Published: March 1, 1996

Communities Of Learners

More than a decade ago, Ann Brown and Annemarie Palincsar perfected a technique for improving children's reading comprehension. The approach, "Reciprocal Teaching,'' was simple: Teach children to use the same strategies that expert readers use to get a handle on difficult text. Students learn to ask for clarification when they come upon words they don't know, to periodically stop and summarize the passages they read, to ask questions about the text, and to predict what they will find...