Focus on Inclusion Reciprocal Teaching as a Comprehension Strategy for Understanding Mathematical Word Problems

Ms. Johnson was concerned about the inconsistent performance of several of her students in solving mathematical word problems. A number of her students were one to two grade levels below their grade placement in reading, spoke English as a second language, and had identified reading disabilities. On mathematics assignments that required minimal reading, all the students in Ms Johnson's class performed adequately. The major state assessment in mathematics was in four months time but Ms Johnson was worried that these students might fail because the state assessment invariably contained a significant number of mathematical word problems. Ms. Johnson felt frustrated by her inability to help her students read and comprehend mathematical word problems.