Reciprocal teaching is a researched-based technique that utilizes the comprehension strategies of predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing. This article provides methods of incorporating characters, props, and visual and hands-on tools to encourage and motivate students to learn through reciprocal teaching. Teachers are given…

Over the course of one year in a first-grade classroom, English learners (ELs) used several literacy practices to construct meaning from expository text. The teacher modeling, guided practice, and independent use of the five most frequent practices are explained in detail, with accompanying photographs of student work. The author describes how…

Since the National Reading Panel presented its 2000 report, systematic and explicit strategy instruction has been featured in the scope and sequence chart of basals, the lesson plans of guided reading groups, and the headlines of workshop brochures. Sticky note responses have become a classroom staple, and teacher read-alouds are now synonymous…

Despite over 25 years of research supporting the instruction of comprehension strategies, it seems that such instruction is not readily found in many classrooms or basal readers, resulting in students that struggle with analyzing and comprehending text. This is particularly true in the primary grades. Originally designed with seventh grade…