Teaching to Learn: A Reciprocal Teaching Lesson

We all know that connecting curriculum to real life applications is one of the best ways for students to internalize and utilize skills and concepts delivered via classroom instruction. As a sixth grade language arts teacher, I am always on the lookout for new ways to connect learning to the 'real world.' Years ago, I stopped asking students to write fake business letters as part of one of my units because the level of engagement was low and the results were disappointing. When I connected this assignment to a research project in which students wrote real business letters that were met by real responses, the end product was better and students gained a much more valuable experience.

Students Become the Teachers

Therefore, when it comes to reviewing major concepts in preparation for state or other types of testing, I look for effective ways to give students an opportunity to use/review what they have learned in the most productive means possible. I found that the most efficient and best use of time was using reciprocal teaching. This is a technique in which students become the instructors and teach the class. I assign each group a topic and students become the experts.

Every year, my students enjoy this collaborative group project and the results are always positive. I’ve also found it to be a great way to end a unit of study. Students enjoy having the opportunity to teach their peers and share activities with one another. In many cases I end up incorporating student-designed activities, games, and web tools into classroom lessons. What follows is an explanation of the way I introduce reciprocal teaching. 

The Reciprocal Teaching Technique

In order to introduce the idea of reciprocal teaching, I first give students a graphic organizer with a lesson plan template. This graphic organizer lays out each student’s role and responsibility in their teaching group. This is a sample of the graphic organizer each student must complete during the planning process of their lesson:

Reciprocal Teaching Lesson Name: Group Members:

Title of Lesson:   Objective:   Roles—Write the group member responsible for each role for the lesson. 1)      Lesson Introduction: 2)      Question/Discussion Leader: 3)      Activity Director(s): 4)      Lesson Wrap-up:   Summary of Activity (be sure to list the materials needed to complete your group’s chosen activity):     Describe your role. What will you say? What will you do? How will you know students understand what you are teaching?

Preparing the Lessons

After I have defined the different aspects of lesson development, I then put students into groups. Students are placed in groups of four and I allow them to choose their role from the ones listed on their lesson template. As they design their lesson students practice important skills.

• Students are required to review and completely understand the skill and/or concept they are assigned to teach.
• Having more than one student working on the same piece of information is a teaching tool within itself because students often sort out confusions in their learning and develop a better understanding of the skill or concept through working on their lesson together.
• It gives me another opportunity to work with student groups, answer questions, and help them understand what they will be teaching.
• In my experience with this project, students want to become the experts on their chosen lesson, and in order to accomplish that goal, they often ask remarkable questions to make sure each member is ready to present.    

Once lessons are planned and have received teacher approval, groups sign up for a presentation date and time. As each group shares, I evaluate each member for the accuracy of the content and overall presentation. The results are always astounding, and I love watching students show off what they know. It is a highlight of the school year, professionally speaking. Not only do students demonstrate their knowledge, but through the process of teaching the lesson, they also take ownership of their learning. What follows are more reciprocal teaching ideas.

Reciprocal Teaching Ideas:

Play Ball: A Major League Review Game

In this review lesson students play a mock baseball game as they review content. The basic structure of the game can be modified to fit any subject area.

Maggie’s Earth Adventure

This lesson has students use the Internet to review information. I like the online progress chart students fill out as they complete the review. This aspect of the lesson allows students to take ownership of their learning.

Book Reviews on Voice Thread

This lesson requires students to use Voice Thread as a part of a novel summary presentation. The presentation tools allow students to combine various skills in order to review their learning.

Angles, Lines, and Transversals

This review lesson in math has students use a variety of activities to review and demonstrate what they have learned. The various activities can be modified to fit most content areas.