Reciprocal Teaching Strategies

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Created by Annemarie Palincsar and Ann Brown in 1986, reciprocal teaching primarily focuses on reading comprehension (620). Through this instructional strategy, students learn strategies to guide their reading in discussion groups (620). Essentially, students begin by witnessing the teacher perform the activity, and then utilize their newfound knowledge by participating in reading groups to further enhance their skills (621). Within these groups, students are assigned different roles, allowing for each individual to act as a teacher for their peers. Furthermore, the classroom teacher’s presence slowly decreases as students practice and become efficient in reciprocal teaching. Fortunately, this particular instructional strategy can be implemented…show more content…
First, the strategy promotes discussion amongst students, “…thereby jointly constructing and enhancing one another’s understanding of the text” (121). Specifically, these group discussions introduce students to a fun, alternative technique that diminishes their aversion to reading (624). In fact, reciprocal teaching galvanizes students to read, while also improving their confidence in reading (624). Other benefits include an increased independence students gain, as they must consider their own thoughts on the reading, track their comprehension, and ask questions. Also, it is important to note that reciprocal teaching can be applied at every grade level, and can be used for both fiction and nonfiction texts (624). Without such benefits, one may question the success of this instructional strategy. However, it is clear that these benefits reason why reciprocal teaching works in…show more content…
Utilization of this instructional strategy for teachers can be done through three main components. While the first two components target how to introduce it, the third component focuses more on the teacher’s role throughout the process. As a result, students are able to experience the benefits of reciprocal teaching that reason why it effectively works in schools. Additional research and studies can support this theory, as they evidence its proven success within students. Altogether, teachers must consider using reciprocal teaching in their classrooms, based on its positive

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