Teaching is essentially an art which consists of and requires ample skills for guiding and evaluating students. Prediction is used as a comprehensive strategy which brings about simple and successful mode of developing analytical reading and realizing talents for any situational critical reading. Predicting provides two advantages; earlier knowledge acquirement and appropriate reason for reading. Through this approach, students get into connecting their already acquired knowledge with those updated. Reading grows to be a reciprocally active procedure, because a person who reads looks whether those predictions were accurate. Reading is a major precedence for students in second and third grade. Writing abilities turn out to be more decisive as the grade enters four and five. As they enter sixth grade, smoothness and correctness in reading, writing, speaking as well as listening is expected. Skills of interpretation, inscription, exclamation and attentiveness are those distinguishing them from lower grade students.
Nowadays, teaching sector puts forward various prediction strategies. The strategy selected here is ‘Reciprocal Teaching’ for handling sixth grade students, so that they succeed in proper predictions of reading. “Reciprocal teaching refers to an instructional activity that takes place in the form of a dialogue between teachers and students regarding segments of text.” (Palincsar, 1986, para.1). Interactive classes are always lively and interesting; so the strategy works. Interpretations are dug out through proper discussions between teacher and students as well as within students. This helps in sharpening those skills which are stated to be essential for students of sixth grade at the beginning of this work. Interactive sessions create an active environment inducing stimulations for investigation and attaining of ideas related to the topic under discussion.
The reciprocal teaching strategy goes in a way touching various procedures, namely, summarizing, question generating, clarifying and predicting. Summarizing makes available the chance to spot out and incorporate various significant points from reading. There are different levels of summarizing: sentence, paragraph, passage etc. In the beginning, sentence and paragraph summarizing will do which can be later upgraded to proficient paragraph and passage summarizing. Summarizing can lead to identification of significant portions relevant to ‘answer for a question form’. Question generating requires higher proficiency of summarizing and interpretations. The questions generated are repeatedly analyzed by students for testing their significance and answering relevance. This is often considered as a supple strategy, because it makes students to be flexible for different levels, from easy to complex, of questioning. Clarifying is the strategy following question generating, which helps those students who find difficulty in understanding of it. The students are made to clearly dig out what the literature points to. Only if real aim of words is imparted, reading becomes successful. This strategy makes students qualified to be attentive to the consequences of obstruction to understand and acquire the essential procedures to reinstate denotation. Predicting takes place while students imagine what the writer will talk about subsequently in the book. For doing this effectively, students have to trigger the applicable situational acquaintance which they already hold on the subject what is being read. This puts forward a new reason for students to read i.e. to find out whether their predictions are right or wrong.
The application of reciprocal teaching can be implemented in a stepwise method in sixth grade teaching effectively. First, students should be grouped in such a way that each group contains an adjusted balance of equal potential. The topic for reading is given to each for critical study. Each student should bring about his own points and interpretations. They are asked to create questions and answers of their own and discuss among themselves. They can mutually help in clarifying difficult potions and even take help from the teacher at any point. The prediction can be made effective with group views. The outcomes and relevance of each are noted out by the group leader. After this stage different groups will discuss on their outcomes with others. This is to be done with teacher as their leader. During this discussion, redundancies from any part can be identified and cleared out by teacher. Also students can clarify any further doubts with him. The study approach in the above manner termed as reciprocal teaching will definitely bring about difference in reading up to a requisite level of sixth grade.
The reading observed and continued in above manner facilitates opportunity of effective reading and interpretations. These can lead to acquirement of skills like reading, writing, speaking and listening at high proficiency, which is essential for students of sixth grade. Nowadays, Accelerated Reader Reading Management Software is used for employing strategies effectively in their classes by sixth grade teachers. The literature selections are done based on their analytical significance. Reciprocal teaching can be implemented by dividing the entire class into different groups and conducting discussions within those to dig out results which are then discussed between groups of whole class. Thus, an effective, interesting, fruitful and successful teaching can be achieved through reciprocal teaching in sixth grade.
Reference List
Palincsar. (1986). Reciprocal teaching. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Web.