Reciprocal Teaching Adapted for Kindergarten Students

PAMELA ANN MYERS The Princess Storyteller, Clara Clarifier, Quincy Questioner, and the Wizard: Reciprocal teaching adapted for kindergarten students Reciprocal-teaching strategies were used in a reciprocal-teaching strategies for kindergarten students. They had been skeptical, believing that kindergarten class to teach comprehension 5-year-olds were too young for such a sophisticat- through interactive read-alouds. ed learning strategy. However, it became evident to me, while listening to my students’ responses, s the school day began, Oscar (all names that my colleagues had been wrong. Adapting are pseudonyms), a shy second-language reciprocal-teaching strategies for kindergarten stu- Alearner, came up to me and told me he had dents had been extremely successful. been thinking about the book I had read the day before. He mentioned that he had not known why Miss Nelson, the main character, was missing and A new focus that he had a “Clara Clarifier” question to ask me. He said he hadn’t understood why Detective At the beginning of that school year, the teach- McSmogg was now looking for Viola Swamp at ers at my school decided to focus the school plan the end of the story. I was very surprised because I on reading comprehension. We were concerned had never experienced a kindergartner asking me to that, while a large number of students were able to explain something he did not understand the day decode text successfully, they were not always able after I read a story. Other students were listening, to understand what they were reading. This con- and before I had a chance to answer, Jesse, a stu- cern is shared by many, including the National dent with great difficulty expressing his ideas, said Reading Panel (National Institute of Child Health to Oscar, “But it’s a joke, because Miss Nelson is and Human Development, 2000). With so much Viola Swamp.” Oscar didn’t respond. He listened emphasis on decoding in the primary grades, com- quietly while other students retold parts of the prehension issues have often been ignored; yet story and explained to him why this was a joke. even with very young students, comprehension of Melissa said, “I predict Detective McSmogg will text is critical. It is, therefore, essential that kinder- find the black dress in Miss Nelson’s closet, and garten teachers teach students the comprehension then he’ll know what happened.” skills they need to succeed as future readers. I stood by in silence, watching my students en- A way to do this is by teaching students strate- thusiastically discuss a book using strategies they gies such as those found in reciprocal teaching. had learned during our reciprocal-teaching lessons. These strategies can be taught to nonreaders These strategies include summarizing, seeking through read-alouds. Read-alouds help students be- clarification, questioning, and making predictions. come interested in literature and provide opportu- I was reminded of conversations I had had with nities for teachers to introduce comprehension some of my colleagues about my plan to adapt strategies. It was my intent to study the implications 314 © 2005 International Reading Association (pp. 314–324) doi:10.1598/RT.59.4.2 of adapting reciprocal teaching with kindergarten become readers (Feitelstein, Goldstein, Iraqi, & students to improve their comprehension strategies. Share, 1993). Furthermore, research shows there According to the California state standards for is a correlation between how often children have language arts (California State Board of Education, been read to and their future academic success 1999), kindergarten students must be able to use (Morrow, 1992). pictures and context to make predictions about a Read-alouds assist all students in language ac- story. Their responses should be based on their own quisition by enabling them to become familiar with life experiences. Students must also be able to retell the academic or literary language necessary for a story and to ask and answer questions about text. school success (Sénéchal, Thomas, & Monker, To help my students meet these standards, I 1995). For example, research shows that second- wanted to find an interactive teaching model that language learners acquire vocabulary and grammar would address the standards and allow students to from read-alouds (Feitelstein et al., 1993; Morrow, share responsibility for their own learning. The 1992), and read-alouds can improve young stu- model should also provide insights on the connec- dents’ comprehension of decontextualized lan- tions students make between their background guage (Beck & McKeown, 2001). Kindergarten knowledge and the text. This would help me assess students who have been read to are more likely to and guide their instruction. The model that came to emerge as readers earlier than those who did not of- mind was reciprocal teaching. Because I had used ten hear stories (Sulzby, 1985). reciprocal teaching with older students, I knew it was effective for promoting reading comprehension What the experts say about reciprocal and metacognitive skills such as self-monitoring, teaching assessing progress, and taking remedial action Reciprocal teaching is viewed as an excellent when needed (Palincsar & Brown, 1984). tool to improve students’ comprehension (Pressley, Reciprocal teaching is used with students at 2002). It was created by Palincsar and Brown academic risk who have difficulty comprehending (1984) and is rooted in the theoretical work of Lev complex text. In reciprocal teaching, students learn Vygotsky, who developed the concepts of the zone to summarize, ask questions, seek clarification, and of proximal development and of children giving make predictions about text. These are the very support to one another (scaffolding). In reciprocal strategies that the California standards deem teaching, students are taught to preview a text in necessary to teach to students in kindergarten. order to make predictions about what they might Reciprocal teaching is traditionally done with find in the reading. This strategy enables students small groups, and I wondered if kindergarten stu- to set a purpose for reading and to self-monitor dents could discuss books in a cooperative group. their comprehension. During reciprocal-teaching How would it work for students unable to read text lessons, students ask questions to help clarify by themselves? comprehension issues or to create deeper under- standing. Students learn to summarize what they What the experts say about reading aloud have read. Reciprocal-teaching lessons are tradi- Reading aloud to children is the most highly tionally used with small groups, and students take recommended activity for parents and teachers on leadership roles, or “play the teacher” in guid- (Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985). ing the lessons. The benefits for all children are numerous These strategies enable students to self-monitor (Campbell, 2001). Children learn that there is a dif- text through cooperative interaction (Stahl, 2004). ference between oral and written language, that During guided practice, a teacher asks student lead- print carries meaning, and that print on a page has ers to initiate discussions of text and to react to oth- associated sounds (Morrow & Gambrell, 2000). er students’ answers or opinions. An assumption Kindergartners who frequently had stories read to of reciprocal teaching is that, while scaffolding is them were better able to infer causal relationships provided by the teacher only when needed, com- from illustrations and to relate them to episodes in prehension strategies are internalized through par- the stories, a strategy that may help them as they ticipation in these discussions (Marks et al., 1993). The Princess Storyteller: Reciprocal teaching adapted for kindergarten students 315 Reciprocal-teaching strategies have been used with learners, who I felt needed familiarity with the text students as early as first grade (Coley, DePinto, before they could discuss it in depth. Craig, & Gardner, 1993). Reciprocal teaching traditionally is used with small groups working independently. Due to class- room management concerns, and because the Introducing kindergarten children to strategies would be modeled and taught during read-alouds, the reciprocal-teaching lessons I pre- reciprocal teaching sented were done with the whole class. This in- Based on a review of research, I decided to cre- struction provided opportunities for all students to ate a series of lessons that adapted reciprocal- participate in the lesson, not just those leading the teaching strategies for my kindergartners using discussion. Other students could answer questions, read-alouds. It is important for my students to have offer opinions, and give suggestions to help the stu- a structure for leading book discussions, but many dent leaders if needed, creating a more truly inter- small steps would have to be taken before my plan active discussion. could fully unfold. A first-grade teacher, Sharon Teachers introduce reciprocal teaching to stu- Craig, had successfully used reciprocal teaching dents by modeling the strategies. When students with her students, and her experience gave me understand them, the teacher encourages students ideas for how to begin my project (Coley et al., to work cooperatively and independently. The 1993). Like Craig, I felt it was necessary to adapt teacher acts as a facilitator only when necessary. reciprocal-teaching methods to address the needs With kindergarten students, I found that I had to of my students. play a much more active role in the lessons. For ex- Young children can construct and express their ample, sometimes students had difficulty organiz- learning by the use of props during dramatic play ing their thoughts when they had to retell a story (Soundy, 1993). I use puppets in my class to make or ask a clarifying question. I would ask the class lessons engaging or to model behavior. Although I if anyone could think of things that the Princess have not found reference in the research to the use might want to add to the retelling or if they could of puppets in reciprocal-teaching lessons, I use help the puppets ask questions.

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