Small Group Behaviour

Students who are introduced to into Connectors need to be able to work in a small group situation - working toward independence from the teacher.

To ensure students are able to follow the process used in into Connectors, the teacher will first model the process and the role of group leader before students attempt to work independently with into Connectors.

The Teacher Resource Book outlines a process for introducing the into Connectors' approach to students using a day-by-day approach. The teacher gradually withdraws as a group participant when the students are able to work as an independent peer group.

Language in use

By using into Connectors', students experience explicit practice in

• Oral language
• Applying comprehension strategies, and
• Expressing their thoughts and opinions.
• They extend their vocabulary and my further research topics of interest.

More than Reading - Values in Action

Students using into Connectors in small groups, learn to interact and demonstrate the values of:

• Acceptance
• Respect for the opinions of others
• Tolerance
• Working cooperatively
• Listening to others
• Taking responsibility

Reciprocal Teaching - a Research-based Approach

"The original reciprocal teaching model was developed by Palincsar and Brown (1984) *. They found that when reciprocal teaching was used with a group of students for just fifteen to twenty days, the students' reading on a comprehension assessment increased from 30 percent to 80 percent. The students were also able to function more independently in the classroom, were able to summarise verbally, write contextually accurate summaries, predict questions and detect incongruities in texts. Not only did the students show these improvements in English and literature, they also improved their test scores in science and social studies on an average from 20 percent to 50 to 60 percent."

Connectors Teacher Resource Book, p54

*Palincsar, A.S. and Brown, A.L. (1984) 'Reciprocal Teaching of Comprehension-Fostering and Comprehension-Monitoring Activities.' Cognition and Instructioni, 1, 117-175.

A review of studies of reciprocal teaching in 1994 concluded that it is a technique that improves reading comprehension.
B. Rosenshine and C. Meister. (1994) 'Reciprocal Teaching: A Review of Nineteen Experimental Studies.' Review of Educational Research 64, 479-530.