Running head: POSITION PAPER 1

Position Paper

Reciprocal Teaching in a First Grade Classroom to Increase Comprehension

Jean Hussey-Stone

North Carolina State University

Reading in the Content Areas

ECI 541

Lois E. Huffman, Ph.D.

May 1, 2016
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Position Paper

Reciprocal Teaching in a First Grade Classroom to Increase Comprehension

Until recently the principle goal in teaching reading in the primary grades was focused on

developing fluent readers, which entailed instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency,

and vocabulary. You may notice this did not include comprehension. It was found that only 16%

of primary teachers were instructing students on using comprehension strategies in their literary

curriculum. (Pilonieta & Medina, 2009)It has been found that there is "little comprehension

instruction and an emphasis on assessing comprehension." (Pilonieta & Medina, 2009, p.

120)We have already seen that "by shortchanging our elementary students of reading

comprehension, we leave them ill-prepared for the academic demands of secondary school."

(Ness, 2011, p. 100) Consequently, how successful a student is at reading when leaving first

grade basically determines their academic path for the rest of their life. (Mathes et al., 2003)

Now that we have substantiated the need for teaching comprehension strategies, we need

to find a strategy or strategies that will work for primary students. It has been demonstrated that

children are likely to understand and recall more of what they read if they are actively engaged in

certain cognitive strategies, such as activating prior knowledge, predicting, organizing,

questioning, summarizing and creating mental images. (Dougherty Stahl, 2004) The best

instruction is not of just one strategy, but integration of several strategies and how they fit

together. I believe Reciprocal Teaching should be assimilated into first grade reading instruction

in addition to the instruction of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency and vocabulary already

being taught. I also believe Reciprocal Teaching should be taught both in whole group and small

group to allow for modeling and differentiated instruction.

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Reciprocal teaching is research-based and encourages active student participation which

is very important to energetic first graders. (Stricklin, 2011) Reciprocal Teaching has been found

to be effective in assisting children of various ages to increase their comprehension of text."

(Mandel, Osana, & Venkatesh, 2013, p. 410) It incorporates more than one comprehension

strategy allowing for students to use four metacognitive strategies in the comprehension of text -

predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing - and is a scaffolded discussion technique

built on these strategies. (Oczkus, 2010)With Reciprocal Teaching, proficient readers summarize

text by describing what they have learned using their own words from their existing vocabulary

and those they learned in the lesson, ask questions about the text, clarify words or ideas they are

not familiar with, and predict what the story is about or what will happen next allowing them to

make connections from their own knowledge. (Mandel et al., 2013)Reciprocal Teaching should

be taught in conjunction with other strategies that include previewing, visualizing, making

connections, monitoring, knowing how words work, and evaluating. (Oczkus, 2010) It has been

proven that "Reciprocal Teaching has been used effectively with all grade levels, with good and

poor readers, and in small-group and whole-group context." (Dougherty Stahl, 2004, p. 601)

As with any reading assessment, students are on their own in the reading of text and

answering the oral and written comprehension questions that go along with the assessment.

Reciprocal Teaching works towards a "gradual release of responsibility from the teacher to the

student" (Pilonieta & Medina, 2009, p. 121) which is imperative as students must learn to be

independent readers and are assessed without teacher interaction. With Reciprocal

Teaching students becoming self-regulated learners allowing them to choose from several

different strategies, or opting for a different strategy if a chosen strategy is not successful, to

reach their reading goal. (Pilonieta & Medina, 2009)

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The characters used for each strategy - Powerful Predictor, Quincy the Questioner, Clara

the Clarifier, Sammy the Summarizer - makes them come alive and provide a concrete way for

students to remember each one. (Oczkus, 2010)Oczkus encourages primary teachers

to incorporation the use of visual tools to assist with primary students; a snow globe for the

Powerful Predictor, a toy microphone for Quincy the Questioner, a pair of glasses to wear with

Clara the Clarifier, and an old camera for Sammy the Summarizer. (Oczkus, 2010)These visual

tools, or props, keep students' hands busy. Additionally, "when the students manipulate a prop,

they are consistently reminded of the purpose of the assignment (reading comprehension) and the

props prompt them in a motivating way to complete the task at hand." (Stricklin, 2011, p. 622)In

addition to using physical props, it is recommended to teach students gestures to go with each

character strategy. There are many kinesthetic learners and "researchers have discovered that

using hand gestures or motions to represent comprehension processes yield strong results in

grades K-3." (Oczkus, 2010, p. 52)Using kinesthetic movements "increases the effectiveness of

traditional transactional strategy instruction." (Block, Parris, & Whiteley, 2008, p. 460)Young

learners need action and activity when learning. Reading comprehension includes both concrete

and abstract words. For primary students to understand both word types, they need to be able to

create a clear mental representation of these terms. Using kinesthetic motions is an effective tool

for students to be able to create these mental images for the more difficult abstract

words. (Block et al., 2008)Reciprocal Teaching incorporates both visual and kinesthetic

pathways for primary children to learn comprehension strategies.

Neither whole group nor small group should be the sole mode of teaching Reciprocal

Teaching. Ideally, when using Reciprocal Teaching teachers should alternate between whole and

small group. Whole group should be used for introducing the strategies, modeling expectations
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and reviewing previously taught content. (Gibson, n.d.)It should also be used after self-

regulated small-group Reciprocal Teaching to allow students to reflect on what strategies worked

for them. Teacher-lead small group is best for "providing opportunities for more

student engagement in explicit, skills-focused instruction with constructive feedback." (Gibson,

n.d., p. 3)Additionally, small group allows for diverse instruction. Research has found that

students who received small-group instruction learned significantly more than those that did not

receive any small group instruction. (Gibson, n.d.)

At our school, most often student comprehension is what holds back student growth in

reading. Many of the kindergarten students come to first grade still struggling to get onto reading

level. Introducing and consistently using Reciprocal Teaching to enhance the comprehension of

text would give students wonderful tools to use as they progress through their years of education.

Being a first grade teacher, I already use different modes of kinesthesis, visuals, and auditory to

engage my students which I have found assist in their retention of information. Finding that

Reciprocal Teaching encourages this when teaching/using the strategies stimulated my research

on this topic. Additionally, I use both whole group and small group instruction in my classroom.

I find that the use of both types of instruction enhance learning by my students. Whole group

allows me to introduce new content and/or strategies, model old and new strategies and

expectations, and offers students to hear what other students are thinking. Small group allows me

more of a one-on-one type of teaching with my different leveled learners. It also provides me

with a closer observation of how each student is doing with areas being taught. Therefore, it will

be comfortable implementing whole and small group with Reciprocal Teaching. I have never

tried student led small groups, so I am very excited about trying that. I know it will take a lot of

time to introduce and get students on a reflexive mode of using Reciprocal Teaching strategies,
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but the outcome will be worth it. Furthermore, since our school promotes research-based

instruction, Reciprocal Teaching will be a great addition to my teaching instruction to assist

students in developing their ability to better comprehend text they are reading.
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References

Block, C. C., Parris, S. R., & Whiteley, C. S. (2008, March). CPMs: A kinesthetic

comprehension strategy. The Reading Teacher, 61, 460-470. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/20204614

Dougherty Stahl, K. A. (2004, April). Proof, practice, and promise: Comprehension strategy

instruction in the primary grades. The Reading Teacher, 57, 598-609. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/20205406

Gibson, V. (n.d.). Differentiating instruction: Making it happen in classrooms. Retrieved from

https://www.mheonline.com/_treasures/pdf/vicki_gibson.pdf

Mandel, E., Osana, H. P., & Venkatesh, V. (2013, September 25). Addressing the effects of

Reciprocal Teaching on the receptive and expressive vocabulary of 1st grade students.

Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 27, 407-426.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2013.824526

Mathes, P. G., Torgesen, J. K., Clancy-Menchetti, J., Santi, K., Nicholas, K., Robinson, C., &

Grek, M. (2003, May). A comparison of teacher-directed versus peer-assisted instruction

to struggling first-grade readers. The Elementary School Journal, 103, 459-479.

Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1002113

Ness, M. (2011, January 3). Explicit reading comprehension instruction in elementary

classrooms: Teacher use of reading comprehension strategies. Journal of Research in

Childhood Education, 25, 98-117. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2010.531076

Oczkus, L. D. (2010). Reciprocal teaching at work: Powerful strategies and lessons for

improving reading comprehension (2nd ed.). Newark, DE: International Reading

Association.
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Pilonieta, P., & Medina, A. L. (2009, October). Reciprocal teaching of the primary grades: "We

can do it, too!". The Reading Teacher, 63, 120-129. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40347662

Stricklin, K. (2011, May). Hands-on reciprocal teaching: A comprehension technique.

International Reading Association, 64, 620-625. http://dx.doi.org/10.1598/RT.64.8.8