34 Reciprocal Teaching: Powerful Hands-on Comprehension Strategy Lori Oczkus Teachers everywhere are concerned about cooperative learning, scaffolding, and their students’ reading comprehension. Many metacognition. teachers complain that students are not engaged with texts and that they cannot remember what For example, during a read aloud a third they have read. Reading research suggests an grade teacher pauses every few pages to model urgent need for educators to teach one of the strategies. The discussion is comprehension strategies at all grade levels from scaffolded as she models first, then asks students the very youngest children to high school to turn to a partner, and finally discusses the students (Pearson & Duke, 2002). Many of our strategy as a group. At the end of the lesson the students could use a reading vitamin boost from teacher asks which of the Fab Four strategies reciprocal teaching (Palinscar & Brown, 1986), helped the students the most for that session— a research-based comprehension technique with predict, question, clarify, or summarize. over 25 years of success. Reciprocal teaching is an ideal strategy to use to strengthen During a social studies lesson in sixth grade, comprehension while implementing the the teacher asks teams of students to take on the Common Core State Standards. roles of predictor, questioner, clarifier, and summarizer as they read the assigned chapter. The “Fab Four” Each team fills in a chart with their responses, and individuals mark their texts with sticky Reciprocal teaching is a scaffolded notes to track their individual reactions. The discussion technique that involves four strategies teacher periodically stops to model how to that good readers employ when they read: clarify difficult words and concepts and how to predict, question, clarify, and summarize. “The ask relevant questions. The class works together Fab Four” (Oczkus, 2010), the kid friendly name on a “twitter” (short summary) that they will for these strategies, may be used in any order. post on the class blog along with student Each is first modeled by the teacher, then illustrations. Reciprocal teaching is a practiced by the students with one another, and collaborative hands-on strategy that works well finally individually applied. For best results, in any grade level K-12 and in a wide variety of four foundations must be in place: think alouds, settings including whole class, guided reading, and literature circles. Vol 16 No 1 Spring 2013 The Utah Journal of Literacy 35 Reciprocal Teaching and the Common Core Researchers Ann Brown and Ann Palinscar developed the technique in the 1980s in their Reciprocal teaching strategies help teachers work with struggling middle school students. to effectively teach the type of close reading Their idea was to pare down the number of called for in the Common Core State Standards reading strategies to just the essential four and (National Governors Association, 2010). These then ask students to read a chunk of text and strategies may be applied to all texts and are rotate through all four strategies with that bit of especially effective with informational texts. text. Readers actually employ multiple strategies Since reciprocal teaching is a discussion in the reading process (Reutzel, Smith, & technique, Common Core State Standards for Fawson, 2005), so using all four is natural. Since listening and speaking are met as well, the two Anns (Palinscar & Brown, 1986) came particularly the standards calling for students to up with reciprocal teaching, the power package prepare for conversations and collaborative has been implemented successfully through all discussions and to sometimes take on roles in the grades from primary to high school and even discussions. with adults. The possibilities for implementation During reciprocal teaching discussions are creative and endless (Oczkus, 2010). The students run through the strategies with partners results are evident in just a few weeks or or group members, sometimes specifically months. taking on the roles of the strategies themselves as the predictor, clarifier, questioner, and Powerful Results summarizer. Common core standards also call for students to use evidence from the text when When I began using reciprocal teaching as an determining themes or drawing inferences as intervention for struggling intermediate readers they ask and answer questions (National at an urban school, I was amazed when our Governors Association, 2010). During reciprocal students went from reading at the second grade teaching lessons, students summarize texts in level to the fourth grade level in just three varied ways; thus each of the four strategies months! helps students to meet common core The results were consistent with the research expectations. findings on reciprocal teaching, which promise one to two years growth in three to six months. I • Predict. Students draw inferences and was a convert and began trying reciprocal use evidence from the text throughout the teaching successfully everywhere I went, from reading process. urban schools to suburban schools, with a • Question. Students ask and answer variety of grade levels. Second language questions to understand the text. They students benefited from the consistent use of draw on multiple sources, including reciprocal teaching as well as struggling readers. digital items, to answer questions. Here are some of the research findings: • Clarify. Students know and apply grade level phonics and word analysis skills in • In 15 days students are more confident decoding words in texts. They also use (Palinscar & Brown, 1986). context to confirm or self-correct, and • Low-performing students do well with they reread when necessary. reciprocal teaching (Carter, 1997). • Summarize. Students can identify main • Struggling readers grow 1-2 years in 3-6 ideas and details in paragraphs and in months (Cooper, Boschken, multiparagraph texts. They also compare McWilliams, & Pistochini, 2000). and contrast the overall structure of a • In 16 studies reciprocal teaching proved text. Students determine themes and consistent and effective (Rosenshine & summarize poems, dramas, or literature. Meister, 1994). Vol 16 No 1 Spring 2013 The Utah Journal of Literacy 36 when they employ the hand gestures. For predicting, students pretend to rub a crystal ball. Favorite Tools for Interactive Lessons When they question, they make a fist for a microphone, and for clarify they make circles When you use a variety of hands-on tools, with their fingers for “glasses” to clarify. When reciprocal teaching becomes truly student students summarize, they pretend to wield a centered, interactive, and memorable. Here are lasso around above their heads as they round up some of the props and other manipulatives that the main idea. can bring comprehension alive for students (Oczkus, 2010). For each hands-on tool you will Graphic organizers. Graphic organizers are find a quick adaptation for various grade levels. an effective means of helping students keep track of their reading and comprehension. Fab Four characters (Oczkus, 2009, 2010). Reciprocal teaching offers a logical graphic Metaphors are a meaningful way to teach representation organized around the four students of any age (Wormelli, 2009). Using strategies. Simply divide a paper or chart paper characters for each of the strategies makes into four boxes and either serve as a scribe to learning about them memorable and brain write student comments or invite students to compatible (Oczkus, 2010). On the “scale of place sticky notes on the chart in each box kookiness” you can dress up as the characters during the lesson. During guided reading and use special voices and mannerisms, use lessons, use smaller paper such as construction hand gestures, hold up props, or just show paper or a colorful file folder and pass it around pictures of the characters. the table, allowing students to add to it by Paula the Predictor is a fortune teller who writing on it or using sticky notes. uses pictures and words as she rubs her crystal ball to make powerful predictions. Quincy the Dice (Oczkus, 2010). Run a discussion using questioner is a talk show host who rattles off dice. Students working in small groups or teams questions rapid fire for students to answer as he roll dice, and when they land on each number whips out his microphone. Clara Clarifier is a they read the text and respond accordingly: 1 fancy, boa-sporting little lady who says predict, 2 question, 3 clarify, 4 summarize, 5 “darlings” often as she pauses to clarify words free choice, 6 free choice. and concepts she does not understand. Sammy Summarizer is a cowboy or cowgirl ready to Spinner (Oczkus, 2010). Using a simple rope up the main ideas in the reading. paper plate, make a spinner. Label the plate with I have had great fun with these characters all four strategies. Students may work in small over the past ten years of using them. From a groups, sometimes teacher led, to take turns puppet kit for primary (Oczkus, 2008; spinning the dial and carrying out the strategy www.primaryconcepts.com) to skits put on by they land on. teachers or students, classes embrace the characters and make learning come alive. At one Music (Oczkus, 2010). Try assigning popular school some of the teachers even dressed up as songs to each strategy, such as “The Pink the Fab Four for Halloween. No wonder smiles Panther” for predicting and “Rawhide” for break out when the characters come to reading summarizing. Play these for students or make up lessons, and students easily remember the your own songs for each strategy using familiar strategies. tunes. Hand motions to show strategy use Stick and sketch notes. During independent (Oczkus, 2009, 2010). Using hand gestures reading, ask students to mark a spot where they along with the metaphors actively engages used one of the Fab Four strategies and then students in a nonlinguistic representation for share in a partner or class discussion. They their thinking (Marzano, 2004).