Reciprocal Teaching Lesson Plan - Instructional …



Reciprocal Teaching Lesson Plan

(Case Study 7.1 Lesson Plan)

Subject Area: Science Specific Content: Systems of the Human Body

Grade Level: 5th Length of Lesson: 30 min.

Instructional Objective:

TLW use Reciprocal Teaching terminology and strategies (question generating, clarifying, summarizing, and predicting) to discuss text about the human nervous system.

This lesson is essential in meeting the goal of helping students with creating meaning and retaining the information that they have read. It is also an integral part of the fifth grade science curriculum—a unit entitled Systems of the Human Body. Because the majority of the reading selections chosen for this unit are expository texts, there is an increasing demand for reading comprehension. Thus, time has been set aside to assist students with both enhancing and monitoring their comprehension of these content-related texts during reading groups.

State Content Standard/Benchmark/Grade Level Expectation:

English Language Arts

■ Standards & Benchmarks:

Later Elementary Benchmark

Students will “use a combination of strategies when encountering unfamiliar texts while constructing meaning. Examples include retelling, predicting, generating questions, mapping, examining picture cues, analyzing word structure, discussing with peers, analyzing phonetically, and using context and text structure.”

■ GLCE’s:

• Informational Text

Students will “respond to multiple texts read by discussing.”

• Comprehension

Students will “acquire and apply significant knowledge from what has been read to them from grade level appropriate science, social studies, and mathematics texts.”

Science

■ Standards & Benchmarks:

Students will “develop strategies and skills for information gathering and problem solving.”

Long-Term Unit Objective:

This particular phase of the 5th grade science curriculum emphasizes the life sciences. During this extensive science unit, students will begin an in-depth study of the human body. They will explore the following human body systems:

■ The Nervous System

■ The Respiratory System

■ The Circulatory System

■ The Musculoskeletal System

■ The Digestive System

The LTO for this unit is:

TLW create a descriptive poster on one human body system (digestive, respiratory, circulatory, musculoskeletal, and nervous systems) on which a brief definition and explanation of the system, diagrams, and facts are displayed.

For each system, 2-3 days will be used to learn and explore about the system’s functions and importance in the body. This science curriculum has been integrated into the reading groups in which the students participate. The students will learn how to enhance their comprehension in the process of learning content. This lesson is planned for the reading hour and it coincides with the first day of learning about the Nervous System.

Yesterday’s Lesson:

For each of the human body systems addressed in this unit, Reciprocal Teaching will be used during the reading hour to aid with the comprehension of the expository texts. This will be done on the first day of each system. The Nervous System is the first system covered in the unit.

Subsequent Lessons:

Each system will be covered in 2-3 days depending on the needs of the students. Yesterday’s lesson introduced the Nervous System during the reading hour and progressed to an experiment run during science later in the day. In subsequent days covering the Nervous System, students label diagrams of the system and explain its functions.

After learning about the Nervous System, the students move to the Respiratory System. Again, to introduce the system, the students use the Reciprocal Teaching model to read their science book. Then, through a series of experiments, the students learn about the respiratory system. Key concepts include:

■ The general function of the respiratory system is to deliver oxygen to the tissues

■ The importance of cellular respiration

■ The processes of inhalation/exhalation

In the experiments, students demonstrate that oxygen is in the air we breathe, build a model of the respiratory system, and demonstrate that carbon dioxide is exhaled from the body.

This method of teaching continues for all systems in the unit.

Prerequisite Knowledge or Behaviors Needed:

Skills

Prior to this lesson, the students should be able to do the following academically:

■ read an appropriate level of expository text

■ determine the main idea of a paragraph

■ make inferences and predictions

Concepts

The following key concepts for this lesson are:

■ expository text is non-fiction text that gives information on a specific topic

■ comprehension can be facilitated by predicting, generating questions, clarifying, and summarizing

■ the Nervous System is an integral part of the human body as it pertains to all functions of the body

Behaviors

Throughout this lesson, it is necessary for all students to be actively engaged. Thus, it is essential for the students to be able to do the following behaviorally:

■ work cooperatively with peers/complete work in groups

■ give attention to the teacher

■ participate in a small-group discussion

Why is the content of Today’s Lesson Relevant for Your Students?

It is essential for students to learn about the Human Body Systems. Specifically, the Nervous System is one of the most important systems as it controls all functions of the body. While it is fun to learn how things work, nothing could be compared to the intricacy and amazing construction of the human body. Because we all have a body with the same basic functioning, this lesson relates to all of the students in the classroom. A fundamental understanding of how the Nervous System works will help the students to understand more about their own body. For example, students may be interested in why their hand flinches when it touches something hot. This lesson helps to explain these universal qualities.

Materials:

Where are your materials to be kept until their use during the lesson?

■ The lesson takes place at the round table where reading groups are held. The science books used for this lesson should be placed at the table, ready to be passed out.

When will your materials be passed out?

■ The science books will be passed out at the beginning of the lesson once the students are seated at the round table and are quiet.

How will materials be passed out?

■ One book will be given to each student.

Model of Teaching: Reciprocal Teaching

Procedures: The Reciprocal Teaching model progresses with the following steps:

■ Predicting

■ Question Generating

■ Clarifying

■ Summarizing

The goal of this model is for the students to take on a “teacher role” as they monitor their own understanding while reading individually and working with their peers. The students work through the above steps by alternately assuming the role of “leader” at each section of text and working together to construct meaning. As teachers often do their own “think aloud” while instructing, so do the students start to think aloud with this model. The teacher models the first section of text to remind students of the process and to encourage participation. The students become the subsequent leaders with assistance from the teacher.

The questions asked will depend on the text read and student understanding. The following is what the teacher will ask as he/she models being the “leader” for the first paragraph.

Predicting

■ What do you think we will be reading about today?

■ What evidence suggests that we will be reading about that?

Generating Questions

■ What do all of these things like removing your hand from a hot object and protecting your face from a ball have in common?

■ How are they alike?

■ Does it tell us how our nervous system protects us automatically?

Clarifying

■ Are there any things that you’d like to clarify? Words or things you’re not sure about?

■ Does that help?

■ Is there anything else that needs to be clarified?

Summarizing

■ Shall I try and summarize?

■ Does anyone have anything to add to my summary?

■ Who would like to be the leader for the next paragraph?

After this initial paragraph, continue to read the next several sections, alternating leaders and repeating the process of predicting, generating questions, clarifying, and summarizing.

Closure:

As the group finishes the reading section, the teacher asks if the students have any final questions or comments. To ensure a smooth transition, the students are dismissed by shirt color to work on a follow-up activity related to the reading.

How did you address student learning styles during the lesson?

Visual

To assist those visual learners, the procedures of the Reciprocal Teaching model are listed on a piece of chart paper to which the students can refer. This will help them to follow the correct process for this model. Students also have the opportunity to use a ruler to follow along while reading which will help keep them focused on the correct passage.

Auditory

While students read each passage individually, they will be allowed to “whisper read” out-loud. Those students who are auditory learners will benefit from this reading method as they hear the words they read.

Kinesthetic

This lesson takes a more formal approach as the students will be required to sit at the round table in reading groups. However, for those students who like to move, body-mapping will be used to reinforce the procedures of the Reciprocal Teaching model. These movements and sayings include:

■ Predicting: “I think…”

First, hold up the sign language gesture for “I” and then put both hands to head to represent “think”.

■ Question Generating: “I wonder…”

Shrug shoulders with palms up while saying “I wonder”.

■ Clarifying: “This means…”

With arms up and palms out, motions arms outward while saying, “This means”.

■ Summarizing: “This was about…”

With one arm making a circling motion, say, “This was about.”

Tactile

While notes are not required for this lesson, the students will be allowed to writing down findings in their science notebook. This will help those students with tactile learning preferences.

Assessment Criteria:

What tangible evidence will demonstrate your students’ learning today?

After working in small groups at the round table using the Reciprocal Teaching model, students will be dismissed back to their desks for an opportunity to respond to the reading. Students will be given the choice between two assignments for this independent work:

■ Write a paragraph about the Nervous System which includes 5 facts and details about the system.

■ Complete the extension sheet by answering questions about the reading.

Students will be required to hand in their assignment to the teacher.

What will be considered quality work?

Quality work will be measured differently for each assignment. For those students who choose to write a paragraph, quality work will be that which includes complete sentences with words that can be found in the reading spelled correctly. It will also necessitate meeting the requirement of including 5 facts and details about the system with at least 4 being accurate. For those students who choose to complete the extension sheet, quality work will be that which is fully completed, uses complete sentences, and is accurately based on the text.

Do you need a rubric to structure your assessment?

The aforementioned conditions for quality work can be placed in a rubric to aid in the assessment process.

Will students also self-assess using this rubric?

Students do not need to self-assess using this rubric. However, throughout this unit, students will keep a log which monitors their own comprehension abilities as a means to enhance student awareness.

Gender/Cultural Concerns:

The students in this classroom come from many various cultural backgrounds. These differences are a welcomed attribute of the class. The students have been taught that it is important that they all are different—they all have something to offer to the class. In this sense, it is essential that this lesson addresses diverse cultures. The goals for the students’ progress in science and English language arts follow the Michigan Standards and Benchmarks for fifth grade. However, in order to strengthen and expand students’ understanding of fundamental science concepts, the students will also consider the study of human body systems through different world cultures.

Specifically in this unit, students will learn about notable Roman, Greek, and European individuals who piloted the exploration of the human body. Thus, cultural issues are addressed within a historical context.

Instructional Modifications:

There are six students in the classroom who speak English as their second language. Four of these students have some language barriers, while the other two students are bilingual. All of these students are from a Hispanic background. The four students who have some language barriers can function during basic conversations. However, content-area language is difficult for these students to understand. In order to facilitate learning for the ESL students, the teacher will use many accommodations. First, the instructions, procedures, and a lesson overview will be written on piece of chart paper with words and pictures symbolizing the sequencing of the lesson. This will help the students to understand what they will need to be doing. Furthermore, the teacher will use many gestures and use pictures as visuals to aid in the learning process for these individuals. While some sophisticated ideas and words will be introduced, “student-friendly” speech will supplement understanding. If the teacher has to use a word or phrase that may confuse students, that word or phrase will always stated in an alternative way. Learning clubs will be grouped so that the ESL students are paired with a student who is bilingual and can aid with explanations.

Technology:

Technology will be used as a means of content reinforcement. While it will not be used during the actual lesson, it will supplement this unit and act as a means for students to practice using technology.

The following technology integration will help to enhance this unit:

■ Websites:





■ Videos:



The technology used to supplement this unit satisfies the following NETS Standards for Students:

Use technology resources (e.g., calculators, data collection probes, videos, educational software) for problem solving, self-directed learning, and extended learning activities.

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