Quick Links

Quick Links

Christ Church CE Primary School

'With God,
all things are possible' (Matthew 19:26)

What is Reciprocal Reading?

Reciprocal reading is a structured, discussion-based approach to teaching reading comprehension  through guided reading, which develops children's understanding of a text. Children are gradually taught to take on group roles to explore and find meaning in texts. Reciprocal reading emphasises teamwork and supports independent comprehension skills. At Christ Church, the intervention is delivered to small groups of children by a trained teaching assistant.

Who is Reciprocal Reading suitable for?

At Christ Church, this intervention is delivered to children in Year 5 and 6 who:

  • Can read but struggle to understand and cannot explain their understanding to others
  • Read very slowly because they are focusing on accurate decoding or read too fast and do not pay attention to what they are reading
  • Lack confidence when reading new or unfamiliar texts and have a limited reading repertoire
  • Have impaired understanding through limited understanding of vocabulary

What are the strategies of Reciprocal Reading?

Children use four strategies to make sense of what they read and become more confident, independent readers:

  • The Predictor asks all the readers to make predictions about the text based on information they already know. 
  • The Clarifier helps the group to identify confusing words, sentences and ideas. They help the group to understand the text. 
  • The Summariser helps the group to identify the most important ideas in the text and what the text is mainly about. They provide a summary of the text.
  • The Questioner asks questions about the text to encourage higher-order thinking. 

Why use Reciprocal Reading? 

  • It encourages children to think about their own thought process during reading.
  • It helps children learn to be actively involved and monitor their comprehension as they read.
  • It teaches children to ask questions during reading and helps to make the text more comprehensible.
  • It helps children engage with text and read it beyond face value, which is important preparation for cross disciplinary reading in secondary school.