Reciprocal Reading

Reciprocal Reading is an interactive strategy that is useful when the subject material is difficult and requires active reading to construct personal meaning. It teaches students to ask questions that will enhance the skills of inferring and making connections between what the author says and what the students know.

1. Three general categories of questions are:

• On the lines - answers can be found by looking in the text
• Between the lines - answers can be found by problem solving, inferring, or using the clues to build connections
• Beyond the lines or in your head -  answers can be found by thinking of what is known already from experience and putting this knowledge to work

2. Silently read the passage of the text

3. Student close their books and a team of three or four volunteers lead a class discussion by posing questions about the reading

4. The teacher helps make connections, models good questions, and clarifies and extends thinking

5. After reading the next section of the text, the roles change, so that the team answers questions posed by classmates

6. Reading continues in this manner, with the role of questioners changing

7. When several passages have been analyzed, the teacher has students predict what might follow in the text.

8. Students check their predictions after they have finished reading, and the teacher leads a follow-up discussion on what they discovered.

9. Students may be given time for written reflection on the effect this strategy as has on their individual thinking and learning

10. After sever sessions using this strategy, students can work in groups of three or four, formulating and responding to one another's questions.

In the Classroom:

• Novel studies
• transactional reading such as editorials

ELA Curricular Outcomes:

• Make Sense of Information (3.2.5)
• Ask Questions (3.1.2)
• Work in Groups (5.1.2)