Reciprocal Teaching Printable

I run three types of reading groups in my third grade classroom, guided reading, reciprocal teaching and book clubs. Guided reading provides students with the most support when they are still working on developing their accuracy/word attack skills, in addition to strategy work. Book clubs are a form of group that I use with my highest readers. I bring out a set of four or five books and let them decide which book they want to read as a group based off of their interest level in the summary. The focus with my book club groups is more on thoughtful discussions, led by their own thoughts and questions. I am more of a silent participant in this group. They develop a set of behavior norms so that everyone is participating equally and is prepared for group.

Today I wanted to share something I use with my reciprocal teaching groups. These groups make up the majority of my students as they are grade level readers. This group doesn't struggle (too much) with decoding. The focus is on all reading strategies, comprehension and accuracy. Each student receives a card to use for that day's group. They take on the strategy role that is described on their card. I have included a brief summary and some sentence stems for students to use as they discuss the chapter they have read prior to group and work their way through part of the next chapter in group. What I love about these cards is that they change each time the kids come back to group, forcing them to focus on mastering one strategy each time they meet with me, but ensuring practice with all of them over the course of a few weeks. In order for your reciprocal teaching groups to run smoothly, you have to provide direct instruction on the strategies and spend some time introducing and practicing with the cards. After a few weeks, third graders are pros! There are even times when I can have this group start with me, reviewing the previous chapter, and then move to a location nearby to conduct the rest of their group while I move on to another student. I make sure that they are nearby so I can listen in every now and then. They feel so responsible and grown up when this happens and I love that they are having authentic discussions about the text.

Here are the cards I use with my groups. They look much better if you paste them on cute paper so they have a colorful border and then laminate them. I three hold punch each card in the corner and put them together with a binder ring. This way, each student has a set and can flip the cards as needed. They are actually a bit bigger than they appear.



I would love to hear how you run reading groups in your classroom. It is always a struggle with the wide range of reading levels in the typical classroom so I am constantly looking for fresh ideas!