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Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) combines two instructional approaches that teachers may implement: reading comprehension strategy instruction and cooperative learning. Procedures are described for teaching CSR to students.

Albert and Pablo are classmates in a diverse, heterogeneous class that includes 10- and 11-year-old students at a range of achievement levels. Albert is a highachieving student and Pablo is a student identified as learning disabled who uses English as a second language (ESL). Their teacher, Lucille Sullivan, taught the class to use an instructional approach called Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) (Klingner, Vaughn, & Schumm, 1998). One aspect of CSR is learning to help members of your group "declunk" (better understand) vocabulary words in social studies and science. Listen in on a conversation between Albert and Pablo: Albert: Does anyone have a clunk (a word they don't understand)?

Pablo: Calcium.

Albert: Try to read sentences in the back and in the front to try to get a clue...did you get anything?

Pablo: No.

Albert: OK, now I do, I get something. It [calcium] is a tiny crystal-like mineral. Do you know what a mineral is?

Pablo: Yeah.

Albert: What is it?

Pablo: It's like a kind of vitamin.

Albert: OK, calcium is a type of element that there is in the bones. And, the bones need that. Calcium helps the bones in order to make them strong. Do you now understand what calcium is?

Pablo: Yes.

Albert: What is it again, one more time? Pablo: It is a type of element that helps the bones grow.

Albert: OK, good.

Pablo and Albert, as well as the rest of their classmates, discuss the benefits of CSR enthusiastically, "It helps us learn new information from books and articles better than other ways," "Also, it helps me learn new words," and "It helps me be a better reader." When asked what they liked best about CSR, students' top response was "helping each other learn." They noticed improvement in their reading comprehension, vocabularies, and test scores. In this article, we describe procedures for teaching CSR. The examples we provide are from real teachers' classrooms.

Overview of CSR

CSR combines two instructional approaches that many teachers already implement: reading comprehension strategy instruction (e.g., Palincsar & Brown, 1984) and cooperative learning (e.g., Cohen, 1986; Johnson & Johnson, 1989). In CSR, students of mixed reading and achievement levels work in small, cooperative groups to assist one another in applying four reading strategies to facilitate their comprehension of content area text. These reading strategies are (a) preview (prior to reading a passage, to recall what they already know about the topic and to predict what the passage might be about); (b) click and clunk ( to monitor comprehension during reading by identifying difficult words and concepts in the passage and using fix-up strategies when the text does not make sense); (c) get the gist (during reading, to restate the most important idea in a paragraph or section); and (d) wrapup (after reading, to summarize what has been learned and to generate questions "that a teacher might ask on a test"). Initially, the classroom teacher presents the strategies to the whole class using modeling, role playing, and teacher think-alouds. After students have developed proficiency applying the strategies through teacher-facilitated activities, they are divided into heterogeneous groups where each student performs a defined role as students collaboratively implement the strategies (see Figure).

Research support for CSR's effectiveness

Research validates the effectiveness of the instructional approaches that were combined to form CSR, as well as CSR itself. Comprehension strategy instruction has improved learning opportunities for students with learning disabilities (LD) (for reviews see Pressley, Brown, El-Dinary, & Afflerbach, 1995; Weisberg, 1988) and limited English proficient (LEP) students (Anderson & Roit, 1996; Chamot & O'Malley, 1996; Hernandez, 1991; Klingner & Vaughn, 1996). Cooperative learning has also produced favorable results for students with LD (e.g., Madden & Slavin, 1983; Stevens & Slavin, 1995) and LEP students (e.g., Duran & Szymanski, 1995; Jacob, Rottenberg, Patrick, & Wheeler, 1996; Long & Porter, 1985). This type of peer interaction increases opportunities for meaningful communication about academic content (Cazden, 1988; Richard-Amato, 1992) and allows LEP students to draw on native language support from bilingual peers (Cohen, 1986). The use of native discussions to clarify meaning when reading English-language texts has been found to increase comprehension, with the conceptual knowledge transferring to English when the appropriate English vocabulary is learned (Cummins, 1984; Diaz, Moll, & Mehan, 1986; Hakuta, 1990).

CSR has consistently yielded positive findings in investigations of its effectiveness. In one study, the reading comprehension, content learning, and vocabulary acquisition of 10- and 11-year-old bilingual (Spanish-speaking) English language learners improved when students used CSR with their science textbook (Klingner, 1997; Klingner & Vaughn, 1998). In another study, 9- and 10-year-old students in three culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms that included struggling readers, English language learners, and average and high-achieving students implemented CSR with a unit from their social studies text. Students' reading comprehension scores on a standardized reading test improved at significantly higher levels than their peers who did not use CSR (Klingner, Vaughn, & Schumm, 1998). Chinese-speaking English language learners with learning disabilities who implemented CSR improved in content learning, English acquisition, and reading comprehension (Chang & Shimizu, 1997). In addition, teachers noted that students' participation in group discussions increased. Thus, CSR provides an environment in which students, with the assistance of the teacher and their peers, increasingly become more proficient at applying comprehension strategies and constructing knowledge while reading from the content area texts.

Teaching CSR strategies through whole-class instruction

The teacher initially teaches the CSR comprehension strategies to the whole class, gradually increasing students' involvement as they become more proficient at applying the strategies. On the first day of instruction, the teacher models the entire CSR plan for strategic reading so that students get the big picture. On subsequent days, the teacher provides explicit instruction in how to implement each of the CSR strategies.

We introduce CSR by explaining to students that they will learn some strategies that will help them understand and remember what they read. These strategies are what many good readers already do when they read, often automatically and "in their heads." On the first day, we model the strategies using a thinkaloud procedure, verbalizing our thinking as we apply each of the strategies while reading a sample passage. Here is an example of one teacher's think-aloud while "declunking" a word after reading a paragraph about Vietnam:

Uh oh, here is a word I don't understand, paddies. Let me see if there are any clues that can help me figure it out. I'll try reading the sentence without the word, "U.S. troops fought in the jungles and rice ." Well, it has to be a place, because it is where they fought, and maybe it is sort of like a jungle. Also, it must have to do with rice. I'll bet it's a place where they grow rice. That makes sense. I'll write that in my Learning Log.

Preview. Students learn that before reading a passage, they should quickly scan the material searching for clues as to what the text will be about. The primary goals of previewing are for children to (a) generate interest and questions about the text they will read; (b) stimulate their background knowledge and associations with the text; and (c) facilitate their ability to make predictions about what they will learn. We allow approximately 8 minutes for students to survey the text, to think about what they already know about the topic and what they predict they'll learn, and to share their ideas with others.

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We teach children to preview by asking if they have ever been to the movies and seen a preview. We prompt them to think about what they learn from a movie preview. After students generate responses, the teacher highlights some of the key information as it relates to reading by saying, "When you use the preview strategy, you develop your own preview for the text you are about to read. You look for the following types of information:

what the passage is mainly about,

who is described in the text,

when the passage takes place, and

where the text is describing information

you already know about the topic.

Also, the teacher asks students what information in the text can help them in previewing. Using students' responses, the teacher prompts students to look at (a) headings and subheadings; (b) words that are italicized, bolded, or underlined; (c) pictures, tables, and graphs; and (d) questions or key information highlighted in the columns.

Connie Solis (pseudonym) teaches a fourth-grade class with 34 students. When she implements previewing she allows her students 2 minutes to survey the material and put the preview together in their heads. She then allows about 5 minutes for students to share their best ideas. Mary Brown, a fifth-grade teacher, first introduces the topic for the day and then asks students to brainstorm and record in their CSR learning logs everything they already know about the topic. Students share what they know with one another. Then they "take a peek" at the text they will be reading, write down what they think they will learn, and share their favorite predictions.

Click and clunk. Clicking and clunking refer to the self-monitoring strategy that students are taught to apply while reading. When students "click" it means that they recognize information that they know well and understand, clicking along smoothly while proceeding through the text. When students "clunk" it means that they identify words, concepts, or ideas they don't understand or need to know more about. The image is of the student running into a brick wall-a big clunk. We teach students to monitor their reading comprehension, to identify when they have breakdowns in understanding, and to use fix-up strategies to declunk words.

During reading students record clunks that later will be discussed with their peers and perhaps the teacher. The class learns to declunk words by using fix-up strategies. These fix-up strategies are written on clunk cards that assist students in declunking words. Figure 2 provides a pattern for making clunk cards.

Lucille Sullivan encourages her students to click and clunk throughout the school day. She told us, "Another reason I like this technique is that there is a transfer. The students will be reading in the cafeteria, and they'll say, `hey, look at this clunk word, what does it mean?' and that just thrills me" (Klingner & Vaughn, 1998b). Her bilingual students become quite proficient at translating for each other.

Get the gist. When the students get the gist, they identify the main idea or the most critical information in a section of text (one or two paragraphs). Students are taught to identify the most important point in the text and to rephrase the key idea in their own words. The intent is to assist students in providing the gist in as few words as possible while conveying the most meaning and excluding unnecessary details.

Lourdes Garcia (pseudonym) gets the gist this way. She asks her students to read a twoparagraph section and while reading think about who or what the paragraph was about. She then encourages students to put in their own words the most important idea about the who or what-limiting their responses to 10 words or less (Fuchs, Fuchs, Mathes, & Simmons, 1997). She calls on several students, continually referring back to the class to get their feedback about what aspects of their gist should be kept or dropped. She ends by asking each student to write the gist in their own words, thus refining the skills of all of the students.

Wrap-up. When students wrap up, they formulate questions and answers about what they have read and review key ideas. The purpose of wrap-up is to teach students to identify the most important ideas of the entire section they have read to improve their knowledge, understanding, and memory of what was learned. While students learn to get the gist for every paragraph or two, they wrap up only at the end of the material they have covered during that session, usually about 12-14 paragraphs.

When Tiffany Royal teaches her 10- and 11-year-olds to wrap up, she tells them to think about questions a good teacher would ask about the passage. She asks them to think about question starters that include "the 5 W's and one H" (who, what, when, where, why, and how). Often she gives students index cards and asks them to write one or two questions on one side of the card and the answers on the other side. She then gives students an opportunity to ask one another questions about what they have read. Students are taught to ask questions that involve higher level thinking skills as well as literal recall. She teaches students to use the following question stems (adapted from Rosenshine & Meister, 1992):

How were and the same? Different?

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What do you think would happen if

What do you think caused to happen?

What might have prevented the problem of from happening?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of

To review, students write about the most important ideas they learned from the day's reading assignment in their learning logs. They then take turns sharing what they learned with their group. Lucille Sullivan also conducts a whole-class review. Many students can share their best idea in a short period of time, providing the teacher with valuable information about each student's level of understanding.

Implementing CSR in cooperative groups

Students who are accustomed to working together cooperatively quickly learn to implement CSR in small groups (i.e., 4-5 students) once they have developed proficiency applying the comprehension strategies with their teacher's guidance. Within cooperative learning groups students are given two responsibilities: to complete the assigned task and to make sure that all other members of their group do likewise (Johnson & Johnson, 1989). Students discuss the material to be learned with one another, help one another to understand it, and encourage one another to do their best. The essential components of cooperative learning described by Johnson and Johnson are built into CSR: (a) positive interdependence, (b) considerable face-to-face interaction, (c) individual accountability, (d) learning social skills, and (e) posttask evaluation.

Students who do not have experience working in cooperative learning groups will need to learn the social skills essential for working collaboratively prior to implementing CSR. Learning groups are not productive unless members are skilled in cooperating with one another. We teach social skills through a three-step process whereby we first define the target behavior, next model the behavior, and finally provide opportunities for students to practice the behavior, using simulation and role-playing. We teach one social skill at a time, posing each behavior on a chart for reference as it is learned. Students learn how to listen attentively, ask clarifying questions, take turns speaking, provide positive feedback, and resolve conflicts.

Within cooperative groups, each student performs a designated role. Roles are an important aspect of CSR because cooperative learning seems to work best when all group members have meaningful tasks. Roles rotate so that students can experience a variety of roles and so that everyone takes a turn being the leader. We have found that all students can successfully lead their groups when provided with a cue sheet and encouragement. Students can perform more than one role at a time if necessary. CSR roles include the following:

Leader: Leads the group in the implementation of CSR by saying what to read next and what strategy to apply next. Asks the teacher for assistance if necessary.

Clunk expert: Uses clunk cards to remind the group of the steps to follow when trying to figure out a difficult word or concept.

Gist expert: Guides the group toward the development of a gist and determines that the gist contains the most important idea(s) but no unnecessary details.

Announcer: Calls on different group members to read or share an idea. Makes sure everyone participates and only one person talks at a time.

Encourager: Watches the group and gives feedback. Looks for behaviors to praise. Encourages all group members to participate in the discussion and assist one another. Evaluates how well the group has worked together and gives suggestions for improvement.

Leyda Caride relies on modeling to teach her students the roles they will perform while using CSR in peer-led learning groups. She invites a group of expert 11- and 12-year-old students to demonstrate the CSR roles to her 8and 9-year-olds. Then, while her students implement CSR in cooperative groups for the first time, the expert students each sit in with a different group to provide assistance.

CSR materials

Cue cards. Cue cards outline the procedures to be followed in cooperative learning groups and provide structure and support for students while they are learning CSR. Each role comes with a corresponding cue card (or set of cards) that explains the steps to be followed to fulfill that role (see Figure 3 for a sample set of the cue cards). Cue cards help students stay focused and on task and increase their confidence. The cards can also be used as bookmarks or placeholders while reading.

CSR learning logs. CSR learning logs enable students to keep track of learning in English or another language and provide a springboard for follow-up activities. We encourage students to record their ideas, initially in either language and later translating ideas into English. Logs promote active group participation. Students can record ideas while applying some of the strategies (e.g., clunks and key ideas). A different learning log can be created for each social studies or science unit. These logs provide written documentation of learning, thus assuring the individual accountability that facilitates cooperative learning. Logs also become excellent study guides. See Figure 4 for an example.

Reading materials. CSR was designed to be used with expository text found in content area textbooks. Teachers have successfully used CSR with their social studies and science textbooks and also with newspapers, children's news magazines, and other nonfiction publications. Although CSR will "work" with any expository text, initially students should use well-formed, interesting passages that are conducive to strategy application. Such text is characterized by (a) clues that help students predict what they will be learning, (b) definitions for key vocabulary built into the text, (c) one main idea per paragraph, and (d) context that helps students connect information. As students gain more experience with the strategy, they can work with less supportive materials.

The teacher's role: Monitoring groups

Once students have learned the strategies and their roles and have begun working in cooperative learning groups, the teacher's role is to circulate among groups and provide ongoing assistance. If necessary, teachers can clarify difficult words, model strategy usage, encourage students to participate, and model a helpful attitude. Joyce Duryea, an inclusion specialist, values the opportunity CSR affords her to engage in kidwatching. She continually monitors individual and group progress. Sometimes when the students are struggling to understand a difficult clunk, she listens without interrupting but makes a note to bring up the clunk later with the whole class. At other times she models how to figure out the word (or get the gist, as the case may be). There are also occasions when she merely drops a hint or gives a clue, enabling students who were stuck to continue on their own. She compliments students who are doing a good job and encourages reticent students to participate. Follow-up activities

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A variety of activities can be used to reinforce key vocabulary and important concepts and also help the teacher to monitor learning. English language learners can create bilingual dictionaries with their clunks. Or each group might complete a different follow-up activity and then share their products with the rest of the class (see Figure 5). Products generated through follow-up activities can be written on overhead transparencies to facilitate sharing with the entire class. Students can also prepare games and activities as homework. Conclusion

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We and our colleagues have taught CSR to numerous teachers in Florida, Texas, and California (see Vaughn, Hughes, Schumm, & Klingner, 1998). Teachers have told us that they really like the fact that once students learn the strategies (preview, click and clunk, get the gist, and wrap-up), they can apply them independently in cooperative groups. This enables the teachers to circulate around the classroom, monitor individual and group progress, and provide assistance where needed. Teachers value the benefits for their students from using CSR. Tiffany Royal, an expert CSR implementer, told us, "What I like best is that my students learn how to understand what they read while they improve their vocabulary. Also it helps on our end of the year Stanford Achievement Tests" (Klingner & Vaughn, 1998b). Referring to her LEP students, Lucille Sullivan noted, "I can't believe how well they did, how much they learned. I've seen so much improvement in their English. And they are participating more in other subjects, too. They seem more confident."

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