One of the best RTI teaching strategies to improve reading comprehension is reciprocal teaching – an instructional strategy involving discussion as well as using reading strategies to improve comprehension of text.
Reciprocal teaching uses a four-step method – often referred to as the “Fab Four” – to help students better understand text. These steps are: summarizing, question generating, clarifying and predicting. There are lots of resources on the web that detail exactly what each step entails, and I’ve added links to some of those resources below.
Studies have proven that reciprocal teaching greatly influences student comprehension skills. They also found that students became readers that are more independent, better summarizers, predictors, and critical thinkers. As an additional benefit, they found that students who participated in reciprocal teaching groups displayed fewer behavior problems.
One of the best ways to use reciprocal teaching is to practice a questioning strategy in which the reader reads the text, processes the meaning, makes connections to prior knowledge, and finally generates a question about the text.
Learning Objectives of the Questioning Strategy:
– Identify the different types of questions
– Formulate different types of questions
– Work in cooperative groups to practice reading comprehension strategies
– Synthesize information in order to respond to a variety of questions.
– Interpret text and demonstrate higher level thinking skills in creating various types of questions
– Enhance comprehension through questioning
– Apply questioning strategies in many curricular areas
Below is more information about reciprocal teaching, as well as lesson plans and helpful materials to implement this method in your classroom.
Information:
https://literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/bonus-materials/507-chapter-3.pdf?sfvrsn=4
https://education.wm.edu/centers/ttac/resources/articles/teachtechnique/reciprocalteaching/index.php
https://www.slideshare.net/evansjenb/reciprocal-teaching-day-1-45540155
http://www.moedu-sail.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Tech-in-the-classroom-infographic-June-2016.pdf
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1114674.pdf
Lesson plans:
http://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewResourceLesson/Preview/39835
http://olms.cte.jhu.edu/olms2/data/ck/sites/1943/files/Reciprocal%20Strategy%20Lesson%20Plan.pdf
Materials:
https://www.nbss.ie/sites/default/files/publications/reiciprocal_teaching_strategy_handout__copy_2_0.pdf
https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/files/2017/11/Reciprocal-Teaching-Figures-KATHY-GLASS-y2x375-q5q59k.pdf
http://www.moedu-sail.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/RT-infographics-June-2016.pdf
http://www.moedu-sail.org/reciprocal-teaching-materials/
CLICK HERE to discover a wealth of teaching strategies and resources for maximizing student success!.