Explanations are a measure of understanding. Good ones are coherent models, theories or arguments that account for events and ideas. They often entail causal reasoning about how and why something works or is the way it is (Wiggins and McTighe, 1998; Kuhn, 1991). In the RT exercise, students had to develop plausible reasons, based on constructivist learning principles, to account for the effectiveness of the RT method. A well developed response to the exercise explained how each reciprocal teaching skill engages the reader in a constructive, meaning making process, and how reciprocal teaching skills foster comprehension-monitoring in children. A key feature in the explanation is the type of connection the student makes between the reciprocal teaching skills and comprehension. The student needs to elaborate on how RT involves the child in mental activities such as reorganizing information, connecting new information to prior knowledge, and recognizing gaps in one's understanding—activities that develop meaning from the information in the text.

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