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Research strongly supports the effectiveness of Reciprocal Teaching (De Corte et al., 2001; Lederer,
2000; Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar, 1986, 2003; Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar & Brown, 1984;
Rosenshine & Meister, 1994; van den Bos et al., 2007; van Garderen, 2004). The method appears to work
well with students of all reading proficiency levels, and it works with other strategies besides the strategies
that were originally used. A reading teacher might use a different set of comprehension strategies, such as
activating prior knowledge, clarifying difficult words, making a schematic representation of the text, and
summarizing (De Corte et al., 2001). A math teacher might employ a Reciprocal Teaching strategy as
students work on word problems in mathematics, focusing on strategies such as understanding the problem,
drawing a diagram, making an equation, and checking the answer to see if it makes sense (cf. van
Garderen, 2004).
Self-Regulated Strategy Development
Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) is a highly effective learning environment developed
by educational psychologists and special educators Steve Graham and Kathryn Harris and their colleagues
(Graham & Harris, 1993, 2003; Graham et al., 2005; Graham, Harris, & Troia, 2000; Harris & Graham,
2007; Harris, Santangelo, & Graham, 2008). SRSD has been used principally to help students learn
writing strategies, although its procedures have also been used successfully to promote learning of
strategies for solving mathematics problems and reading (Case, Harris, & Graham, 1992; L. Johnson,
Graham, & Harris, 1997; L. H. Mason, 2004). SRSD incorporates all eight of the features of effective
strategy instruction that we have discussed in this chapter.
The goal of SRSD is to help students master use of writing strategies so that they can and will use
them on their own. SRSD has been used successfully with students at many age levels (Chalk, Hagan-
Burke, & Burke, 2005; Graham & Harris, 2003; Graham et al., 2000; Harris & Graham, 2007; Lane et
al., 2008; Lienemann, Graham, Leader-Janssen, & Reid, 2006; Santangelo et al., 2008). Although designed
especially to promote learning of students with learning disabilities, it is generally effective with typical
students as well as students with learning disabilities (Graham & Harris, 2003).
In this section, we will illustrate SRSD by describing an application of SRSD to writing in the
third grade (Graham et al., 2005; Harris, Graham, & Mason, 2006). As we discuss SRSD, we will
examine how SRSD embodies each of the eight features of effective strategy instruction that we have
discussed.
Multiple strategies embedded within regular instruction. SRSD helps students learn many
different writing and self-regulation strategies that help them become better writers. In the third-grade
SRSD program that we are examining (Graham et al., 2005; Harris et al., 2006), students are first taught
three basic writing strategies, represented by the mnemonic POW:
- Pick my ideas. In this step, students are to decide what to write about.
- Organize my notes. This is the planning stage of writing (as we discussed in Chapter 7). It includes
generating ideas and organizing them into a writing plan. - Write and say more. This is the revision stage of writing (as discussed in Chapter 7). Students make
any needed changes to their plan and improve their plan while they are writing. The focus is not just
on proofreading but also on making changes to the original plan while writing the paper.
SRSD with third graders focuses especially on Step 2: Organize my notes (planning). In Chapter 7
we reviewed research showing that from elementary school through the college level, students tend to plan
for their writing less than they should. This is particularly true of struggling writers. To help students plan
more effectively, teachers teach students a series of specific steps to plan more effectively when writing two
different genres: stories and persuasive essays. To generate and organize ideas for stories, students are
taught to ask themselves the seven questions shown in Figure 14.5a. The mnemonic âWWW, What = 2,
How = 2â is used to help students remember the seven questions. Teachers first spend several weeks
helping students master the strategies for planning stories.