Book Study: Reciprocal Teaching at Work K-12 Chapter 3
Every week we will be posting our primary (Christina) and secondary (me) reflections on Reciprocal Teaching at work k-12 by Lori Oczus. Grab your own copy, so you can join us this month talking about reading comprehension.
Chapter 3 is all about whole class instruction.
There are copious examples and ideas for how to use Reciprocal Teaching in whole class instruction. Lori also addresses some of the concerns educators have about using whole class instructions and why we should use it- sparingly.
One of the most important reasons to use whole class instruction is to model how to use reciprocal teaching. She also talks about building a sense of community and a common knowledge base. Students also need to see/hear how other students make sense of their reading, and everyone brings different background knowledge to the text.
Lori outlines an example of whole class instruction using a nonfiction article. This is a great way to illustrate these strategies because teachers at every grade and in every content can replicate this for their texts. 
I see myself using this with sections of our AP Psychology text and to look at our own writing in our new journalism class next year especially early on in the year.
I see myself using this with sections of our AP Psychology text and to look at our own writing in our new journalism class next year especially early on in the year. 
While whole class instruction implies the idea of the teacher talking at a class full of students whose undivided attention is on the teacher, what whole class instruction actually looks like in Reciprocal Teaching is think-pair-small group-whole class. After the teacher models the strategies with the text, the students are gradually given responsibility of the reading and check in with their elbow partners and table groups.
This strategy going to be fairly easy for me to institute because I have tables for two that are grouped into 4s in my room, so my groups are build in from day 1 of my class. I also believe that using this with articles and poems in my classes will provide a short text for students to practice with.
In psychology I would begin by previewing the chapter and thinking aloud about my predictions about what the topics we will be studying will be. Our text also has an introduction to each chapter, so I would read that aloud and share my thinking with students. Students would then write questions they want answers to from the preview, which we will share whole class before starting the chapter. Then students would pair or individually read the first section and share their thinking at the table.
Please leave your ideas and suggestions in the comments below: How could you use this type of whole class instruction in your classroom?
Be sure at stop by to see Christina's Primary Grades post
