Chapter 14 Narrative Reading Joe Steele Helping students to recognize the structure inherent in text – and match it to their own cognitive structures – will help them understand and produce not only text, but also spoken discourse. Williams, 2005
Mar 27, 2015
Chapter 14Narrative Reading
Joe Steele
Helping students to recognize the structure inherent in text – and match it to their own cognitive structures – will help them understand and produce not only text, but also spoken discourse.
Williams, 2005
What?• A narrative is a story• Story Elements:
Setting – when and where a story takes place;
sometimes includes flashbacks, flash-forwards
Characters – people, animals, creatures in the story; includes protagonist, antagonist
Plot – sequence of events, including conflict and attempts to solve conflict
Theme – big idea the author leaves reader with
Comprehensive Strategies
• Recognizing Story Structure – story maps• Asking Questions –student driven questions• Answering Questions – Bloom’s taxonomy• Monitoring Comprehension – Think alouds• Connecting to World Knowledge – life experiences• Predicting – what’s going to happen• Constructing Mental Images – picturing descriptions• Summarizing/Retelling – emergent/early fluent/fluent
These strategies can be taught and used before, during and after reading.
Multiple-Strategy Instruction Program
• Transactional Strategies Instruction (TSI)– Transactions (discussions) between:
• reader and text,• readers,• reader and teacher
TSI strategies
• Reader ResponsePersonal response based on experience
• Discussion-oriented InstructionTeacher- and student-directed discussionsOpen-ended questioning
• Writing in Response to LiteraturePersonal, creative, critical
Why?• Understanding story structure helps students to:
• Remember the story• Recognize “sameness” across texts• Develop frame of reference for processing
information• Organize and write stories
Assessment
• Traditional assessments are often inadequate– Confuses comprehension with vocabulary,
background knowledge, word reading ability– Fails to represent the complexity of
comprehension– Doesn’t distinguish specific comprehension
problems
• Traditional assessments should be combined with teachers’ ongoing informal assessment of comprehension
• Retellings and think alouds are useful tools for diagnosing problems and as assessments
When?• Comprehension instruction should begin
when students start interacting with text and continue through high school
• Comprehension strategies are applied to increasingly complex texts
How?• CROWD – teacher prompted questions
(Completion, Recall, Open-ended, WH-, Distancing)
• PEER – teacher helps students to retell story
(Prompt, Evaluate, Expand, Repeat)
* Scaffolding – teacher does less reading each time story is read
Comprehension Instruction Tools
• Story Maps• Theme Identification Questioning• Prediction Charts/Worksheets• Think-Pair-Share• Read Alouds• Book Club• Tripod Response Sheets• Writing Prompts
Conclusion
• Story elements provide the framework for applying comprehension strategies to narrative text
• Understanding story structure can enhance comprehension
• Traditional assessments need to be used in conjunction with ongoing teacher assessments for comprehension
• Comprehension should be taught from a student’s first contact with text through high school
• Comprehension skills should be taught in a variety of ways