Chapter 14: Narrative Reading

1. Chapter 14: Narrative Reading Teaching Reading Sourcebook 2nd edition

2. Narrative Reading • Comprehension instruction typically begins with narrative text because children • develop an awareness of narrative text early; • connect narrative text elements to their own lives. • Types of Narrative Text include • fables, folk tales, fairy tales • fantasies, science fiction • myths, legends, tall tales • plays, poems, short stories, novels

3. Story Structure • Recognizing story structure is a prerequisite to effective strategy use. • Knowing story structure helps students identify what is relevant for understanding. • Story elements include: • setting • characters • plot • theme • A story map is a graphic organizer for narrative text structure.

4. Strategy Application • Asking questions • Initially teachers model the types of questions readers need to ask while reading. • Answering questions • Teacher directed questions can encourage deeper levels of comprehension. • Monitoring Comprehension • Teachers model thinking aloud self monitoring questions. • Connecting to World Knowledge • Teachers guide students to connect to relevant prior experiences or to other stories.

5. Strategy Application • Predicting • Teachers guide students to make predictions based on prior knowledge or story structure. • Constructing Mental Images • Teachers provide explicit teaching to help students create mental images as they read. • Summarizing • Narrative text summaries often take the form of retelling and focus on story elements. • Transactional Strategies • Emphasize collaborative discussion among learners.

6. Research on Transactional Theories • Meaning is not found in text alone but is constructed by reader and text. • Group interpretation is different from that of any single reader. • Over time, group work helps students internalize the processes of the group. • Reader Response to Literature: This refers to how readers form personal responses through discussion and writing. • Transactional Strategies Instruction TSI: This emphasizes collaborative discussion, metacognition, motivation and reader response.

7. When to Teach, Assess, Intervene • Comprehension instruction should begin as soon as students interact with text and continue through high school. • Students learn comprehension strategies in tandem with word-level strategies. • Reliable comprehension assessment should be aligned with instruction and include: • ongoing assessments of strategy use; • retellings, student think aloud protocols, and other process-focused measures, which can be used for diagnosing and remediation.