Constructing meaning via reciprocal teaching

Previous research on reciprocal teaching (RT) focused on the successful acq uisition of the four RT strategies: predicting, questioning, clarifying, su mmarizing, and was conducted in highly controlled settings at a time when t eachers were viewed as disseminators of information. Our research on RT inv olved fifth grade teachers who had exposure to constructivist thinking, and it was conducted as part of the normal school day. We documented the exten t to which RT was modeled in the science classroom and the influence modeli ng had on student RT dialogues and comprehension of expository text. Result s indicate that when teachers consistently and clearly modeled all four RT strategies, provided examples of meaningful dialogues, offered guided pract ice, and gave praise and feedback, student dialogues mirrored that of their teachers. This ultimately led to their comprehension monitoring as well as gaining deeper insight into text concepts. In addition, both experimenter designed and standardized assessments indicated high degrees of comprehensi on and student success at constructing meaning.