Reciprocal Teaching - Essay Example

As children read textbooks in schools and consult encyclopedias and other sources of information, they not only learn new meanings for old concepts but also correct faulty meanings associated with old concepts. Because older children's experiences are more varied than those of preschoolers, it is understandable that their concepts change in different directions and become increasingly more varied.

However, certain concepts are commonly found among older children in the American culture today. The reciprocal teaching strategy is very much applicable for children in 6th-grade level because they have already developed understanding and have already build up their vocabulary and reciprocal teaching can be done in groups and group belonging is an interest developed in late childhood. With increased interest in the group, belonging comes an increased interest in the desire to communicate with group members.

Children soon learn that meaningful communication cannot be achieved unless they understand the meaning of what others are saying to them. This provides the necessary incentive to improve their comprehension. Improved comprehension and prediction are also aided by training concentration in school. Throughout late childhood, children's general vocabularies grow by leaps and bounds. From their studies in school, their reading, their conversations with others, they build up vocabularies which they use in their speech, writing, and comprehension.

Describe how you would apply the strategy with your 6th-grade reading class. First, I will select a well-structured text selection for the exercise then distribute the copies of the selection to the class. I would choose a poem or short piece of fiction or nonfiction that I have annotated that models all four strategies of Reciprocal Teaching. It is advisable to start with very short pieces of literature or short sections of a larger work (a chapter or section of a novel, biography, etc.). This will allow my students to practice and hone their skills before moving on to longer readings.

Explain the four reading skills