Predicting
This is the stage where the students are encouraged by the teachers to predict or hypothesize about what the students think the author will discuss in the text. While predicting, students often have to draw upon the background knowledge pertaining to the subject in concern, which eventually enriches the learning experience by linking the new knowledge that they will come across in the text with the already possessed knowledge. Also, this helps enhance the students' understanding of text structure as they learn the purpose of headings, subheadings, and questions that are embedded in the text and thus are useful means of anticipating further information.
Encourage students to think on the following lines
Summarizing the important information as you simultaneously process the text helps students to identify and integrate the most important information in the text. The length of the text after which summarization can differ from person to person. Text can be summarized after a few sentences, paragraphs, or across the passage as a whole. Usually while making use of the reciprocal teaching techniques, the students should be advised to begin summarizing at sentence and paragraph levels. As they master the technique, they can become proficient enough to integrate at the paragraph and passage levels.
Encourage students to think on the following lines
As students we are always taught to question everything since asking questions leads you to more and more information. The questioning technique reinforces the summarizing strategy by taking the reader's understanding to the next level of reading comprehension. Questioning requires the students to process and identify the information that is present to them and further analyze its significance to generate a valid question, which they can answer themselves. This strategy has a major advantage of flexibility since students can be taught to generate questions at many levels.
Encourage students to think on the following lines
Clarification of any doubts or questions regarding the text as and when you are reading it is very important for reading comprehension. It is particularly important while working with students who have a history of comprehension difficulty, since at times students may believe that the purpose of reading is saying the words correctly rather than understanding the underlying meaning of the written text. When you ask the students to clarify a particular concept in the text, their attention is brought to the fact the text is not being understood. The students will then think of the reasons why there is difficulty or failure in understanding. The reasons might include new vocabulary, unclear reference words, and even unfamiliar or rather difficult concepts. The clarifying technique makes the students aware of such impediments to comprehension and encourages them to take the necessary measures to restore meaning. For example rereading the text or looking up difficult words or asking for help tends to restore meaning of the previously uncomprehended text.
Encourage students to think on the following lines
Students involved in this particular teaching process tend to learn the art of checking their own understanding of the material, which they have encountered. They do this by generating questions, clarifying concepts and summarizing important information from the text. The ultimate purpose of reciprocal teaching is to help students actively bring meaning to the written word, with or without a teacher. The teaching strategy not only assists reading comprehension but also provides opportunities for students to monitor their own learning and thinking processes.
The structure of the dialog and interactions of the group members in reciprocal teaching system requires all the students to participate and foster healthy relationships and hence helps create an ideal learning atmosphere. Not only does the reciprocal teaching system benefit the slow learners, but also normally achieving or above average students. This technique also facilitates peer-to-peer communication as students with more experience and confidence help other students in their group to decode and understand the text. Students who ask more questions stimulate deeper thinking and understanding in their peers as well.
This is the stage where the students are encouraged by the teachers to predict or hypothesize about what the students think the author will discuss in the text. While predicting, students often have to draw upon the background knowledge pertaining to the subject in concern, which eventually enriches the learning experience by linking the new knowledge that they will come across in the text with the already possessed knowledge. Also, this helps enhance the students' understanding of text structure as they learn the purpose of headings, subheadings, and questions that are embedded in the text and thus are useful means of anticipating further information.
Encourage students to think on the following lines
- I am looking at the title and other visual clues that are appearing along with the body text on the page. What do I think we will be reading about?
- Thinking about what I have read and discussed so far, what do I think might happen next?
Summarizing the important information as you simultaneously process the text helps students to identify and integrate the most important information in the text. The length of the text after which summarization can differ from person to person. Text can be summarized after a few sentences, paragraphs, or across the passage as a whole. Usually while making use of the reciprocal teaching techniques, the students should be advised to begin summarizing at sentence and paragraph levels. As they master the technique, they can become proficient enough to integrate at the paragraph and passage levels.
Encourage students to think on the following lines
- What does the author want me to remember or learn from this passage?
- What is the most important information in this passage?
- What are the valid and logical questions that can be phrased about the text?
As students we are always taught to question everything since asking questions leads you to more and more information. The questioning technique reinforces the summarizing strategy by taking the reader's understanding to the next level of reading comprehension. Questioning requires the students to process and identify the information that is present to them and further analyze its significance to generate a valid question, which they can answer themselves. This strategy has a major advantage of flexibility since students can be taught to generate questions at many levels.
Encourage students to think on the following lines
- What question do I have about the text that I read?
- What are the concepts in the passage that I did not fully comprehend or am unsure about ?
- I'm curious about 'so-and-so' things mentioned in the text
Clarification of any doubts or questions regarding the text as and when you are reading it is very important for reading comprehension. It is particularly important while working with students who have a history of comprehension difficulty, since at times students may believe that the purpose of reading is saying the words correctly rather than understanding the underlying meaning of the written text. When you ask the students to clarify a particular concept in the text, their attention is brought to the fact the text is not being understood. The students will then think of the reasons why there is difficulty or failure in understanding. The reasons might include new vocabulary, unclear reference words, and even unfamiliar or rather difficult concepts. The clarifying technique makes the students aware of such impediments to comprehension and encourages them to take the necessary measures to restore meaning. For example rereading the text or looking up difficult words or asking for help tends to restore meaning of the previously uncomprehended text.
Encourage students to think on the following lines
- One of the words from the text that I wasn't familiar with was...
- What other words or additional concepts do I need for further clarification and better understanding?
Students involved in this particular teaching process tend to learn the art of checking their own understanding of the material, which they have encountered. They do this by generating questions, clarifying concepts and summarizing important information from the text. The ultimate purpose of reciprocal teaching is to help students actively bring meaning to the written word, with or without a teacher. The teaching strategy not only assists reading comprehension but also provides opportunities for students to monitor their own learning and thinking processes.
The structure of the dialog and interactions of the group members in reciprocal teaching system requires all the students to participate and foster healthy relationships and hence helps create an ideal learning atmosphere. Not only does the reciprocal teaching system benefit the slow learners, but also normally achieving or above average students. This technique also facilitates peer-to-peer communication as students with more experience and confidence help other students in their group to decode and understand the text. Students who ask more questions stimulate deeper thinking and understanding in their peers as well.