching!

Through the four key strategies of predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing, students become active participants in their own learning. 🤔💡 They'll learn to tackle even the most challenging non-fiction texts with confidence and ease. 💪📖

Session Resources

Please find resources shared freely below. Note that if you want to be able to get a copy and edit materials, you will need to have a Canva account (free for educators). You don't need to ask, please provide attribution and share freely with others. (CC-BY-SA)

View Presentation (Get a copy)

Reciprocal Teaching Process and Bookmarks (Get Copy)

Reciprocal Teaching Resource Guide (Copies N/A)

Group Activities

3-2-1 Activity

Resources for 3-2-1 Activity

Watch ONE of the following videos:

Or, Read one:

Discuss:

Activity #2: Give It A Try

Ready to Give It A Try?

Content To Practice Reciprocal Teaching On

Practice #1 - NonFiction:

Fascinating Science Discovery of 2024: The Super Slurper Seaweed! (English and Spanish available)

Practice #2 - Video:

The Wonky Donkey

Practice #3 -Fiction:

The Mysterious Noise

Digging Deeper - Explore the Resources

What Is It?

"A deep learning, instructional strategy which aims to foster better reading comprehension and to monitor students who struggle with comprehension. The Reciprocal Teaching strategy contains four steps:

Summarizing (d=0.74)

Questioning (d=0.49)

Clarifying, and

Predicting

It is “reciprocal” in that students and the teacher take turns leading a dialogue about the text in question, asking questions following each of the four steps.

The teacher can model the four steps, then reduce her or his involvement so that students take the lead and are invited to go through the four steps after they read a segment of text. (Source: Visible Learning MetaX)

Why do we need it?

If your students face any or all of the following obstacles (adapted from ASCD Publication: Lori D. Oczkus’ Reciprocal Teaching At Work), reciprocal teaching may be what’s needed.

Students don’t remember what they read, even when they can decode text

Little to no engagement with reading material

Students read at two or more years below grade level

Informational text (non-fiction) is difficult to understand

Challenging words are difficult to decipher

Students may be unable to describe the difference between main idea and supporting details

As a result of reciprocal teaching technique’s effectiveness for over thirty years, it is worth adopting

Does It Work?

Looking for a comprehension technique that works across all content areas, media such as news, books, web, and video?

Reciprocal teaching, a research-based collection of strategies, has enjoyed long success (approx 36 years since a study* in 1984).

How Does It Work?

Web-based Reciprocal Teaching Resources

Explore Reciprocal Teaching in Content Areas

Reading

See the Connection with Reciprocal Teaching

Science

See the Connection with Reciprocal Teaching

Math

Article | Video #1 (Alt link) | Video #2

Social Studies

See the Connection with Reciprocal Teaching