The Reciprocal Teaching Strategy (Palinscar and Brown, 1984) was developed to help students improve their understanding as they read.  It is an interactive strategy where students talk their way through a text in order to understand it better. Students practice the art of predicting, questioning, clarifiying, and summarizing, all of which contribute greatly to comprehension.  Teachers should model this strategy for their students before expecting students to practice them on their own.  As students become more proficient at using the strategy, teacher involvement decreases.

Websites on Reciprocal Teaching:

Reciprocal Teaching Prompt Cards

http://www.adrianbruce.com/reading/room4/recip/index.htm

Reading Quest.org: Reciprocal Teaching
http://www.readingquest.org/strat/rt.html

Reciprocal Teaching Bookmark
http://pers.dadeschools.net/prodev/bookmark.htm

Reciprocal Teaching Video Clip

http://condor.admin.ccny.cuny.edu/~yq6048/

North Central Regional Education Laboratory: Reciprocal Teaching
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/atrisk/at6lk38.htm

Adolescent Literacy: Reciprocal Teaching

http://www.learningpt.org/literacy/adolescent/strategies/reciprocal.php

Journey to Excellence:  Reciprocal Teaching
http://www.journeytoexcellence.org/practice/instruction/theories/social/reciprocal.phtml