Turn Any Reader into a Thinker
Master the four Reciprocal Teaching strategies—predict, question, clarify, summarize—and build a structured, research-backed system that moves every student from passive page-turner to confident, self-directed reader.
"My job isn't to make you dependent on a framework—it's to give you one so solid that your students eventually don't need you to run it anymore."— Carolyn Carter
What you'll learn
What you'll be able to do
- Confidently facilitate all four Reciprocal Teaching strategies—predict, question, clarify, and summarize—with any text and any grade level.
- Design and sequence scaffolded RT lessons that gradually release responsibility from teacher to student.
- Diagnose where individual readers break down in comprehension and assign the right RT strategy as a targeted intervention.
- Lead productive student-led discussion circles where learners take turns in the teacher role.
- Adapt Reciprocal Teaching for diverse learners, including ELL students and struggling readers, using differentiated supports.
- Measure and document growth in reading comprehension using embedded RT formative assessment routines.
How it works
A school that adapts to you
This isn't a set of static videos. Every lesson is generated live and tuned to where you actually are.
We learn your level
A quick placement check tailors your starting point so you're never bored or lost.
Lessons adapt as you go
Each lesson is written for your pace and your goal, adjusting as your skills grow.
Your AI coach keeps you moving
Checkpoints, feedback, and gentle nudges turn progress into a real result.
The curriculum
What's inside your school
6 modules · 19 lessons
The Case for Reciprocal Teaching
Establishes the 'why' before the 'how.' Teachers ground their practice in the research base, build a conceptual map of all four strategies, and understand the Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR) framework that governs every RT lesson they will ever teach. Placing this module first ensures every subsequent skill is anchored to evidence and purpose rather than learned as isolated technique.
- 1.1What the Research Actually SaysIncluded
- 1.2A Bird's-Eye View of the Four StrategiesIncluded
- 1.3The Gradual Release of Responsibility ModelIncluded
Mastering Each of the Four Strategies
Develops deep, flexible, grade-agnostic fluency with every strategy before teachers are asked to combine or scaffold them. Each lesson follows the same arc: understand the cognitive purpose of the strategy, experience it as a learner, then practice facilitating it as a teacher. Mastery here is the prerequisite for everything in Modules 3–6.
- 2.1Predict — Activating the Reading BrainIncluded
- 2.2Question — Moving Beyond Literal RecallIncluded
- 2.3Clarify — Teaching Students to Monitor ComprehensionIncluded
- 2.4Summarize — Distilling What Matters MostIncluded
Designing and Sequencing RT Lessons
Bridges strategy mastery to classroom-ready lesson design. Teachers select texts wisely, build scaffolded sequences that honor the GRR framework, and navigate the critical — and often chaotic — first two weeks of RT implementation. This module is the design studio of the course: every activity produces an artifact teachers take directly into their classrooms.
- 3.1Selecting and Preparing Texts for RTIncluded
- 3.2Building a Scaffolded RT Lesson SequenceIncluded
- 3.3Launching RT in Your Classroom — The First Two WeeksIncluded
Leading Student-Directed Discussion Circles
Develops the facilitation craft teachers need to successfully hand over the teacher role to students. Norms and structures come first, then the subtle in-the-moment coaching moves that keep circles productive without reclaiming teacher control, and finally the sustained practices that scale circles to full independence. Sequenced after Module 3 so teachers only attempt student-led circles once their lesson design is solid.
- 4.1Establishing Norms and Roles for RT CirclesIncluded
- 4.2Coaching from the Side — Teacher Moves During Student-Led CirclesIncluded
- 4.3Scaling to Full Independence — Moving to Fully Student-Led CirclesIncluded
Differentiating RT for Diverse Learners
Ensures RT's benefits reach every student — not just fluent, grade-level English speakers. Each lesson focuses on a distinct population, always starting from the core RT framework and adding targeted, evidence-based adaptations rather than replacing RT with a simpler alternative. Placed after discussion circles so teachers adapt from a position of structural confidence.
- 5.1RT for English Language LearnersIncluded
- 5.2RT for Struggling Readers and Students with Learning DifferencesIncluded
- 5.3Extending RT for Advanced and Independent ReadersIncluded
Assessing, Reflecting, and Sustaining RT Practice
Closes the loop between teaching and learning. Formative assessment routines are embedded inside RT lessons (not bolted on after), comprehension breakdowns are diagnosed systematically and met with targeted interventions, and teachers build the reflective habits and collegial structures that sustain high-quality RT practice across the full school year and beyond. Placed last because teachers now have the practice depth to make assessment and reflection genuinely meaningful.
- 6.1Formative Assessment Inside RT LessonsIncluded
- 6.2Diagnosing Comprehension Breakdowns and Targeting InterventionsIncluded
- 6.3Sustaining and Growing RT Practice Over TimeIncluded
Who it's for
Is this you?
Classroom Teachers
You want a structured, proven method to move students beyond surface-level reading and into real discussion—without reinventing the wheel every unit.
Literacy Coaches
You need deep fluency in the RT framework so you can model it credibly, coach teachers through implementation, and troubleshoot breakdowns across a whole building.
Homeschooling Parents
You're committed to rigorous literacy instruction at home and want a research-backed framework that works one-on-one just as well as it does in a classroom.
Instructional Designers
You're building curriculum at scale and need a thorough understanding of RT's structure, sequencing, and scaffolds to design it faithfully into units and programs.
Special Education Teachers
You work with struggling readers and students with learning differences who need a differentiated, structured comprehension approach with clear, targeted supports.
ESL/ELL Educators
You support English Language Learners who need explicit comprehension scaffolding, and you'll find the RT differentiation module built specifically with your students in mind.
Questions
Frequently asked
Your teacher
A note from your teacher
Carolyn Carter
If you've ever watched a student finish a page and look up with glassy eyes—clearly having read every word and retained almost none of them—you already understand the problem this course is built to solve. Decoding is not comprehension. And telling students to "think about what they read" isn't instruction. You need a structure. That's what Reciprocal Teaching gives you, and that's what this course will put firmly in your hands.
I designed this course for educators who respect evidence and want frameworks they can trust. Reciprocal Teaching isn't a trend or a new rebranding of old ideas. It's one of the most replicated comprehension interventions in literacy research, with decades of classroom validation behind it. But knowing it works and knowing how to work it—how to model each strategy with authenticity, how to scaffold the handoff to students, how to run a student-led discussion circle without it dissolving into chaos—those are very different things. This course is about the second part.
We'll move through all four strategies with the kind of depth that actually changes your practice. You'll learn what a strong prediction prompt sounds like versus a weak one, how to push students past literal recall into genuine questioning, what to do when a student says "I don't understand" and can't tell you more than that, and how to teach summarization without getting back a word-for-word retelling. Then we'll go further: text selection, lesson sequencing, the first two weeks of launch, differentiation for your ELL students and struggling readers, and formative assessment that lives inside the lesson rather than outside it.
I want to be direct with you about something: RT does require an upfront investment of modeling time. The Gradual Release of Responsibility model isn't a shortcut—it's a deliberate progression. But that investment pays back in students who can discuss, monitor, and direct their own comprehension long after your lesson ends. That's not a small thing. That's the goal of literacy instruction.
Whether you're a classroom teacher working with thirty students, a literacy coach supporting teachers across a building, an instructional designer building curriculum at scale, or a homeschooling parent sitting across the table from your own child—this framework is yours to use. Come in, engage with the material critically, bring your questions, and let's build something in your classroom that actually lasts.
— Carolyn Carter
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- 6 modules, 19 lessons
- AI-adaptive lessons tuned to your level
- Quizzes & checkpoints to lock in progress
- Your own AI learning coach
- Learn on any device, at your pace
- Full access for as long as you're subscribed