reciprocal teaching: improving students reading comprehension

77
Hamline University DigitalCommons@Hamline School of Education Student Capstone eses and Dissertations School of Education Spring 2017 Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension Nora O'Malley Hamline University Follow this and additional works at: hps://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons is esis is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Education at DigitalCommons@Hamline. It has been accepted for inclusion in School of Education Student Capstone eses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Hamline. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Recommended Citation O'Malley, Nora, "Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension" (2017). School of Education Student Capstone eses and Dissertations. 4273. hps://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all/4273

Upload: others

Post on 09-Dec-2021

10 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

Hamline UniversityDigitalCommons@HamlineSchool of Education Student Capstone Theses andDissertations School of Education

Spring 2017

Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students ReadingComprehensionNora O'MalleyHamline University

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all

Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Education at DigitalCommons@Hamline. It has been accepted for inclusion inSchool of Education Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Hamline. For more information,please contact [email protected], [email protected].

Recommended CitationO'Malley, Nora, "Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension" (2017). School of Education Student CapstoneTheses and Dissertations. 4273.https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all/4273

Page 2: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

RECIPROCALTEACHING:

IMPROVINGSTUDENTSREADINGCOMPREHENSION

by

NoraG.O’Malley

ACapstonesubmittedinpartialfulfillmentoftherequirementsforthedegreeofMasterofArtsinLiteracyEducation

HamlineUniversitySt.Paul,Minnesota

May2017

Committee:MarciaRockwood,PrimaryAdvisorKimKnutilla,SecondaryAdvisorKathleenLopiano,PeerReviewer

Page 3: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

2

Mom,Dad,andCaitlin~Thankyouformakingthisallpossible.IwouldnotbewhereI’mattodaywithoutyour

support.Thehomemademealsandlaundryservicewasn’tbadeither☺

Kevin~Foryourwordsofencouragementandstickin’

withmethepasttwoyears-Thankyou.

Marcia,Kim,andKathleen~Thankyoufortheoutstandingfeedbackandguidancethroughoutthisprocess.

Icouldn’taskforamoresupportiveteam.

Page 4: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

3

TableofContents

CHAPTERONE........................................................................................................................................................... 4Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 4ProfessionalPractice ..........................................................................................................................................................5Will’sReadingJourney .......................................................................................................................................................6Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................................................................8

CHAPTERTWO........................................................................................................................................................10LiteratureReview ..................................................................................................................................................10Introduction......................................................................................................................................................................... 10UnderstandingComprehension .................................................................................................................................. 11UnderstandingFluency................................................................................................................................................... 15RelationshipBetweenFluencyandComprehension ......................................................................................... 18DefiningReciprocalTeaching ...................................................................................................................................... 20Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................................ 29

CHAPTERTHREE ...................................................................................................................................................30Methods......................................................................................................................................................................31TheRationaleforCurriculumDevelopment ......................................................................................................... 31TheLearningEnvironment ........................................................................................................................................... 32Participants .......................................................................................................................................................................... 33CurricularFramework .................................................................................................................................................... 34Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................................ 35

CHAPTERFOUR ......................................................................................................................................................36Results.........................................................................................................................................................................36CurriculumDevelopment............................................................................................................................................... 36Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................................ 69

CHAPTERFIVE ........................................................................................................................................................70Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................................70PossibleImplications....................................................................................................................................................... 71PossibleLimitations ......................................................................................................................................................... 72FutureResearch................................................................................................................................................................. 73FinalThoughts .................................................................................................................................................................... 73

BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................................................................75

Page 5: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

4

CHAPTERONE

Introduction

“Ifthepurposeforreadingisanythingotherthanunderstanding,whyreadatall?-StephanieHarvey&AnneGoudvis

Readinghasalwayscomenaturallytome.Growingup,classicslikeTheRainbow

Fish,WheretheWildThingsAreandTheGivingTreefilledmyshelvesandIhadnoproblem

choosingtoreadoverplayingoutside.Ivividlyremembergettinglostinthestoryline,

imaginingmyselfasthecharacterandanxiouslypredictingwhatwastocome.Itwasatthis

youngagethatIrealizeditwasnottheactofreadingthatIwasattractedto,itwasthe

storythatcamealongwithit.

AsIbeganmyteachingcareerthreeyearsagoasanaïvethirdgradeteacher,I

assumedthatmystudentswouldautomaticallysharealoveforreadingandtheabilityto

understandthestorylikeIhad.Boy,wasIwrong!AlthoughIwasblessedwithadiverse

groupoflearners,manyperformedbelowgradelevel.Iwasnotonlyconfusedbytheirlack

ofmotivationtoread,butalsobytheirlackofunderstandingwhattheyread.Alarge

portionofmyclasscoulddecodeandreadthewordsbeautifully,butwhenaskedsimple

questionsaboutthereading,theywouldstareatmeblankly.Iimmediatelyfeltillequipped

andconfusedonhowtohelpthesestudentscomprehend.Wasn’treadingcomprehension

Page 6: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

5

supposedtobeanautomaticskill?Iftheycanreadthewordstheyshouldbeabletorecall

whattheyread,right?Thisconfusionandfrustrationledmetoaskmyresearchquestion:

Howcanreciprocalteachingbeusedtoincreasecomprehensionskillswithfluentreadersin

theprimarygrades?

ProfessionalPractice WhenIthinkbackonmypathofbecomingateacher,thereisnodoubtinmymind

thatitallstartedwithmystudentteachingexperience.Iwasfortunatetoworkwithsecond

gradersinaCatholicelementaryschool.Iwassoexcitedtojumprightinandlearn

everythingtherewastolearnaboutbeingateacher.

Ihadtheprivilegeofworkingwithawonderfulandcaringcooperativeteacherwho

hadmanyyearsofexperienceandknowledgeabouttheprofession.Withthatbeingsaid,I

woulddescribeherteachingstyleasverytraditional.The45-minutereadingblock

consistedofreadingthestoryfromthebasalasawholegroupandthenansweringthe

comprehensionquestionsattheend,alsoasawholegroup.Iperseveredthroughthefour

monthsofstudentteachingtrulybelievingthatiswhatreadingtimelookedlike.Notonly

wasthisinstructiontobewholegroup,butitassumedthatallstudentsunderstoodand

comprehendedatthesamelevel.

Thisstyleofteachingseemedtoworkformycooperatingteacherandherstudents

atthetime.Theyallhadtheabilitytopassthetestsattheendoftheunitandmoveonto

thirdgrade.However,Icannothelpbutlookbacknowandwonderhowexplicit

comprehensionstrategyinstructionwouldhavepositivelyaffectedtheirreading.Did

simplyansweringliteralquestionsallowthemtoacquiretheproperskillstocomprehend

morecomplextextinthefuture?Ifstudentscouldreadthewords,doesthatautomatically

Page 7: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

6

meantheyunderstoodthecontent?Atthetime,myanswerstothosequestionswereyes,

butitwassoontochange.

Oddly,Ileftthisexperiencefeelingpreparedandreadytoteach.Inreality,Iwasnot

preparedandreadytoteachagroupofdiversestudentswhoseneedswerevaried.Clearly,

Ilackedasolidfoundationinteachingstudentstoread,andmorespecifically,howto

comprehend.TheonlycomprehensionstrategyIhadinmytoolboxwastohelpstudents

answerthequestionsattheendofastory.Iassumediftheycouldreadthetextandanswer

thosequestions,theywouldbesuccessfulreaders.Moredangerously,Ialsoassumedifthey

couldreadthewords,theunderstandingportionwouldfollow.

Will’sReadingJourney Reflectingonmypastexperiences,onestudentinparticularcontributedtomy

interestinthistopic.Willwasastudentinmythirdgradeclassduringmyfirstyearof

teaching.Hewasaverylikeablechildwhowasthefirstonetothrowhishandupto

participate.Willlovedtoreadandevenconsideredhimselfagoodreader.Hehadno

troublereadingoutloudtohisclassmatesormyself.BecauseIknewhecouldreadfluently

Iwouldvolunteerhimtoreadoutloudregularly,whichinreturnincreasedhisconfidence.

IhadnodoubtthatWillwouldbeoneofmybrighteststudentsthroughouttheupcoming

schoolyear.

UponhearingWill’sfluentreadingIplacedhiminmyadvancedreadinggroup.It

wasnotuntilsmallgroupthatInoticedtherealproblem.Afterwefinishedreadingthe

leveledreader,Iautomaticallystartedtoaskcomprehensionquestions.Willwasupfirst.I

askedhimthesimplerecallquestionfromthetext.Hestammeredoutafewrandomwords,

paused,andeventuallysaid,“Idon’tknow.”Notonlywashestumped,butIwasstumpedas

Page 8: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

7

well.Itdidnotmakesensetome.HowcouldWillbesucha“good”readerbuthavenoidea

whathehadread?Stanovich(1986)cameupwiththeterm“wordcalling.”Thisiswhenthe

wordsinthetextareefficientlydecodedintotheirspokenformswithoutcomprehensionof

thepassagetakingplace.ThisconceptdescribedWillperfectly.Hedidnotunderstandthat

readingalsorequiredthinking.

Forthemostpart,Willhadmefooled.Itturnedout,helackedanextremely

importantpieceofthereadingpuzzle,likemanyotherstudents.Thatmissingpiecewas

comprehension.Ibelievedhewasagoodreaderbecausehecouldreadthewordsfluently

withalmostnoerrors.Ihaveneverbeenmorewrong.ItwasatthismomentthatIrealized

therearetwoequallyimportantcomponentsofreading:decodingandcomprehension.In

ordertobeasuccessfulreader,learnersmusthaveboth.Asamoreexperiencedteacher,I

nowrecognizethatIwasjudgingWill’sreadinglevelbasedonhisabilitytodecode,nothis

abilitytodecodeandconstructmeaningfromthetext.Frankly,Iwasbaffledbyastudent

whoseunderstandingofthetextdidnotcomeautomatically.

OnceIrealizedWilldidnotcomprehendwhatheread,Ibegantotakeaction.

ImmediatelyIthoughtthathewaschoosingbooksthatweretoohardforhim.Therefore,

wehadcountlessconversationsaboutchoosingjustrightbooks,andIwouldcheckinwith

himoccasionallytomakesurethebookshechosewereonhislevel.However,thisstrategy

didnotsolvetheproblem,soItaughthimhowtolookbackinthetexttofindanswersto

thequestions.Wepracticedoverandoveragaingoingbackintothetexttopullout

answers.Althoughhiscomprehensionincreasedslightly,Iknewhedidnotgrowtohisfull

potential.

Page 9: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

8

IwillneverforgetthedayIreceivedhisresultsfromtheNESAstatetest.Will’s

readingscorewasoneofthelowestintheclass.AlthoughIknewhestruggledwith

comprehension,Iwasstillshockedtoseetheproof.Evenmoredifficultwastryingto

explainhisscoretohisparents,whoalsoviewedtheirsonasaproficientreader.Theworst

partwasthatIwassupposedtohavetheanswers.AfterallIwastheprofessionaleducator,

andyetwestaredateachother,notknowingwhattodo.Iwasprovidingtheonlysolutions

Iknewtothisproblemanditclearlywasnotworking.

ReflectinguponWillandsimilarstudentswhohavethesamechallenge,Iamstillleft

withthequestion:Howcanreciprocalteachingbeusedtoincreasecomprehensionskillswith

fluentreadersintheprimarygrades?IbelieveIneedtofindawaytosupportstudentswho

keepgettingpushedalongbecausetheyareconsideredgoodreaders,butinrealitylackthe

abilitytocomprehend.Readingismuchmorethandecodingthewords.Itisultimately

aboutthinkingandconstructingmeaning.Whenencountering“wordcallers”likeWill,I

strivetogainabetterunderstandingofstrategiesthatwillimprovetheircomprehension

andunderstandingofthetext.UltimatelyIhopethatmystudentswillfallinlovewiththe

storyofreading,likeIdidasachild.

Conclusion Asateachingprofessional,itismyresponsibilitytopreparemystudentstobe

proficientlifelongreaders.Thismeansnotonlyteachingthemhowtoreadthewords,but

alsohowtounderstandthetext.InChapterTwoofthiscapstoneproject,Iwillprovide

currentresearchonfluencyandcomprehensioninstructionaswellascomprehension

strategies.Additionally,myresearchwillfocusontheexplicitconnectionbetweenfluency

andcomprehensionanddescribereciprocalteaching,aspecificcomprehensionstrategy.

Page 10: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

9

Next,ChapterThreewilldiscussthemethodologysurroundingthecurriculum

developmentunitonreciprocalteachingthatIcreate.Firstofall,Iwilldescribethe

learningenvironmentandframeworkfortheunit.Then,ChapterFourwillincludethe

curriculumIdeveloped,includinglessonstosupportreciprocalteaching.Finally,in

ChapterFive,IwillreflectonwhatIhavelearnedfromdesigningandimplementinga

curriculumthatfocusesonreciprocalteaching.Iwillalsodiscussthelimitationsand

implications,aswellasanyfuturerecommendationsforthisareaofstudy.

Page 11: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

10

CHAPTERTWO

LiteratureReview

“Readinggivesussomeplacetogowhenwehavetostaywhereweare.”-MasonCooley

Introduction Readingcomprehensionisattheheartofallreading.Intheworldofeducation

today,unfortunately,someteachersdisregardtheimportanceofcomprehension.Beingin

suchafastpacedenvironment,itiseasyforteacherstoneglecttheimportanceof

comprehensionstrategyinstruction.Itcanbeeasytoassumethatfluentreadingequatesto

understandingthemeaning.Judgingoffpastexperience,thatisnotalwaysthecase.Tovani

(2000)elaboratesonthemeaningofwordcallersandstates,“Wordcallershavemastered

decodingand,asabonus,alsochoosetoread.However,theydon’tunderstandthatreading

involvesthinking”(p.15).Inaddition,GambrellandMorrow(2015)insist,“Asignificant

numberofreaderswhostrugglewithcomprehensiondosodespitehavingadequateword

recognitionskills”(pg.224).Therefore,itismygoaltoexplicitlyteachcomprehension

strategiestofluentreaders,inorderforthemtoconstructmeaningfromthetext.This

Page 12: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

11

leadsmetoaskthequestion:Howcanreciprocalteachingbeusedtoincrease

comprehensionskillswithfluentreadersintheprimarygrades?

Thischapterwillbeginbydefiningandexplainingtheconceptsofcomprehension

andfluency.Inaddition,itwillexplorewhatthecurrentresearchershaverevealedabout

comprehensionandfluencyinstruction.Secondly,itwilldescribetherelationshipbetween

fluencyandcomprehension.Thisincludesprovidinganexplanationoffluencyasa

predecessorofcomprehension,versustheideathatfluencyandcomprehensionare

intertwined.Finally,thischapterwillexaminetheresearchononespecificcomprehension

strategy,reciprocalteaching.Itwillexplicitlydiscusshowtoincorporatethisstrategyinto

classroominstructiontoincreasestudents’comprehension.

UnderstandingComprehension TheWebster’sdictionarydefinescomprehensionas,“Theactionorcapabilityof

understandingsomething.”Ultimatelycomprehensionistheprimaryreasonforreading.If

studentsarenotabletounderstandwhattheyhaveread,thenwhatisthepointofreading?

AccordingtoHarveyandGoudvis(2007),constructingmeaningisthegoalof

comprehension.Theyrecommendthatstudents:

• Monitorunderstanding

• Enhanceunderstanding

• Acquireandactivelyuseknowledge

• Developinsight

Initially,readingcomprehensionwasaboutliteralunderstandingofthetext,butHarvey

andGoudvis(2007)explainmoredeeply,“Truecomprehensiongoesbeyondliteral

understandingandinvolvesthereader’sinteractionwiththetext”(pg.14).Inotherwords,

Page 13: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

12

readersshouldbeabletocomprehendwhattheyarelearninginadditiontothinkingabout

whattheyarereading.

Harvey(2011)continuestodescribethemeaningofcomprehensionas

understanding.Shecontendsthat,“Comprehensionisnotaboutspittingoutfactsandfilling

inblanks”(pg.117).Rather,itisencouragingstudentstoactivelythink,andthinkdeeply

aboutissues,orconceptsinordertoapplythisthinkingtotheirownexperiences.Inthe

end,thereasonweteachcomprehensionissothatstudentscanturnthisinformationinto

knowledgeandactivelyuseit.

McLaughlin(2012)revealsthatmeaningisconstructedfromtextwhenreaders

connecttheirbackgroundknowledge(whattheyalreadyknow)towhattheyarereading

(thetext).Thisrelatestotheconstructivistviewpointofschematheory.Schematheory

states,themorepriorknowledgeastudenthasonthetopic,theeasieritwillbeforthemto

makesenseofthetext(Tracey&Morrow,2012).Similarly,DukeandPearson(2002)add,

“Goodreadersdrawfrom,compareandintegratetheirpriorknowledgewithmaterialin

thetext”(pg.107).Basedonthisresearch,comprehensiontakesplacewhenreadersmake

connectionsbetweentheirexperiencesandthematerialtheyarereading.

Inthefollowingsubsections,Iwilldescribethecomprehensioncontinuumandhow

itisusedtoguidestudents’comprehension.Additionally,Iwillexplaintheimportanceof

comprehensionstrategyinstruction.Thisincludesanexplanationofself-regulatedlearners

andtherolemetacognitionplaysinincreasingreaders’comprehension.

Comprehensioncontinuum.HarveyandGoudvis(2013)designedacontinuumof

comprehension,whichactsasaspectrumofunderstanding.Thisincludesfive

Page 14: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

13

comprehensionpracticesstartingfromthelowestlevelandgraduallymovingtowards

moreadvancedthinking.Thefivepracticesare:

• Answeringliteralquestions

• Retelling

• Mergingthinkingwithcontent

• Acquiringknowledge

• Activelyusingknowledge

Answeringliteralquestionsistheleastsophisticatedpracticeofcomprehension.The

processdoesnotdisplayunderstanding,butratherallowsstudentstoscanforanswersand

pickoutonethatmatchesthequestion(Harvey&Goudvis,2013).Thesecondcomponent

ofthecomprehensioncontinuumisretelling.Retellingdemonstratesshort-termrecalland

organizingeventsinastory.Thisalsodoesnotdemonstrateunderstanding.Understanding

beginsoncereadersmergethinkingwithcontent.Byengaginginquestioning,synthesizing,

andreactingtoinformation,readersarebeginningtoconstructmeaningfromthetext.

Oncereadersmergetheirthinkingwiththecontent,theycanstarttoacquireknowledge.

Thismeanstheyareabletounderstanddeeperbecausetheyaretakinganactivestancein

theirlearningbytrulythinkingaboutthecontent.Finally,whenreadersactivelyusetheir

knowledgetheycanapplyittonewexperiencesintheirdailylivesandultimatelytake

action.Thesefivecomprehensionpracticesserveasatooltoguidestudentstowardshigher

levelsofthinkingandunderstanding.

Comprehensionstrategyinstruction.Studentswhocomprehendpoorlyneedmore

thansimplyhavingcontentknowledge.Theyneedtolearnhowtoaccessthisknowledge

andintegrateittomakemeaningofthetext.Inotherwords,theyneedstrategyinstruction

Page 15: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

14

(Gambrell&Morrow,2015).AccordingtoPilonietaandMedina(2009),“Comprehension

strategiesareconscious,deliberate,andflexibleplansreadersuseandadjustwhilereading

orwhencomprehensionbreaksdown”(pg.120).Inaddition,thegoalofstrategy

instructionisforstudentstobecomeself-regulatedlearners.Self-regulatedlearnersnot

onlychoosefromavarietyofdifferentstrategies,butalsoareawareifonedoesnotwork.If

thechosenstrategyisunsuccessful,theywillchooseanotheronethatissuccessful

(Pilonieta&Medina,2009).Inthesamemanner,GambrellandMorrow(2015)mentionthe

harminteachingstrategiesinisolation.Thiscausesteacherstopromptstudentstousethe

specificstrategyinsteadofencouragingstudentstomaketheirowndecisionsaboutwhich

strategytouse.Insummary,studentsneedavarietyofdifferentstrategiestochoosefrom

andmusthavetheabilitytodetermineparticularstrategiesthatworkbetterthanothers.

Tovani(2011)elaboratedoncomprehensionstrategybyexplaining,“Strategiesare

notaboutusingstickynotesandhighlighters.Strategiesareintentionalplansthatreaders

usetoconstructindependentthought”(pg.180).Inotherwords,strategiesgivereadersa

waytointeractwiththetext.AccordingtoTovani(2011),poorreaderslosemotivation

whenthemeaningdoesnotautomaticallyappear.Theyblameitontheboringtextorthat

theycannotread.

Allreadersneedtoknowhowtoproceedwhenmeaningbreaksdown.Theyneed

strategyinstruction.Comprehensionstrategiesdonotchangeasstudentsprogressthrough

thegrades.Rather,thestrategiesbecomemorecomplexandsophisticatedasthetext

becomesmoredifficult(Tovani,2011).Basedonresearch,strategyinstructionwillhelp

readersbemoreawareofhowcomprehensionstrategiescanhelpthemmakemeaningof

thetext.

Page 16: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

15

Furthermore,GambrellandMorrow(2015)mentiontheimportanceofstudents

activelymakingdecisionsontheirownabouthowtomakesenseofthetext.Thisconceptis

calledmetacognition.AccordingtoVanKeer&Vanderlinde(2010),“Thegoalof

metacognitiveinstructionistohelpreadersbecomemoreawareoftheirownthinking

duringthereadingprocesswhich,ultimately,shouldleadtoincreasetextcomprehension”

(pg.73).Inordertocreatemetacognitivereaders,onemustteachthemtheconditions

underwhichthestrategyisused,inadditiontoteachingthestrategyitself.Inotherwords,

studentsmustconsiderwhere,when,andwhytheymightuseaparticularstrategyinorder

tomeettheirreadinggoal(GambrellandMorrow,2015).

Inaddition,GambrellandMorrow(2015)emphasizetheimportanceofteaching

strategiesinsetsratherthanindividually.Thishelpsstudentsdeterminewhenandwhere

theyshouldusethestrategy,howtochoosefromavarietyofstrategies,andhowto

recognizeiftheirchoicesarehelpingthemcomprehend.Inlikemanner,“Goodreadersdo

notusecomprehensionstrategiesoneatatimeastheyread.Rathertheyorchestrateand

coordinatea‘set’or‘family’ofstrategiestocomprehendtext”(Reutzeletal.,2005,p.279).

Insummary,itisrecommendedthatcomprehensionstrategiesbetaughtinagroupsothat

studentscanusemultiplestrategiesastheyread.

UnderstandingFluency Inthepast,fluencywasviewedasanoralreadingphenomenon(Pikulski&Chard,

2005).TheNationalReadingPaneldefinedreadingfluencyas“theabilitytoreadtext

quickly,accurately,andwithproperexpression”(NICHD,2000,p.3-5).Thisdefinition

strictlyfocusesonfluencyasanoralreadingpractice.However,newdefinitionshave

emergedthatincludemorethanjustoralreading.TheLiteracyDictionary:TheVocabulary

Page 17: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

16

ofReadingandWritingdefinedfluencyas“freedomfromwordidentificationproblemsthat

mighthindercomprehension”(Harris&Hodges,1995,p.85).Thisdefinitionexpandson

themeaningofreadingfluencytoincludecomprehension.

Formanyyears,Rasinski(2004)hasbeenaleadingresearcherinthefieldof

fluency.Hehasattributedfluencyasanimportantfactorinstudentreadingsuccess.He

definesfluencyas,“Thereader’sabilitytodevelopcontroloversurfaceleveltext

processingsothatheorshecanfocusonunderstandingthedeeperlevelsofmeaning

embeddedinthetext”(pg.46).Inotherwords,readingrequiresstudentstoprocessthe

text(surfacelevelofreading)andcomprehendthetext(thedeepermeaning).Once

studentscansuccessfullyreadthetext,theycanfocusonreadingformeaning.

Morerecently,Samuels,EdigerandFautsch-Patridge(2005),haveexploredthe

meaningoffluency.Theyassert,“Theessentialingredientinfluencyistheabilitytodecode

andcomprehendatthesametime”(2004,pg.2).Thatistosay,areaderwhocanread

accuratelyandwithspeed,butstrugglestocomprehend,isnotconsideredafluentreader.

Theymustbeabletodecodeandcomprehendsimultaneously.Samuels,Edigerand

Fautsch-Patridgecontinuetodescribetheimportanceofimplementingfluencyinstruction

tothepointofautomaticity,sothatreaderscanhavethecognitivespacetounderstandthe

passage(2005).Basedonthisdefinition,itisclearthatfluencyisnotjusttheabilitytoread

accuratelyandorallywithexpression,butisrelatedtotheabilitytocomprehendaswell.In

thesubsectiontofollow,Iwillpresentresearchthatdescribesthecomponentsoffluency

includingautomaticity,prosody,andspeed.

Componentsoffluency.AccordingtoRasinski(2012),fluencyhastwomajor

components:automaticityandprosody.Automaticityreferstotheabilityforreadersto

Page 18: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

17

recognizethewordsautomaticallyoreffortlessly.Prosodyreferstoreadingwith

expression,whichleadstocomprehension.Whenreaderscanidentifythewordsinthetext

automatically,theycanfocustheirattentiononcomprehension.Inaddition,fluentreaders

useprosody,orexpressionintheirvoicetohelpconveymeaning.Forexample,when

readersemphasizeacertainwordinthetext,itaddsimpliedmeaning.Inotherwords,

meaningthatisnotclearlystated.Therefore,Rasinskiexplains,“Prosodyallowsthereader

toinferinformationthatisnotexplicitlystatedinthepassage”(2012,pg.519).Hesums

thisupbyfurtherexplainingthat,automaticityisthelinktowordrecognitionwhereas,

prosodycompletesthebridgebylinkingfluencytocomprehension(Raskinski,2012).

Aspreviouslystated,Samuels,EdigerandFautsch-Patridge(2005)believefluencyis

theabilitytodecodeandcomprehendatthesametime.Theycontendtheother

componentsoffluency(accuracy,speedandoralreadingexpression)aresimplyindicators.

Expandingonthisidea,theyexplainthatthecomponentsoffluencyareinterrelated.For

example,ifastudentishavingdifficultywithonecomponent,thereadingprocessislikely

tobedisrupted.

IncomparisontoRasinski(2012),Samuels,EdigerandFautsch-Patridge(2005)

describetheconnectionbetweenaccuracyandcomprehension.Theysuggestthatifa

studenthasdifficultywithaccuratelyreadingthewords,theircognitiveloadwillincrease,

thereforemakingitdifficulttoretaintheinformationread.UnlikeRasinski(2015),

Samuels,EdigerandFautsch-Patridge(2005)explainanothercomponenttofluency,which

isspeed.Avarietyoffactorsinfluencethespeedofareaderincluding,theirpurposefor

reading,thevocabularyandwordrecognitionabilities,andthespeedatwhichareader’s

mindcanprocesswhattheyarereading(Samuels,Ediger&Fautsch-Patridge,2005).

Page 19: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

18

Thefinalcomponentoffluencyaddressedisoralreadingexpression.Thisincludes

pitches,voicechanges,andpausesthatoccurinregardstopunctuation.Oralreading

expressionisrelatedtocomprehensionbecauseitcommunicateswhatthereaderis

interpretingtobeimportantandhowthereaderunderstandsthetext(Samuels,Ediger&

Fautsch-Patridge,2005).Inconclusion,ifreaderspossessthesecomponentsoffluency,itis

anindicationtheywillbeabletodecodeandcomprehendatthesametime.

RelationshipBetweenFluencyandComprehension Pikulski&Chard(2005)stressthattherelationshipbetweenfluencyand

comprehensioniscomplex.Accordingtotheresearch,thereisevidencetosupportboth

positions:fluencyaspredecessorofcomprehension,aswellasfluencyandcomprehension

intertwined.Intheirreviewoffluencyresearch,Stecker,RoserandMartinez(1998)

articulate,“Fluencyhasbeenshowntohaveareciprocalrelationshipwithcomprehension,

witheachfosteringtheother”(p.300).Therefore,fluencyandcomprehensiongohandin

hand.Readersmustreadfluentlyinordertocomprehendandreadersmustbeableto

comprehendinordertoreadfluently.Similarly,PikulskiandChard(2005),viewfluencyas

alargedevelopmentalprocessinwhichdecodingskillswillformabridgetoreading

comprehension.Basedonthisview,fluencyisdirectlyrelatedtocomprehension.The

followingsubsectionswillexplaindeeperthiscomplexrelationshipbetweenfluencyand

comprehension.

Fluencyaspredecessorofcomprehension.AccordingtoLaBergeandSamuels

(1974),humanbeingscanattendtoonlyonethingatatime.Inordertodotwothingsat

once,wemustalternateourattentionbetweenthetwoactivities.However,insomecases,

ifoneoftheactivitiescanbeperformedautomatically,thenhumanswouldbeabletodo

Page 20: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

19

morethanonethingatatime.Readingrequirestwo“activities”orprocesses:decodingand

comprehension.WhenLaBergeandSamuel’sideaisappliedtoreading,thereaderwould

notbeabletofocusattentiononbothworddecodingandcomprehensionatthesametime.

PilulskiandChardagreewiththisandcontend,“Ifattentionisdrainedbydecodingwords,

littleornocapacityisavailablefortheattention-demandingprocessofcomprehending”

(2005,pg.511).Therefore,inorderforcomprehensiontotakeplace,thereadermustbe

abletodecodeautomatically.Basedonthisassumption,fluencywouldbeconsidereda

predecessorofcomprehension.

Additionally,Rasinski(2012)mentionstheimportanceoflearnersreadingthe

wordsautomatically.HeexpandsonLaBergeandSamuel’sideaoflimitedamountof

attentionorwhathecalls,cognitiveenergy.Sincereaderscannotusetheircognitiveenergy

towardstwotasksatonce,itisessentialthattheycanreadautomaticallysothatcognitive

spaceisavailabletocomprehend.Ifstudentsareconstantlyusingtheircognitiveenergyto

decodewords,therewillbenomorelefttomakemeaningofthetext.Thesearethesame

readerswhowouldunderstandastorybeingreadtothembecausetheycansolelyfocuson

comprehendinginsteadofdecoding(Rasinski,2012).Similarly,Applegate,Applegate,and

Modla(2009)include,ifreadersarenotabletoautomaticallydecodethewords,theefforts

theyusetodecodewilllimittheirabilitytosuccessfullycomprehend.Therefore,increases

instudentfluencyshouldresultwithincreasesinreadingcomprehension.

Fluencyandcomprehensionintertwined.Otherresearchersbelievethatfluencyand

comprehensionshouldbedevelopedsimultaneously.Forexample,Schwanenflugel(2006)

insiststhatsuchskillsbetaughtatthesametimesothatthereadercanseetherelationship

betweenthem,andinreturn,becomeincorporatedintotheirinternalmonitoringsystems.

Page 21: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

20

Ifthiswerethecase,studentswouldrealizetheconnectionbetweenfluencyand

comprehensionandbeabletoself-monitorwhilereading.

Ontheotherhand,Walczyk&Griffith-Ross(2007)believethatfluencyand

comprehensionskillsarerelatedtotheextentbywhichthestudentfindsthematerial

interesting.Theyassert,“Morefluentreadersareengagedbychallengingandinteresting

tasks,otherwisetheymayreadlackadaisically”(pg.566).Thisresearchsupportstheidea

thatiffluentreadersarenotinterestedinthematerialanddonotfinditengaging,they

maystrugglewithcomprehension.

Furthermore,WalczykandGriffith-Ross(2007)elaboratebyreportingthatstudents

whocanreadthewordswithouteffortmaynotbeengagedinthetext.Insteadofreading

formeaningortounderstand,theysimplyflythroughreadingthewords,allowingtheir

mindtowander.Basedonthisassumption,havingtostrugglealittlewithwordmeaning

helpsstudentstostayengaged.Therefore,havingtheabilitytoreadfluentlymaynotbe

necessaryinordertocomprehendwell.

InthissectionIhavepresentedfoundationalresearchonthetermscomprehension

andfluency.Additionally,Ihavedescribedtherelationshipbetweenfluencyand

comprehension.Thisresearchpavesthewayforthequestiondrivingthiscapstoneproject:

Howcanreciprocalteachingbeusedtoincreasecomprehensionwithfluentreadersinthe

primarygrades?Lookingforward,Iwilldiscussreciprocalteachingandhowincorporating

itintoinstructionwillimprovestudents’comprehension.

DefiningReciprocalTeaching

ReciprocalteachingoriginatedfromPalincsar&Brown’s(1986)ideaoftheadult

andstudentstakingturnsassumingtheroleoftheteacher.Whoeverisassignedthe

Page 22: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

21

teacherisresponsibleforleadingadiscussionaboutapassagethatstudentsarereading.

ReciprocalteachingisaversionofSocialConstructivism,atheorycreatedbyLevVygotsky.

AtthepremiseofVygotsky’sworkisthebeliefthatchildrenlearnasaresultoftheirsocial

interactionswithothers(Tracey&Morrow,2012).BasedonVygotsky’stheory,reciprocal

teachingisaprocessinwhichstudentsareinteractingwithothers,thereforemaximum

learningwillresult.

Reciprocalteachingusesfourcomprehensionstrategies:predicting,clarifying,

generatingquestions,andsummarizingtohelpstudentsunderstandwhattheyarereading.

Theprocessworkslikethefollowing:First,theteacherintroducesandmodelsthefour

comprehensionstrategies.Itisimportantthatstudentslearnrulestohelpthemusethe

strategyandensuretheyarecapablewitheachstrategybeforetheymoveontothe

discussionpiece(Palincsar&Brown.1986).Atthebeginning,theteacherwillleadthe

discussion,modelinghowsheusesthestrategieswhilereading.Next,oneofthestudents

leadsthegroupusingthesamefourstrategies.Thentheteachermonitorsandadds

assistancewhenneededtokeepthediscussionontrack.Finally,asstudentsgetmore

comfortablewiththeprocess,theroleoftheleadershiftstootherstudentsinthesmall

groupsothattheyareresponsibleforfacilitatingthediscussion(Brown&Dewitz,2014).

Whileusingthesestrategies,studentsworkinsmallgroupsthroughdiscussionto

constructmeaningofthetext(Pilonieta&Medina,2009).Kelly,Moore,andTuck(2001)

suggestthereciprocalteachinggroupsmeetabout20timesfor30-minutesessions.

Additionally,PalincsarandBrown(1984)recommendgroupingheterogeneouslybyageor

readingabilitylevel.Doingsowillallowthelower-performingstudentstobenefitby

learningfromthemoreeffectivepeermodels.

Page 23: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

22

Eachcomprehensionstrategyplaysanimportantroleinthereadingprocess.

However,Oczkus(2003)notesitisimportanttounderstandthatthefourreciprocal

teachingstrategiesarepartofacomprehensivereadingcomprehensionprogram.This

programisbasedonallthestrategiesgoodreadersuseincluding,makingconnections,

monitoring,previewing,andknowinghowwordswork.

Thereisnotafixedorderinwhichtousethereciprocalteachingstrategies;it

dependsonthetextandthereader.Forexample,beforereadingatext,itwouldmakemore

sensetopredictinsteadofsummarize.Asstated,byengaginginreciprocalteaching,

studentswilldeepentheirreadingcomprehension.

RosenshineandMeister(1994)developedthreecoreprinciplesofreciprocal

teaching.Thethreeprinciplesare:

• Zoneofproximaldevelopment

• Prolepticteaching

• Expertscaffolding

Thezoneofproximaldevelopmentreferstothezoneofwhatstudentscanaccomplish

independentlyversuswithassistance.Thezoneofproximaldevelopmentallowsreadersto

accomplishmorethantheycouldwhenontheirown,becauseofsupportfromanadult.At

thebeginning,astudentwillneedmoresupportbut,astheskilldevelops,lesssupportis

required(Brown&Dewitz,2014).Prolepticteachingconsistsoftheteachergradually

releasingtheresponsibilityofimplementingthestrategytothestudents.Thisrequiresthe

teacherstograduallyremovethemselvesasthesoleprovidersofinformationduringthe

process.Asaresult,studentssupportoneanother(Pilonieta&Medina,2009).Finally,

duringreciprocalteaching,theinstructionissupported,orscaffolded.Studentsareableto

Page 24: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

23

tryouttheprocessinasupportedenvironment,whichultimatelyleadstothembeingable

toworkindependentlytocomprehendthetext.Inotherwords,thesupportstudents

receiveeventuallyallowsthemtoreachthenextreadinglevelandguidethemthrough

moredifficulttexts(Oczkus,2003).Thesethreeprinciplesarepartofwhatmakes

reciprocalteachingasuccess.

Morerecently,Oczkus(2013)mentionsfourinstructionalfoundationsnecessaryin

ordertogetthemostoutofreciprocalteaching.Thefourfoundationsare:

• Scaffolding

• Think-Alouds

• Metacognition

• CooperativeLearning

Aspreviouslymentioned,scaffoldingisnecessaryinordertoadvancereaderstothenext

level.Thesupportstudentsreceiveatthebeginning,guidesthemthroughmorechallenging

textsandreadingtasks.Successfulreciprocalteachinginvolvesthink-alouds.Becausethis

strategyisbasedoffdiscussion,studentsmusttalkaloudaboutthefourstrategies.Oczkus

(2013)notesitisimportantforteacherstomodelthethink-aloudprocessandencourageit

tobeusedeverytimestudentsengageinreciprocalteachinglessons.Metacognitionisan

essentialcomponentinreciprocalteachingbecauseitallowsstudentstoconsciouslythink

andreflectontheirstrategyuse(Oczkus,2013).Finally,becausereciprocalteachingisa

discussiontechnique,cooperativelearningplaysalargerole.Throughinteractingwith

theirpeers,studentsareabletocomprehendmoredeeply.AccordingtoOczkus(2013),

cooperativelearningalsooccurswhenstudentsthinkaloudduringdiscussionsandreflect

Page 25: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

24

ontheirmetacognitivethinking.Byincorporatingthesefourcomponentsintoreciprocal

teachinglessons,readerswillbenefitgreatly.

Inthefollowingsubsections,Iwilldiscussindetailthefourstrategiesusedduring

reciprocalteaching:predicting,questioning,clarifying,andsummarizing.Inaddition,Iwill

addresshowtousethefourstrategieswhenengaginginreciprocalteachinglessons.

Finally,Iwilldescribehowreciprocalteachingusesmetacognitiontoimprovestudents

readingcomprehension.

Roleofthepredictor.Predictingisthefirststrategyusedwhenengagingin

reciprocalteaching.AccordingtoGambrellandMorrow(2015)predictingconsistsofthe

readersthinkingaboutwhatwillcomenextinthetext.Whilereading,studentsrevisetheir

previouspredictionsandmakenewones.Oczkus(2003)elaboratesbyexplainingthat

readersuseinformationfromthetextandtheirpriorknowledgetomakepredictions

duringthereadingprocess.Whilepredicting,readerswillinteractwiththetext.Thishelps

themtobemoremotivatedtoreadthematerialinadditiontoimprovingtheir

understandingofthetext.Ultimately,whenstudentsmakepredictionswhilereading,their

comprehensionwilllikelyimprove.

Whilemodelingtheroleofthepredictorforstudents,Oczkus(2003)suggests

havingadiscussionofthetextstructureofstorieswithstudents.Infictionstories,this

wouldinclude,reviewingthecharacters,setting,problemandresolution.Next,sheadvises

tohavestudentspreviewthecover,illustrationsandtitletolookforcluesofeventsthat

mayhappeninthetext.Whenreadingnonfictionstories,discussspecifictextfeaturessuch

asheadings,mapsortables.Thisallowsstudentstopredictwhattheywillbereading.

Oczkus(2003)alsorecommendsusingastorymaporgraphicorganizertoprovide

Page 26: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

25

studentswithvisualclueswhilemakingpredictions.Additionally,thestudents’language

whilepredictingconsistsofphrasesthatstartwith:Ithink…I’llbet…Iwonderif…I

imagine…Isuppose…Ipredict…(Mowery,1995).Byusingthesephrases,studentsareable

toanticipatewhatwillcomenextinthetext.Whenthepredictionstrategyismodeled

constantly,andteachersprovidesupport,studentsareultimatelyabletousethisstrategy

independentlywhileengaginginthereciprocalteachingprocess.

Roleofthequestioner.Questioningisthesecondstrategyusedinreciprocal

teachinglessons.GambrellandMorrow(2015)assertthatquestioningoccurswhen,

“Readersaskquestionsaboutthetext,author’sideas,andtheirownthinking”(p.253).

Furthermore,HarveyandGoudvis(2007)suggestthatwhenreadersaskquestions,and

seekanswers,theyaremonitoringtheircomprehensionandconstructingmeaningfrom

thetext.Inaddition,goodreadersalsoformulatequestions,whichisamoredifficultand

complextask(Oczkus,2003).Shealsocontendsthatwhenreadersknowaheadoftimethat

theyarerequiredtogenerateaquestion,theywillreadwithagreaterawarenessofthe

text’simportantideas.Basedoffthisresearch,notonlyaskingquestions,butalso

formulatingquestionsisanimportantstrategygoodreadersusetohelpcomprehendthe

text.

Whilehavingreciprocalteachingdiscussions,Oczkus(2003)suggestsassigningthe

studentsto“betheteacher”whiletheycreatequestionsthatarebasedoffessentialpartsof

thestory.Studentswillbegintotakeownershipanddeveloppridewhilecreatingquestions

andaskingoneanothertoanswerthem.Modelinghowtogeneratequestionsiskey.Oczkus

(2003)recommendsstartingsimplebymodelinghowtowritequestionsinwhichthe

answerisfoundwithinthetext.Oncestudentscontinuetoseehowquestionsare

Page 27: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

26

formulated,thequalityanddepthoftheirquestionswillincrease.Examplesofquestion

wordsstudentsmayuseinclude:who,what,when,where,why,how,andwhatif.In

summary,goodreadersusequestioningtohelpconstructmeaningofthetext.Inreciprocal

teachinglessons,studentsareabletocreatequestionsbasedonthemainideaand

importantdetails,whichintheend,increasestheircomprehension.

Roleoftheclarifier.Clarifyingisthethirdstrategythatreciprocalteachinguses.For

somestudentsitisachallengetorecognizeunclearsentencesorwords.Accordingto

Oczkus(2003)thedifficultiesmayoccurbecausesometimesstudentsareabletoread

everywordinthepassage,butstruggletounderstandthemainidea.Inordertoassistwith

thistask,clarifyingisused.Furthermore,Oczkus(2003)explains,“Clarifyinghelps

studentsmonitortheirowncomprehensionastheyidentifyproblemsthattheyarehaving

incomprehendingportionsoftextorfiguringoutdifficultwords”(p.17).Inotherwords,

whenstudentsaretaughttomonitortheirreadingandusestrategiestosolveproblemsas

theyarise,ultimatelytheircomprehensionwillimprove.

Oczkus(2003)firstsuggestsmodelinghowtofigureoutadifficultword.Duringthis

process,teacherandstudentsdiscusswordpartsor“chunks”andthecontextaroundthe

word.Theyusestrategiestoworktogethertofigureouttheunknownwords.However,

somestudentsmightbehesitanttosuggestwordsthatcausedthemdifficulty.Ifthisisthe

case,Oczkus(2003)recommendsaskingthemtofindawordayoungerchildmightfind

difficult.Then,thediscussioncantakeplaceonhowtoteachthiswordtoayoungerchild.

Thelanguageofclarifyinghastwoparts:identifyingtheproblemandclarifyingstrategies.

Identifyingtheproblemmayincludethefollowingprompts:Ididn’tunderstandthepart

where…Thissentenceisnotclear.Thisdoesn’tmakesense.Ican’tfigureout…Clarifying

Page 28: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

27

strategiesmayincludethefollowingprompts:IlookforpartsthatIknow.Ireread.Itryto

blendthesoundstogether.Itryanotherwordthatmakessense.Ireadontolookforclues.I

thinkaboutwhatIknow.Insummary,clarifyingisanimportantstepofreciprocalteaching

becauseitdirectlygivesstudentsstrategiestousewhentheyencounteraproblemwhile

reading.Whenstudentslearnhowtoclarifyconfusingpartsordifficultwordsinthetext,

theybecomemorecapableandindependentreaders.

Roleofthesummarizer.Thefinalstrategythatstudentsuseduringreciprocal

teachingissummarizing.HarveyandGoudvis(2007)definesummarizingas,“Pullingout

themostimportantinformationandputtingitinourownwordstorememberit”(p.179).

WhereasGambrellandMorrow(2015)state,“Summarizingiswhenreadersthinkabout

whattheyhavereadorlearned.Theymayfocusonrecallingthetext,paragraphs,or

sentences”(p.253).Finally,Oczkus(2003)believes,“Tosummarizeeffectively,students

mustrecallandarrangeinorderonlytheimportanteventsinatext”(p.18).Whenreading,

eachnewpieceofinformationaddstotheoverallmeaningofthetext.Intheend,when

studentsarecapableofnotonlyproducingtheirownsummary,butalsoobservingand

takingpartinclassmates’summaries,theywillbecomemoreproficientreaders.

Reciprocalteachingallowsstudentstoengageinthesummaryprocess.The

organizationofthesummarydependsonthetypeoftext,narrativeorexpository.When

summarizinganarrativestory,Oczkus(2003)suggestsstudentsusethesetting,characters,

problems,eventsandresolutiontohelpstructuretheirsummaries.Whereas,summarizing

anexpositorytextrequiresstudentstorecallimportanteventsandarrangethemina

logicalorder.Thefollowingpromptsmaybeusedtohelpstudentsguidetheirsummaries:

Themostimportantideasinthistextare…Thispartwasabout…Thisbookwasabout…

Page 29: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

28

First,…Next,…Then,…Finally,…Themaincharactersare…Thestorytakesplace…To

conclude,whenstudentssummarize,theyareabletoconstructanoverallunderstandingof

thetext.

Reciprocalteachingandmetacognition.Aspreviouslymentioned,inorderfor

readerstodeterminewhichstrategytouseandwhenitwouldbemostappropriate,they

mustbemetacognicallyaware.Inotherwords,beawareoftheirownthinking.Inaddition,

researchsupportsmultiplestrategyinstructionsothatstudentsaretaughthowtouse

multiplestrategiesastheyread.Reciprocalteachingisaprocessthatincorporatesmultiple

strategyinstruction.Reciprocalteachingallowsstudentstodiscusstheirthinkingandhow

theyusethestrategiesofpredicting,questioning,clarifying,andsummarizing(Oczkus,

2003).Studentswillnotonlybeabletousethestrategies,butalsodeterminewhich

strategytousebasedonthereadinggoal.Byincorporatingreciprocalteachinginto

strategyinstruction,studentswillbeusingmetacognition,andultimatelyimprovetheir

ownreadingcomprehension.

Oczkus(2003)listscommentsinwhichstudentsareusingmetacognitivethinking

duringreciprocalteaching.Forexample,“Predictionhelpedmetodaybecauseitgotme

interestedinthereading”(pg.23)or,“IhadtorereadthebooktogetthemainideasoI

couldaskaquestion”(pg.23).Thesecommentsdemonstratethatthereaderisawareof

one’sownthinkingprocess.Notonlyaretheyawareoftheirthinking,butalsoareableto

makedecisionstohelpbetterunderstandthetext.Inaddition,Oczkus(2003)articulates,

“Metacognitionisanintegralcomponentinreciprocalteachingbecausestudentslearnto

consciouslythinkaboutandreflectontheirstrategyuse”(pg.23).Intheend,studentshave

Page 30: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

29

theabilitytousethesamestrategiesthatgoodreadersusewhenmonitoringtheirreading

comprehension.

Conclusion HarveyandGoudvis(2007)remindusthat,“Comprehensioninstructionisn’tjust

onemorething.Infact,whenitcomestoreading,it’sthemostimportantthing”(p.13).Too

manystudentsareneglectedbecauseoftheirabilitytoreadfluentlybutinabilityto

comprehend.Astudentshouldnotbeconsideredaproficientreaderjustbecauseheorshe

canreadthewords.Ibeganthiscapstoneprocesssearchingforasolutiontoaddressthis

issueandIbelievereciprocalteachingcanprovidefluentreaderswiththecomprehension

supporttheyneed.Reciprocalteachingallowsstudentstocollaborateusingthestrategies

necessarytostrengthentheircomprehension.Whenstudentsbecomeengagedinsuch

meaningfullearning,theywillbuildskillsinordertopreparethemfortheworkforceand

beyond.

Inthischapter,Ipresentedareviewofcurrentresearchontheterms

comprehensionandfluency,includingthecomplexrelationshipbetweenthetwo.Next,I

describedtheprocessofreciprocalteachingandhowitworkstowardsincreasing

comprehensioninreaders.Finally,Iexplainedindetailthefourstrategiesusedduring

reciprocalteaching,predicting,questioning,clarifying,andsummarizingincludinghowto

incorporatethesestrategiesintoreciprocalteachingdiscussions/lessons.Theresearch

providedinthischapterstrivestoanswer:Howcanreciprocalteachingbeusedtoincrease

comprehensionwithfluentreadersintheprimarygrades?

MovingforwardinChapterThree,Iwillpresenttherationaleformycurriculum

projectusingreciprocalteaching.Inaddition,thesettingandparticipantsforwhomthe

Page 31: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

30

curriculumisbeingdesignedforwillbeaddressed.Finally,Iwilldescribemyframework

andmethodologyforthereciprocalteachingcurriculumthatIhavedeveloped.

Page 32: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

31

CHAPTERTHREE

Methods

“Readingisthinkingguidedbyprint.”-LucyCalkins

AsIhavedevelopedthiscapstoneprojectthusfar,thequestionguidingmeis:How

canreciprocalteachingbeusedtoincreasecomprehensionskillswithfluentreadersinthe

primarygrades?ThischapterwillbeginbydiscussingwhyIdevelopedthiscurriculumand

theprocessIusedtodevelopit.Next,Iwilldescribetheparticipantsandthetypeof

learningenvironmentthiscurriculumhasbeendesignedfor.Finally,Iwillexplaina

frameworkforunderstandingthecontentofthiscurriculum.

TheRationaleforCurriculumDevelopment Mygoalindesigningacurriculuminreciprocalteachingwastoincrease

comprehensionskillswithprimarystudentswhocanreadfluently.Asstatedinthe

previouschapter,reciprocalteachingcanhelpstudentsdevelopmetacognitivethinking

skills,whichinreturnincreasestheircomprehension.Inaddition,Oczkus(2003)mentions

theimportanceofmixingwhole-classinstructionwithothergroupings.Therefore,

Page 33: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

32

developingacurriculumthatutilizesreciprocalteachinginawholegroupaswellassmall

groupcanbebeneficialtostudents.

Idesignedthiscurriculumunittosupportbothwholegroupandsmallgroup

settings.Initiallessonswillbetaughtwholegrouptobuildbackgroundknowledgeand

introducethefourstrategiesofreciprocalteaching.Ideallypriorknowledgeofthe

strategiesaswellascooperativelearningstrategieswouldbeintroducedpriortoengaging

withthecurriculum.Thefollowinglessonswillconsistofawholegrouplessonwiththat

skillbeingreinforcedinsmallgroupsofstudents.Intheend,thegoalistohavestudents

usingallfourstrategiessimultaneouslyinasmallgroupsetting.

Inaddition,theimplementationofreciprocalteachingallowsteacherstoteach

studentscomprehensionstrategieswhilehavingafocusinacontentarea.Forthepurpose

ofthiscapstoneproject,Ichosetousethethirdgradesocialstudiesstandardstodrivethe

contentofthecurriculum.Morespecifically,Ifocusedonthehistorystrand.Thiswillallow

teacherstomeetthestandardsofbothlanguageartsandsocialstudiesinoneclassperiod.

ThereciprocalteachingcurriculumthatIhavedesignedisintendedtobeusedin

classroomsintheprimarygrades.Theprimarygradeswouldconsistofstudentsin

kindergartenthroughthirdgrade.However,somestrategiesorlessonscouldbeadapted

andusedwithstudentsintheoldergrades,iftheappropriatemodificationsaremade.

TheLearningEnvironment TheschoolatwhichIworkatisoneof45elementaryschools(K-8)inanurban

schooldistrictwhere63percentofstudentsreceivefreeorreducedlunch.Inadditionto

45elementaryschools,thedistrictalsohassevenmiddleschools(6-8)andeighthigh

Page 34: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

33

schools(9-12).Intotal,thedistrictserves35,428studentsduringthe2016-2017school

year.

TheschoolatwhichIcurrentlyworkhousesstudentsingrades3-8.Thetotal

numberofstudentsis394withthefollowingdemographicbreakdown:46%Caucasian,

27%Black,19%Hispanic,4%AmericanIndian,2%Asian,andlessthan1%Pacific

Islander.Fifty-sixpercentofstudentsreceivefreeorreducedlunch,whichisslightlybelow

thedistrictaverage.Theschoolisacommunityschoolwiththemajorityofstudentsliving

intheneighborhood.

OneuniquecharacteristicofmycurrentpositionisthatIworkparttimeasan

associateeducator.Isplitmytimebetweenthreethirdgradeclassroomsandprovide

supportforteacherswhereveritisneeded.ThismeansthatIfollowinstructionsfromthe

leadteacherbasedonwhatshefeelsisbest.Thissituationprovidesawonderful

opportunitytocollaboratewiththeclassroomteacher,butitalsoprovideslimitationsof

whatIcanorcannotdo.Therefore,Iplantoimplementthiscurriculuminthe2017-2018

schoolyearinasettingwhereIwillbetheleadteacher.

Participants AfterthisschoolyearIintendtomovetoOmaha,Nebraska.Ihavebegunthe

processofjobsearching,butitistooearlytoknowwhatmyexactpositionwillbe.

Therefore,Iwillplanfortheparticipantstobeatypicalthirdgradeclass.Ideally,theclass

sizewouldbearound25students,withanevendistributionofboystogirls.Allofmy

studentswillparticipateinthewholegroupandsmallgrouplessons.Itwouldbemost

beneficialtocomprisethesmallgroupsofnomorethanfourstudentspergroup.Ipredict

thatIwillhavestudentswhowillreceivespecialeducationservicesorreadingintervention

Page 35: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

34

duringtheliteracyblock,soIwillhavetoplanaccordinglyinorderforallstudentsto

receiveinstruction.

CurricularFramework ThecurriculumthatIhavedevelopedincludeslessonsforbothwholegroupand

smallgroupsettings.Thedecisiontodesignthecurriculuminsuchaformatwasinspired

byLoriOczkus(2013)includingthecurrentresearchonreciprocalteaching,whichI

presentedinmyChapterTwoLiteratureReview.HarveyandGoudvis(2011)werealso

inspirationalintheareaofreadingcomprehensionandtheimportanceofreadingto

understand.Additionally,Palincsar&Brown(1984)providedfoundationalresearchinthe

areaofreciprocalteaching,whileOczkus(2013)elaboratedbyofferingpracticalstrategies

touseduringreciprocalteachinglessonsintheclassroom.

ThecomprehensionlessonsprovidedsupporttheCommonCorelanguagearts

standards,whilethecontentofthelessonssupportthethirdgradesocialstudiesstandards.

Aspreviouslymentioned,throughintegrationoflanguageartsstandardsandcontentarea

standards,Iwillbemoreefficientinmyuseofclassroomtime.Additionally,studentsare

learningtobestrategicreaderswhilealsolearningthecontentrequiredofthesocial

studiesstandards.ThecurriculumIdevelopedcontainsthefollowingcomponents:

• Indicateswhetherthelessonistobetaughtwholegrouporsmallgroup.

• Liststhesocialstudiesstandardinwhichthecontentofthetextwillconsist

ofthecollectionofstandardsallrelatetohistorywithdifferentsubstrands.

• Identifiesthepurposeconsistingofwhatstudentswillbeabletodoin

regardstoreciprocalteaching.

Page 36: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

35

• Incorporateslessonsthatsupportthegradualreleaseofresponsibility:

modeled,shared,guided,andindependent.

• Providesopportunitiesforassessmentofstudentlearning.

TheunitIhavecreatedisacollectionoffifteenlessons,whichareeithertaughtwhole

grouporsmallgroupdependingonthecontent.Somelessonscanbetaughtmultipletimes

duringtheunit,othersaretobetaughtonlyonce.Theunitisdesignedtoteachtwo-three

lessonsperweek.Reciprocalteachingisnotcomprehensiveenoughtostandaloneasa

methodofcomprehension.Therefore,itshouldbetaughtinadditiontoallstrategies

necessaryforstudentstocomprehendtheirreading(Oczkus,2003).Iplantoimplement

thiscurriculumduringthenextschoolyearandanticipatespendingsixweeksontheunit.

Conclusion ChapterThreeexplainedthereasonbehinddesigningacurriculumbasedon

reciprocalteaching.Next,itdiscussedthelearningenvironmentandparticipantswho

wouldbeparticipatinginthecurriculumimplementation.Finally,theframeworkforthe

curriculumwasdescribed.LookingforwardtoChapterFour,thereciprocalteaching

curriculumwillbeprovidedthatstrivestoanswerthequestion:Howcanreciprocal

teachingbeusedtoincreasecomprehensionskillswithfluentreadersintheprimarygrades?

Page 37: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

36

CHAPTERFOUR

Results

“Youcan’tteachkidstothink,becausehumanbeingsarebornthinking.”-HarveyandGoudvis

InthefirstthreechaptersofthiscapstoneIhavedescribedmyexperiences,the

researchandthemethodsthatwillhelpmetoanswer:Howcanreciprocalteachingbeused

toincreasecomprehensionskillswithfluentreadersintheprimarygrades?Inthefirst

chapterIdiscussedhowmypersonalexperiencesasateachersparkedmyinterestin

supportingfluentreaderswhostrugglewithcomprehension.Theliteraturereviewin

ChapterTwoprovidedcurrentresearchintheareasofcomprehension,fluencyand

reciprocalteaching.InChapterThreeIexplainedthemethodology,whichincludedthe

learningenvironment,andparticipantsforwhomthereciprocalteachingcurriculumhas

beendesigned.Inthischapter,IwillprovidethecurriculumIhavedevelopedtoimplement

reciprocalteachinginatypicalthirdgradeclassroom.

CurriculumDevelopment ThecurriculumIhavedevelopediscomposedof15lessons,ideallytaughttwo-

threetimesperweekforatotalofsixweeks.Itisamixtureofwholegroupandsmallgroup

lessonsdependingonthecontent.Additionally,eachlessonisalignedwithathirdgrade

Page 38: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

37

historysocialstudiesstandard.Sincethecontentofeachlessonishistory,thiscurriculum

isgearedtowardstheuseofnonfictiontext.Next,eachlessonlistsapurpose,whichis

reinforcedthroughoutthemodeled,shared,guidedandindependentcomponentsofthe

lesson.Finally,thereisanopportunitytoassessstudentlearninginordertodetermine

whounderstandstheprocessofreciprocalteachingandwhoneedsreteaching.Since

reciprocalteachingembedscollaborationandcooperativelearning,itisessentialthatthe

teacherpre-teachesthenecessaryskillsforsuccessfulcollaborationtotakeplace.

Page 39: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

38

WholeGroup SmallGroupWeek1-Lesson1:IntroduceReciprocalTeachingStandard:3.4.1.1.1Referencedifferenttimeperiodsusingcorrectterminology,includingthetermsdecade,centuryandmillennium.Purpose:Tointroducestudentstoallfourreciprocalteachingstrategiesduringateacherthink-aloud.Studentswillunderstandreciprocalteachingstrategiesworktogetherwhilereadingatext.Model:1.Brainstormstrategiesthatgoodreadersuse.Askstudentswhatgoodreadersdotounderstandwhattheyhaveread.Havethemdiscusswithapartnerandlisttheirresponsesonchartpaper.2.Tellyourstudentsthattodayyouwillshowthemfourstrategiesthatreadersusetohelpthemcomprehendthetext.3.Introduceeachheadbandandtellstudentswhateachletterstandsfor(P=predicting,Q=questioning,C=clarifying,S=summarizing).4.Asyouread,modelthereciprocalteachingstrategiesafterreadingaparagraphorpage.Eachtimeyouuseadifferentstrategychangeyourheadbandwiththeappropriateletterthatmatchesthestrategyyouarethinkingaloud.Shared/Guided:1.Reflectonthestrategies.Askstudentswhattheynoticedabouteachstrategyandhowthestrategieshelpedusunderstandthestory.Howcouldweusethesestrategiestohelpusunderstandwhatweread?Listresponsesonchartpaper.2.Guideyourstudentstousethestrategiesthemselves.Handoutcardswitheachletterandwhatitstandsfor.Asyoureadanothersectionofthetext,studentswillholdupacardwhentheyhaveastrategytouse.Havestudents’share/thinkaloudtheirpredictions,questions,pointsorwordstoclarify,orsummarize.3.Withpartners,studentswillcontinuetheprocessofreadingtogetherandholdingupthecardwiththestrategytheythink-aloud.4.Referringtothelistalreadycreated,studentswriteordiscussareflectionofhoweachstrategyhelpsthemunderstandwhattheyhaveread.Assessment:Circulatetheclassroomandlistentothepairsduringstep3oftheguidedactivity.Weretheyusingeachstrategycorrectly?Weretheycomingupwithindividualresponses?Adaptedfrom:Oczkus,L.D.(2003).Reciprocalteachingatwork:Strategiesforimprovingreading comprehension.Newark,DE:InternationalReadingAssociation.

Page 40: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

39

P

Prediction

Q

Question

C

Clarification

S

Summarize

Page 41: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

40

Week1-Lesson2:UsingtheFourReciprocalTeachingStrategiesStandard:3.4.1.2.1Examinehistoricalrecord,mapsandartifactstoanswerbasicquestionsabouttimesandeventsinhistory,bothancientandmorerecent.Purpose:Studentswillunderstandthatgoodreadersusemorethanonestrategywhilereading.Model:1.Reviewthelistofstrategiesgoodreadersusethatwasgeneratedinthepreviouslesson.2.Passoutthereciprocalteachingbookmarksandexplainthatyouwillmodelfourstrategiestohelpthemunderstandthetext.Remindstudentsthatafterdemonstratinghowtheyareused,theywillhavetheopportunitytothinkaloud.3.Makesureallstudentscanseethetextanddisplaythebookmarkontheprojector.4.Modelforstudentsusingallfourprompts.Besuretouseallfourinmultiplepointsthroughoutthetext.Studentsshouldunderstandthatallfourstrategiesworktogetherinordertocomprehendthetext.Refertothebookmarkasyouthinkaloud.Shared/Guided:1.Readthenextsectionofthetextandmodeloneofthestrategies.Next,havestudentsworkinpairstocomeupwithanotherexample(Ifyousharedaprediction,studentswillworktogethertogenerateanotherprediction).Continuethisprocesswithallfourstrategies.2.Usingafour-columntablewiththeheadings“predict,”“question,”“clarify”and“summarize,”studentswillbeginbywritingtheirpredictionsintheappropriatecolumnasyoucontinuetoreadthetext(encouragethemtousethebookmarks).Repeatthisprocessusingthenext3strategies.3.Aftereachparagraph,studentswillsharewhattheyhavewritten.Assessment:Circulatearoundtheroomandlistentostudents’discussions.Aretheyusingthereciprocalteachingbookmarkcorrectly?Collectstudents’tablesandcheckforunderstanding.Adaptedfrom:Oczkus,L.D.(2003).Reciprocalteachingatwork:Strategiesforimprovingreading comprehension.Newark,DE:InternationalReadingAssociation.

WholeGroup SmallGroup

Page 42: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

41

Reciprocal Teaching Bookmark

Predict Use clues from the book to explain what you think will happen next. I think………because…… Maybe this means…………. I think I will learn…….because…. Question Ask questions as you read. Ask questions that begin with who, what, when, where, why, or how. Ask questions with answers…..

• In the book • From clues + my experiences

Clarify Look for words or ideas that are not clear. Try one of these strategies to figure it out……

• Read around the word. • Think about word chunks you know. • Does it make sense? • Reread. • Make a substitution.

Summarize Include the main idea, not details. Explain what happened in your own words. This part is about……….. This text is about…….....

Reciprocal Teaching Bookmark

Predict Use clues from the book to explain what you think will happen next. I think………because…… Maybe this means…………. I think I will learn…….because…. Question Ask questions as you read. Ask questions that begin with who, what, when, where, why, or how. Ask questions with answers…..

• In the book • From clues + my experiences

Clarify Look for words or ideas that are not clear. Try one of these strategies to figure it out……

• Read around the word. • Think about word chunks you know. • Does it make sense? • Reread. • Make a substitution.

Summarize Include the main idea, not details. Explain what happened in your own words. This part is about……….. This text is about………..

Page 43: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

42

Prediction Question Clarification Summarize

Page 44: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

43

WholeGroup SmallGroupWeek1-Lesson3:UsingReciprocalTeachinginCooperativeGroupsStandard:3.4.1.2.2Compareandcontrasttwodifferentaccountsofanevent.Purpose:Studentswillworktogetherinsmallgroupsusingonespecificreciprocalteachingstrategyandthensharetheirinformationwiththeclassinordertounderstandhowthestrategiesworktogether.Model:1.Readaloudaportionofthetext.Usingathinkaloud,refertothereciprocalteachingbookmarkasyoumodelthestrategies.2.Continuetomodelandworkonthestrategiestogetherwithstudents.Shared/Guided:1.Withtheirtablegroups,studentswillfocusononeassignedstrategyafteryoureadasectionoftext.Studentswillshareresponseswiththeclass.2.Handoutapiepiecetoeachgroup.Studentswillreadthenextsectionoftextandthe4membersofthegroupwillusethedirectionsontheirpiecetoworkthroughthestrategy.3.Afterallgroupshavefinishedfillingintheinformation,theywillsharewiththeclass.Discusshowallfourstrategiesworktogethertohelpreadersunderstandthetext.4.Thegroupmemberswillgluetheirpiecesontoapostertomakeacompletedpie.Assessment:Positionyourselfaroundtheclassroomandlistentotheresponsesofthegroupsastheywork.Usethewrittenresponsesfromthegroupforaformativeassessment.Adaptedfrom:Oczkus,L.D.(2003).Reciprocalteachingatwork:Strategiesforimprovingreading comprehension.Newark,DE:InternationalReadingAssociation.

Page 45: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

44

Predict__ Look through the illustrations and discuss what the book might be about.

__Use clues from the book to make a prediction of what might come next.

Our predictions are…… The clues we used are……

Question __Look back in the text to ask questions that begin with who, what, when, where, why.

__Ask main idea questions first.

__ Be able to show where your answers are in the text.

Our questions are…… 1. 2. 3.

Clarify __Look for words or ideas that are confusing. “I wonder what that means?” __Reread, read on, or ask a friend to help figure it out.

__Be aware of strategies you used to figure out difficult words or ideas.

A difficult word or idea we found….

Ways we figured the word or idea out….

Summarize

__Include the main ideas, not the details.

__Use your own words.

__Use words such as first, next, then, or finally.

Our summary……

Page 46: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

45

WholeGroup SmallGroup

Week2-Lesson4:PredictingPARTIStandard:3.4.1.2.3Compareandcontrastvariouswaysthatdifferentcultureshaveexpressedconceptsoftimeandspace.Purpose:Studentswillusetextualcluestomakelogicalpredictionsingroupsandsharewiththeclassusinganinside-outsidecircle.Model:1.Askstudentshowgoodreadersmakepredictions.Recordonchartpaper.2.Usingathink-aloud,modelforstudentshowtousecluesfromthetexttomakepredictions.Shared/Guided:1.Assignpagesofthetexttogroupsoffourstudents.Havethegroupsmeetandwritepredictionsusingthesentencestarters.Eachgroupmemberwillneedacopyofthepredictions.2.UsingtheKaganEngagementstrategy,inside-outsidecircle,students’willformtwoconcentriccirclesandexchangetheirpredictionswithapartner.Whentheteachersignalstheoutercircletomoveinonedirection,eachstudentwillhaveanewpeertotalkto.3.Continuerotatinguntileachstudenthassharedwithatleastthreeothers.4.Cometogetherasawholegroupandlistsomepredictionsonchartpaper.Havestudentsbeginreadingandconfirmpredictions.Assessment:Collectpredictionsheetsandcheckforunderstand.Rotatearoundclassroomandmakesurestudentsareusingtextandillustrationcluestomakelogicalpredictions.Adaptedfrom:

Oczkus,L.D.(2003).Reciprocalteachingatwork:Strategiesforimprovingreading comprehension.Newark,DE:InternationalReadingAssociation.

Page 47: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

46

Making Predictions

Title of Book: o Based on the title I predict this will be about

__________________________________________

__________________________________________.

o In this book I think____________________________

will happen because____________________________

__________________________________________.

o After looking at the pictures I think________________

__________________________________________.

o I wonder if _________________________________

because____________________________________

__________________________________________.

Page 48: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

47

WholeGroup SmallGroup

Week2-Lesson5:PredictingPARTIIStandard:SeeabovePurpose:Studentswillpreviewanonfictiontextandpredictwhattheywillreadbasedonthetableofcontents,headings,andillustrationclues.Model:1.Usingathink-aloud,modelhowtopredictbyviewingthecoverandillustrations.2.Next,turntothetableofcontents,read,andmodelhowtousecluestoformpredictions.Pagethroughandreadtheheadings,andviewtheillustrationsusingathink-aloudtomakepredictions.3.Usingastickynote,writeatleastonepredictionthatusesthestatement,“IpredictIwilllearn…because…”Shareoutloudthecluesthatledtoyourprediction.Shared/Guided:1.Inpairs,studentswillusethetableofcontents,headings,andillustrationstogeneratelogicalpredictions.2.Usingastickynote,studentswillwriteatleastonepredictionthatusesthestatement,“IpredictIwilllearn…because…”3.Havepairssharetheirideasandpostthemonagroupchart.4.Studentswillbegintoreadsilentlyasteacherrotatesreadingone-on-one.Afterreading,encouragestudentstocheckwhichpredictionswererightandwhichoneschanged.Assessment:Noticeifstudentsareusingthetextcluestoformlogicalpredictions.Continuetomodelwithstudentswhostruggleduringtheone-on-onereadingtime.Adaptedfrom:Oczkus,L.D.(2003).Reciprocalteachingatwork:Strategiesforimprovingreading comprehension.Newark,DE:InternationalReadingAssociation.

Page 49: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

48

Week3-Lesson6:QuestioningPARTIStandard:3.4.2.3.1Explainhowaninventionofthepastchangedlifeatthattime,includingpositive,negativeandunintendedoutcomes.Purpose:Studentswillusequestionwordsincluding,who,what,when,where,whyandhowtoformulatequestionsbasedoffanonfictiontext.Model:1.Modelthestepsforaskingavarietyofquestionsthatbeginwithwho,what,when,where,whyandhowusingaparagraphoftext.2.Usingthequestionspinner,formulateaquestionusingthatquestionword.Haveastudentanswerit.3.Gothroughafewmoreexamplesasagroup,readingaparagraph,spinningthespinner,formulatingaquestionandansweringit.Shared/Guided:1.Inpairs,studentswillusethequestionspinnertogeneratequestionsbasedonthetext.2.Studentswilltaketurnsreading,spinning,askingaquestionandtheotherstudentwillanswer.3.Pairswillwritedownquestionsandanswersonasheetofpaper.4.Cometogetherasagroupandsharequestions/answersthepairsformulated.Discusswhatmadeagoodquestion.Assessment:Collectquestionsandcheckforunderstandingofusingquestionwordstowritetheirowntextquestions.Checktoseeiftheycanaskmainideaquestionsaswellasinferentialquestions.**Note-frontloadinglessontomakesurestudentsarefamiliarwithquestioning.Adaptedfrom:http://www.teacher2teacherhelp.com/reading-strategies/questioning-mini-lessons-and-practice-activities/

WholeGroup SmallGroup

Page 50: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

49

Who?

What?

When?

Where?

Why?

How?

What caused…

Do you think?

Page 51: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

50

WholeGroup SmallGroup

Week3-Lesson7:QuestioningPARTIIStandard:SeeabovePurpose:UsingtheQAR(Question-Answer-Relationship)strategy,studentswilllearnthefourdifferenttypesofquestions:Rightthere,thinkandsearch,authorandyou,andonyourown.StudentswillgeneratequestionsandanswersbasedonQAR.Model:1.Explaintostudentsthattherearetwowaystogeneratequestions.

• Inthebook:theanswercanbefoundinthetext.• Inmyhead:theanswercannotbefoundinthetextandmustcomefromthe

reader’sownexperienceandknowledge.2.DisplayQARposterandexplaineachquestiontypenotingquestionsfoundinthebook(rightthere,thinkandsearch)andquestionsinmyhead(onmyown,authorandme).3.Readaloudasectionoftext.Stopatvariouspointsandmodelhowtoaskeachtypeofquestion.Filloutthefoursquaresintheappropriatequestiontype.Shared/Guided:1.HandouttheQARfoursquareandgothroughafewmoreexamplesasaclass,explainingtheirreasoning.2.Inpairs,studentsreadasectionoftextandgeneratequestionsforeachQAR.3.Studentstradetheirpaperswithanotherpairandanswertheirquestions.4.CometogetherasawholeclassanddiscusshowtheQARtechniquehelpedthemtobetterunderstandthetext.Talkaboutwhichquestionsweretheeasiestandwhichwerethehardest.Assessment:Onascaleof1-5havestudentsratehowcomfortabletheyfeelwiththeQARstrategy.CollectQARfoursquaresforaformativeassessment.Adaptedfrom:http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/guided-comprehension-self- questioning-227.html?tab=4#tabs

Page 52: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

51

Adaptedfrom:http://theopendoorclassroom.blogspot.com/2013/02/question-answer-relationship-qar-freebie.html

IN THE TEXT: Right There

Often the words used in the question are the same words found in the text. What did…? Who did….? What was….? How many…? When did…? What kind? What does….mean? Give one example…. List one….

IN THE TEXT: Think & Search

Answers are gathered from several parts of the text and put together. How do you…? What happened to…? What happened before…? How many times…? What clues…? Where did…? Prove… Explain…

IN YOUR HEAD: Author & You

You need to think about what the author has told you and what you already know about the topic. Why did the author…? Do you agree with…in the text? What will happen…? Why do you think…? What do you picture when…? Have you ever experienced….similar to……

IN YOUR HEAD: On my Own

You will need to think about your own personal experiences to answer. Have you ever….? What do you think…? If you were…..? How do you feel about….? What do you know about…? Do you believe…? What would you do if….? What do you think it would be like….?

Page 53: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

52

IN THE TEXT: Right There

IN THE TEXT: Think & Search

IN YOUR HEAD: Author & You

IN YOUR HEAD: On my Own

Page 54: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

53

WholeGroup SmallGroup

Week3-Lesson8:QuestioningPARTIIIStandard:SeeabovePurpose:SeeaboveModel:1.UsetheQARpostertoreviewthequestiontypesandtalkabouthowtheQARstrategywasusedinthepreviouslesson.2.Usingathink-aloud,modelhowtoformulateeachtypeofquestionasyouread.Havestudentsanswerthequestions.Shared/Guided:1.Havestudentscreateafoursquareliketheoneusedaboveintheirnotebooks.2.Usinginstructionalleveltext,studentswillreadontheirown,formulatingquestionsandwritingthemintheirnotebooks.3.Providesupportforstudentswhoarestruggling.Refertothegraphicorganizeronpage51tocreatethefourdifferenttypesofquestions.4.Encouragestudentstoalsomakepredictionsastheyread.Assessment:Observestudentswhilereading/workingandtakeanecdotalnotes.Noticewhoneedsmorepracticeandwhoisconfidentwiththestrategy.Exitticket:WriteafewsentencesexplainingtheQARstrategyandhowithelpsyouunderstandwhatyouarereading.

Page 55: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

54

WholeGroup SmallGroupWeek4-Lesson9:ClarifyingPARTIStandard:3.4.2.5.1Identifyexamplesofindividualsorgroupswhohavehadanimpactonworldhistory;explainhowtheiractionshelpedshapetheworldaroundthem.Purpose:Studentswillbeabletoidentifywordsorideastoclarifyandusestrategiesforclarifyingwordmeanings.Studentswillbeabletoreflectonusingclarifyingstrategies.Model:1.Askstudentsiftheyhaveevergottenstuckonahardwordorconfusingpartofthetext.Provideafewexamples.2.OnchartpaperfilloutaKWL(know,wanttoknow,learn)chartaboutclarifying.Askstudentswhattheyalreadyknowaboutclarifying,whattheywanttoknowandattheendofthelessonfilloutwhattheylearned.3.Chooseseveralwordsfromatextpreviouslyreadasexamples.Usingtheclarifyingwordshandout,modelhowtodecipherwhatthosewordsmeanbyusingafewofthestrategiesonthebookmark.4.Chooseseveralideasfromthetextthatrequireclarifyingstrategies.Modelhowareadermightneedtoclarifytheconfusingpartsofthetexteventhoughtheymayknowwhatthewordsmean.Makesurestudentsarefollowingalongatthecorrectportionofthetext.Shared/Guided:1.Usingtheclarifyingwordshandout,chooseafewmorewordsandencouragestudentstodecidewhichstrategiestheywillusetofigureoutthemeaning.Shareanddiscuss.2.Usingtheclarifyingideashandout,chooseafewmoredifficult/confusingparagraphsandhavestudentsdecidewhichstrategiestouse.Shareanddiscuss.3.Inpairs,havestudentsrereadportionsofthetextandusethebookmarktoclarifyeitherwordsorideas.4.RevisittheKWLchart.Filloutwhatstudentslearnedaboutclarifyingandhowitishelpful.Whichstrategiesdidtheyusewhenandwhichdidtheyfindthemosthelpful?Encouragestudentstousethehandoutduringindependentreadingtime.Assessment:Coachstudentsduringindependentreadingtime.Promptandguidethemasneeded.Canstudentsverbalizethestrategiestheyareusing?Adaptedfrom:Oczkus,L.D.(2003).Reciprocalteachingatwork:Strategiesforimprovingreadingcomprehension.Newark,DE:InternationalReadingAssociation.

Page 56: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

55

Clarifying Words

1. Identify the difficult word. The word___________________ is confusing because….

a. It was hard to pronounce it. b. I didn’t know what it meant. c. I didn’t know what it meant

and I couldn’t pronounce it.

2. Try to clarify the difficult word. I tried the following strategies to understand the word….. ___Did I look at the prefix, suffix, or base word? ___Did I try blending the sounds together? ___Did I think of another word that looks like this word? ___Did I read on to find clues? ___Did I try another word that makes sense in the sentence? ___Did I reread the sentence to see if the word made sense?

Clarifying Ideas

1. Identify the confusing paragraph, sentence, page or chapter. A confusing part is ________________________________ ________________________________ because….

a. I didn’t understand_______________.

b. It doesn’t make sense. c. I don’t

get_______________________.

2. Try to clarify the confusing part. I tried the following strategies to understand the confusing part… ___Did I reread the parts that I didn’t understand? ___Did I read on to look for clues? ___Did I think about what I already know about the topic? ___Did I talk to a friend about the reading?

Adaptedfrom:Oczkus,L.D.(2003).Reciprocalteachingatwork:Strategiesforimprovingreadingcomprehension.Newark,DE:InternationalReadingAssociation.

Page 57: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

56

WholeGroup SmallGroupWeek4-Lesson10:ClarifyingPARTIIStandard:SeeabovePurpose:Studentswillbeabletodeterminestrategiestousetoclarifywordsandideas.Model:1.Makeatwo-columnchartwiththeheadings:ClarifyingWordsandClarifyingIdeas.2.Askstudentswhatgoodreadersdowhentheyneedtoclarifyaword.Charttheirresponsesandmodelseveral.3.Askstudentswhatgoodreadersdowhentheyneedtoclarifyanidea.Charttheirresponsesandmodelclarifyingconfusingideasinparagraphs,chaptersandsentences.Shared/Guided:1.Givestudentsstickynotesintwodifferentcolors:onecolorforclarifyingawordandtheothercolorforclarifyinganidea.2.Assignaparagraphoftextforstudentstoread.Astheyreadstudentswilldeterminewords/ideasthatneedtobeclarifiedandwritethemontheappropriatecolorstickynotealongwithatleast2strategiestheyusedtofigureitout.3.Studentswillplacestickynotesonthecorrectcolumnsinthechart.Discussstudentresponses.Assessment:Arestudentsusingtheclarifyingstrategiesintheirownreading?Asstudentsreadindependently,observewhichstudentsrefertotheposteronclarifying.Adaptedfrom:Oczkus,L.D.(2003).Reciprocalteachingatwork:Strategiesforimprovingreadingcomprehension.Newark,DE:InternationalReadingAssociation.

Page 58: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

57

WholeGroup SmallGroup

Week4-Lesson11:ClarifyingPARTIIIStandard:SeeabovePurpose:Studentswillbeabletomonitortheirreadinganduseafix-upstrategytoclarifyconfusingwordsorideas.Model:1.Modelreadingaselectionoftext,stoppingatconfusingwordsorparts.2.Usingathink-aloudfilloutthemonitorandclarifyhandoutincludingthepagenumbers.Besuretodiscusswhyyouchoosethefix-upstrategyyoudidandwhatyouknownowbecauseyouusedthatstrategy.Shared/Guided:1.Usingthemonitorandclarifyhandout,studentswillreadthenextparagraphofthetextandfilloutwhattheydon’tunderstand,whatfix-upstrategytheyused,andwhattheyknownow.2.Cometogetherasagroupanddiscusswords/partsthatwereconfusingandhowstudentsclarifiedtodeterminethemeaning.3.Duringindependentreadingtime,studentswillcontinuetofilloutthemonitorandclarifyhandout.Assessment:Collectthehandoutandcheckforunderstanding.Duringindependentreadingtime,conferencewithindividualstudentsandreinforceskillwhennecessary.

Page 59: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

58

Monitor I don ’t

understand

Clarify Use a fix-up

strategy

Keep Reading Now I know……

Page:

Page:

Page:

Page:

Page:

Page:

Page:

Page 60: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

59

WholeGroup SmallGroupWeek5-Lesson12:SummarizingPARTIStandard:3.4.3.7.1Explainhowtheenvironmentinfluencedthesettlementofancientpeoplesinthreedifferentregionsoftheworld.Purpose:Studentswillbeabletounderstandhowsummarizinghelpsthemunderstandthetext.Studentswillbeabletousevocabularyandmainideasfromthetexttogenerateasummary.Model:1.Describetostudentsthatwhenyousummarizeyoupulloutthemainideasofthetextandlisttheminthecorrectorder.2.Brainstormwithstudentsalistofreasonswhyonemightsummarizeandhowitwouldhelpareaderunderstandthetext.Providesentencestemstohelpincluding:

• First….• Next….• Then….• Afterthat….• Finally….• Aproblemoccurswhen….• Themostimportantideasinthetextare….• Ilearnedthat….

3.Modelhowtosummarizeapageoftextbyrereadingformainideas.Underlineorcirclekeyideasorphrasestouseinyoursummary.4.Verbalizeyoursummarytostudentsexplainingwhyyouincludedcertainpartsandeliminatedothers.Shared/Guided:1.Inpairs,studentswilltaketurnsrereadingaportionoftext,underliningorcirclingseveralkeywords.Thentheywillgiveaverbalsummaryofthetext.2.Assist,guideandpromptpairswhoarehavingdifficulties.Assessment:Listentothepairsastheysummarize.Cantheydeterminemainideasandvocabularyfromthetext?Modelsummarizinginsmallgroupforstudentswhoarehavingdifficulties.Adaptedfrom:Oczkus,L.D.(2003).Reciprocalteachingatwork:Strategiesforimprovingreadingcomprehension.Newark,DE:InternationalReadingAssociation.

Page 61: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

60

WholeGroup SmallGroup

Week5-Lesson13:SummarizingPARTIIStandard:SeeabovePurpose:Studentswillbeabletoconstructasummaryusingthemainideasfromthetext.Studentswillbeabletoeliminateunnecessaryinformationfromasummary.Model:1.Readaloudasimple,familiartext.Asyoureadaskstudentstothinkaboutmainideasorpointsinthetext.Recordonchartpaper.2.Helpstudentstoidentifyamainideasentenceandthenasequencedlistofevents.Recordandrereadthesummary.3.“Shrinkwrap”yoursummarybycrossingoutunnecessaryorrepetitiveideasorsentences.Continuethisprocessuntilthesummaryisaconciseaspossible.Besuretodiscussreasonsforincludingortakingoutparts.Shared/Guided:1.Assignthenextportionoftextforstudentstoreadsilently.Whenfinished,haveeachstudentwriteasummary.2.Pairstudentsandhavethem“shrinkwrap”eachother’ssummariestakingoutunnecessarysentencesorparts.3.Havestudentssharetheirsummariesoutloud.Assessment:Listentopairsastheyreworktheirsummaries.Cantheydeterminemainideasandincorporatetheseintoconcisesummaries?Modelsummarizingagainduringsmallgroupforthosewhoarehavingdifficulties.Adaptedfrom:http://www.teacher2teacherhelp.com/reading-strategies/summarizing-mini-lessons-and-practice-activities/

Page 62: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

61

WholeGroup SmallGroup

Week6-Lesson14:ComprehensionChartsDuringGuidedReadingStandard:3.4.3.8.1Identifymethodsofcommunicationusedbypeopleslivinginancienttimesinthreedifferentregionsoftheworld.(ClassicalTraditions,BeliefSystemsandGiantEmpires)Purpose:Studentswillbeabletofilloutavisualrepresentationofthereciprocalteachingstrategiesastheyread.Studentswillbeabletomonitortheircomprehensionastheyread.Model:1.Selectatexttoreadwithstudents.Sketchacomprehensionchart.Besuretoallowthefollowingheadings:Whatwealreadyknow,predictions,questions,clarifications,andsummaries.**Seebelowforrecommendedcharts.2.ModelusingstickynotesmakingpredictionsofthetextandconnectionsofwhatIalreadyknow.3.Studentswillfilloutstickynotesandaddtowhatweknowandthepredictionsportionsofthechartbeforereadingthetext.Shared/Guided:1.Studentswillreadthetextsilently,fillingoutstickynotesforeachquestion,orclarificationtheycomeupwith.2.Modelthestrategiesoneatatime.Discussstudents’predictionsfirstandaskifanyone’spredictionhaschanged.Next,modelandquestionandaskstudentstocontributetheirquestionstothechart.Then,modelaclarificationandaskstudentstoshare.Finally,modelasummaryandhavestudentshelpyousummarize.3.Discusswithstudentshowthereciprocalteachingstrategieshelpedthemtocomprehendthetext.Assessment:Whenstudentscontributetothechart,havethemwritetheirinitialsonthestickynotes.Thisway,youcanmakenotesandkeeptrackofindividuals’progress.Adaptedfrom:Oczkus,L.D.(2003).Reciprocalteachingatwork:Strategiesforimprovingreadingcomprehension.Newark,DE:InternationalReadingAssociation.

Page 63: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

62

ComprehensionChartforGuidedReadingGroups

WhatWeKnow(usebackgroundknowledgeandmakeconnectionswiththetext)

OurPredictions(whatmightthetextbeabout?)

OurQuestions(who,what,when,where,whyand

how)

OurWordsorIdeastoClarify

OurSummary

Page 64: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

63

NonfictionComprehensionChartforGuidedReadingGroups

WordsorIdeastoClarify OurSummary1. __________________________________2. __________________________________3. __________________________________4. __________________________________

WhatWeKnowAbout_______________________(previewthetext’scover,illustrationsandheadings)

WhatWeMightLearn

OurQuestionsBeforeReading

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________OurQuestionsAfterReading

Page 65: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

64

WholeGroup SmallGroup

Week6-Lesson15:IntroduceReciprocalTeachingRoleCardsStandard:3.4.3.9.1Compareandcontrastdailylifeforpeoplelivinginancienttimesinatleastthreedifferentregionsoftheworld.(Post-ClassicalandMedievalCivilizationsandExpandingZonesofExchange) Purpose:Studentswilluserolecardstoparticipateinreciprocalteachingduringguidedreading.Model:1.Tellstudentsthattheywillberesponsibleforoneofthereciprocalteachingstrategies(predictor,questioner,clarifier,orsummarizer)duringtoday’slesson.2.UsetheReciprocalTeachingBookmark(Week1-Lesson2)toreviewallstrategieswithstudents.3.Introduceandhandouttherolecards(Seebelow:cutout,laminateandputonaring.Provideonesetforeachstudent).Shared/Guided:1.Teacherwillfacilitatethediscussion.Thepredictorwillgofirstandaskstudentspredictionsofthetext.(Recordondiscussionsheet)2.Next,theteacherwillassignsectionoftexttoread(Decideifstudentswillreadsilently,outloudorwithpartners.)Remindstudentsastheyreadtothinkofquestionsandideas/wordstoclarifyandtorecordondiscussionsheet.3.Afterreading,instructthequestionertogonext.Eachstudentwitharolewillshareandthenaskclassmatestoshare.Repeatwithclarifierandsummarizer.4.Thediscussionwillendwiththepredictorpredictingwhatwillhappeninthenextsectionoftextandprocesswillbeginagain.5.Teacherwillcoach/givefeedbackregardingstrategyuseandtheflowofdiscussion.Assessment:-Observestudents’useofstrategiesandtakenotesofwhoishavingtrouble.Groupaccordinglyandreinforceusingminilessonsifneeded.-Studentswillfillouttheself-evaluation(seebelow) Adaptedfrom:Oczkus,L.D.(2003).Reciprocalteachingatwork:Strategiesforimprovingreadingcomprehension.Newark,DE:InternationalReadingAssociation.

Page 66: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

65

ReciprocalTeachingRoleCards

#1PREDICTOR1. Ask members to look at the cover and illustrations and

discuss what you see. 2. Ask members to write their predictions. **Remember to use

clues from the text to support your predictions. 3. Share your prediction first. 4. Then ask others what they predict.

**Ask: “Does anyone else have a prediction?”

#2QUESTIONER1. Ask your group members to write 1-2 questions that could

be answered by reading the text. **Use questions words: who, what, when, where, why and how)

2. Ask your question first. Call on members to answer. 3. Ask others what their questions are.

**Ask: “Does anyone else have a question?”

Page 67: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

66

#3CLARIFIER1. Ask your group members to identify words or ideas that

were tricky or confusing. 2. Have members write 1-2 difficult words/ideas. 3. Share your word or idea first and strategies used to figure

it out. 4. Ask members to share their words or ideas.

**Ask: “Does anyone have confusing words or parts to clarify?”

5. Discuss strategies to figure out confusing words/ideas.

#4SUMMARIZER1. Ask your group members to write a summary using the

main ideas from the text. 2. Share your summary first. 3. Ask others to share their summaries or add to yours.

**Ask: “Would anyone like to add to my summary or share their own?”

Adaptedfrom:Oczkus,L.D.(2003).Reciprocalteachingatwork:Strategiesforimprovingreadingcomprehension.Newark,DE:InternationalReadingAssociation.

Page 68: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

67

ReciprocalTeachingDiscussionSheet

PredictIpredictthat_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________because___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

QuestionHerearequestionsIcanaskmygroup……1.2.3.

Clarify

______________________isadifficultwordbecause______________________.StrategiesItried….____________________isaconfusingideabecause_______________________.StrategiesItried….

SummarizeHereisa1-2sentencesummary.

Adaptedfrom:Oczkus,L.D.(2003).Reciprocalteachingatwork:Strategiesforimprovingreadingcomprehension.Newark,DE:InternationalReadingAssociation.

Page 69: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

68

Reciprocal Teaching Self-Evaluation M- Most of the time P- Part of the time N- Not at all PREDICTING ____ I preview the cover, title, illustrations and headings before reading. ____ I stop to predict during reading. ____ I make predictions based on clues from the text. QUESTIONING ____ I ask “right there” questions. ____ I ask “think and search” questions. ____ I ask “author and you” questions. ____ I ask “on my own” questions. CLARIFYING ____ When I don’t know a word I stop to figure it out. ____ I use different strategies to figure out words. Some of them are_______________________. ____ When I’m confused by an idea I stop to figure it out. ____ I use different strategies to help understand. Some of them are_______________________. SUMMARIZING ____ I stop to summarize the main ideas as I read. ____ My summaries are clear, short, and include only the important points. Adaptedfrom:http://www.teacher2teacherhelp.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Reciprocal-Teaching-Self-Evaluation.pdf

Page 70: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

69

Conclusion ChapterFourincludedthereciprocalteachingcurriculumtobeusedinathirdgrade

classroom.Additionally,theteacherisabletomeetinstructionalstandardsinbothsocial

studiesandlanguagearts,maximizingtheuseofteachingtime.Allofthelessonspresented

supportedtheresearchinChapterTwoofthiscapstoneemphasizingcomprehensionand

theprocessofreciprocalteaching.Theframeworkofthecurriculum,inadditiontothe

individuallessonscontributetomyresearchquestion:Howcanreciprocalteachingbeused

toincreasecomprehensionwithfluentreadersintheprimarygrades?

IwillconcludethiscapstoneprojectbyreflectinguponwhatIhavelearnedfrom

developingacurricularframeworkforimplementingreciprocalteachinginathirdgrade

classroom.Additionally,Iwilldiscusstheimplicationsandlimitationsofmystudy.Finally,I

willprovidesomerecommendationsforfutureresearchonimplementingreciprocal

teaching.

Page 71: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

70

CHAPTERFIVE

Conclusion

“Iimagineaschoolsystemthatrecognizeslearningisnatural,thataloveoflearningisnormal,andthatreallearningispassionatelearning.”

-TomPeters

Asaneducator,itismygoaltoprovidestudentswithstrategiesthatwillprepare

themtobesuccessfulintheirfuture.Morespecifically,Iwantthosestudentswhostruggle

withcomprehensiontoattainthepropertoolstoguidethemtowardssuccess.Iwantmy

studentstofallinlovewiththestorythatreadingprovideslikeIdidasachild.Inorderto

doso,Ineedtoensurethatmetacognitivethinkingistakingplaceandappropriate

strategiesarebeingusedthatwillsupportthemincomprehendingavarietyoftexts.

Throughoutmycareer,Ihavedevelopedasolidfoundationofstrategiesforteaching

readingcomprehension.However,Irecognizedtheneedtosupportfluentreadersin

improvingtheircomprehension.Thisdesireledmetofurtherexplorethequestion:How

canreciprocalteachingbeusedtoincreasecomprehensionwithfluentreadersintheprimary

grades?InthisfinalchapterIwillfirstconsiderpossibleimplicationsofmyfindings.Next,I

willdiscussthelimitationsofthiscapstoneprojectandfinallyIwillrecommendfuture

researchprojectsconcerningreciprocalteaching.

KeyFindings

Page 72: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

71

Byresearchingtheareasofcomprehensionandfluency,Iwasabletobroadenmy

understandingofthosetermsandrecognizetheeffectsthatreadingfluentlyhason

comprehension.IespeciallyappreciatedRaskinski’s(2004)researchregardingfluencyand

theconnectionbetweenfluencyandcomprehension.Additionally,Ilearnedthebenefits

reciprocalteachingcanhaveinordertoimprovecomprehensionoftext.LoriOczkus

(2003)wasveryinformationalinherexplanationofreciprocalteachingandhandson

reciprocalteachinglessons.Theuseofreciprocalteachinginaclassroomnotonlyteaches

studentshowtocomprehendtext,butalsoencouragesstudentstocollaboratewitheach

otheraspartofalearningcommunity.

PossibleImplications Ifimplementingreciprocalteachinginmyclassroomprovestobeeffective,Iwillbe

abletoteachmoreefficiently.Byembeddingthecontentofthethirdgradesocialstudies

standardsintomylanguageartsinstruction,timewillbebettermanaged,asstudentswill

beabletoapplyreadingstrategiestolearnsocialstudiescontent.Ifmyfindingsarecorrect,

studentswilladditionallybenefitfromcollaboratingwiththeirpeers.Notonlyarethey

learningthefourstrategiesofreciprocalteaching,butalsotheyareengagedinmeaningful

discussionwitheachothertodeepencomprehension.Asstudentsaredevelopingsocial

skillstosuccessfullyworkwithothers,theoverallclimateoftheclassroomshouldimprove

inapositivemanner.

SinceIwillbeimplementingreciprocalteachingwiththeentireclass,allthird

graders’readingcomprehensionshouldincrease,notjuststudentswhocanreadfluently

butstrugglecomprehending.Ascompetentstudentsgothroughtheprocessofusingthe

Page 73: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

72

fourstrategiesassociatedwithreciprocalteaching,theircomprehensionshouldcontinueto

improve.Althoughthecurriculumwasdesignedspecificallyforstudentswhocanread

fluently,butstruggletocomprehend,intheendallstudentswillbenefitfromreceiving

reciprocalteachinginstruction.

Byimplementingthisthirdgradereciprocalteachingcurriculum,Iamtrustingthat

myworkbecomescontagious.IplantosharewhatIhavecreatedwithteachersinmy

graduateschoolcohortinadditiontomyfutureteammatesinhopesthattheywillbe

interestedinalsoimplementingtheunitIhavecreated.Additionally,ifanopportunityto

presentmyresearchandcurriculumarises,Iwouldconsideritsothatmycolleaguesand

administrationcanunderstandthebenefitsreciprocalteachingcanhaveonimproving

students’comprehension.Ultimately,Iwanttobecomeanadvocateandaresourcefor

educatorsintheareaofreciprocalteaching.

PossibleLimitations IfeelveryconfidentinimplementingtheunitIcreatedasIbaseditsdevelopment

onmyexperienceswithteachingthirdgrade.However,thereareafewlimitationsto

consider.First,Iamwritingthisunitduringthespringforagroupofpotentialstudents

whomIhavenotyetmet.Asateacherwhoisresponsivetostudents’needs,Iamaware

thatImayneedtomodifythecurriculumbasedontheneedsofthestudentsinmyfuture

classroom.

Anotherlimitationisthelackoftime.Withthehighdemandsonteacherstofit

everythinginwithinashortamountoftime,Iamconcernedthattherewillnotbeenough

timetofitinanadditionalreciprocalteachingcurriculumontopofthecurriculumteachers

arealreadyrequiredtoteach.Luckily,theunitdesignedhassocialstudiesstandards

Page 74: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

73

embeddedwhichwillsavesometime.Sincetimeisalimitation,teacherswillhavetomake

reciprocalteachingapriorityinorderforstudentstoreceivethebenefitsitprovides.

FutureResearch AlthoughtheunitIcreatedfocusesonsocialstudiescontentstandards,Ichose

foundationallessonsinreciprocalteachingsothatthestructurecouldbeusedforother

content.Iamhopinginthefuturethatthelessonscouldbeusedwithsciencecontentor

simplywithlanguageartscontent.Bycreatingacurriculumwithuniversallessons,Iam

confidentIcouldusethisfoundationforotherunitsofstudyinmyclassroom.

Whileresearchingtheareaofcomprehension,Ifoundmyselfinterestedinlearning

moreaboutinteractiveread-alouds.Interactivereadaloudsconsistofteachersreading

aloudandusingathinkaloudtoexplaintheirthinkingtostudents.Iamcurioustoexplore

ifinteractivereadaloudswouldcontributetoimprovingstudents’comprehension.Inthe

future,Iaminterestedinusinginteractivereadaloudsinadditiontoreciprocalteachingto

maximizecomprehension.Thisway,studentswouldbeshownmultiplestrategiesthey

couldusetostrengthentheircomprehension.

WiththecompletionofmyMaster’sdegreeinLiteracyEducationandtheK-12

ReadingLicense,Iwillcontinuetofurthermystudiesinliteracyeducation.Forexample,I

plantoseekadditionalprofessionaldevelopmentincollaborativelearningsoIcan

encouragestudentstolearnfromeachother.Ialsoplantofurthermyknowledgeof

technologysothatstudentscanbuildtwenty-firstcenturyliteracyskills.Eventually,my

plansincludeintegratingtechnologyintothereciprocalteachingunitIcreated.

FinalThoughts

Page 75: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

74

AsIculminatethisprojectlookingforwardtothenextschoolyear.Iamexcitedto

seethisunitcometolifeasstudentstakeontherolesofpredictor,questioner,clarifierand

summarizertodeepentheircomprehension.Additionally,IamfilledwithcuriosityasI

wonderhowthisunitwillworkwhenputintopracticeandhowstudentswillrespond.As

aneducator,nothingexcitesmemorethanexperiencingstudents’growththroughoutthe

year.ByimplementingthisreciprocalteachingcurriculumIlookforwardnotonlyto

celebratingmystudents’successesalongtheway,butalsoinstillingafondnessofreading

inmystudentssotheycanconnectandfallinlovewiththestorylikeIdidasachild.

Page 76: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

75

BIBLIOGRAPHYA.(2010,November2).QuestioningMini-LessonsandPracticeActivities.RetrievedMarch 18,2017,fromhttp://www.teacher2teacherhelp.com/readingstrategies/ questioning-mini-lessons-and-practice-activities/Allington,R.(2004).Fluency:Avitalkeytocomprehension.Instructor,113(5),12-13.Applegate,M.D.,Applegate,A.J.,&Modla,V.B.(2009).She'smybestreader;shejustcan't comprehend:Studyingtherelationshipbetweenfluencyandcomprehension. ReadingTeacher,62(6),512-521.Brown,R.,&Dewitz,P.(2014).Buildingcomprehensionineveryclassroom.NewYork,NY: TheGuilfordPress.Duke,N.K.,&Pearson,P.D.(2008).Effectivepracticesfordevelopingreading comprehension.JournalofEducation,189(1),107-122.Egmon,B.(2008).Theeffectoffluencyonreadingcomprehension(Ed.D.).Availablefrom ProQuestDissertations&ThesesGlobal.(304602454).Gambrell,L.B.,&Morrow,L.M.(2015).Bestpracticesinliteracyinstruction(5thed.).New York,NY:TheGuilfordPress.Harvey,S.,&Goudvis,A.(2013).Comprehensionatthecore.ReadingTeacher,66(6), 432-439.Harvey,S.&Goudvis,A.(2007).Strategiesthatwork:Teachingcomprehensionfor understandingandengagement(2nded.).Portland,ME:StenhousePublishers.Hudson,R.F.,Lane,H.B.,&Pullen,P.C.(2005).Readingfluencyassessmentand instruction:What,why,andhow?ReadingTeacher,58(8),702-714. Kelly,M.,&Others,A.(1994).Reciprocalteachinginaregularprimaryschoolclassroom. JournalofEducationalResearch,88(1),53-61.McLaughlin,M.(2012).Readingcomprehension:Whateveryteacherneedstoknow. ReadingTeacher,65(7),432-440.Morrison,E.(2013,February24).Question-answerrelationship[Weblogcomment]. Retrievedfromhttp://theopendoorclassroom.blogspot.com/2013/02/question- answer-relationship-qar-freebie.htmlOczkus,L.D.(2003).Reciprocalteachingatwork:Strategiesforimprovingreading comprehension.Newark,DE:InternationalReadingAssociation.

Page 77: Reciprocal Teaching: Improving Students Reading Comprehension

76

Pilonieta,P.,&Medina,A.L.(2009).Reciprocalteachingfortheprimarygrades:Wecando it,too!ReadingTeacher,63(2),120-129.Pressley,M.,&Allington,R.L.(2015).Readinginstructionthatworks(4thed.).NewYork,NY: TheGuilfordPress.Rasinski,T.(2004).Creatingfluentreaders.EducationalLeadership,61(6),46-51.Rasinski,T.,&Young,C.(2014).Assistedreading-Abridgefromfluencytocomprehension. NewEnglandReadingAssociationJournal,50(1),1-4.Rasinski,T.V.(2012).Whyreadingfluencyshouldbehot.ReadingTeacher,65(8), 516-522.Samuels,S.J.,Ediger,K.,&Fautsch-Patridge,T.(2005).Theimportanceoffluentreading. NewEnglandReadingAssociationJournal,41(1),1-8.Shaw,S.D.(2017).GuidedComprehension:Self-QuestioningUsingQuestion-Answer Relationships.RetrievedMarch7,2017,from http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/guided- comprehension-self-questioning-227.html?tab=4#tabsTovani,C.(2000).Ireadit,butIdon’tgetit:Comprehensionstrategiesforadolescent readers.Portland,ME:StenhousePublishers.Tracy,D.H.,&Morrow,L.M.(2012).Lensesonreading:Anintroductiontotheoriesand models(2nded.).NewYork,NY:TheGuilfordPress.Walczyk,J.J.,&Griffith-Ross,D.(2007).Howimportantisreadingskillfluencyfor comprehension?ReadingTeacher,60(6),560-569.