Chapter 14
Narrative Reading
Nicole Huntsman
What?
 Narratives are used to tell stories and can be factual
or author invented.
 Story structure is how the story is organized. This
organization helps students pull important details
from the text and make generalizations.
 Story elements include:
 Setting: the when and where
 Characters: the who or what (protagonists and
antagonists arise here)
 Plot: the problem or conflict, sequence of events to
overcome conflict, and the resolution
 Theme: the BIG IDEA the author is trying to convey
Recognizing Story Structure
 Recognizing story structure aids students in their ability
to ask and answer questions, monitor comprehension,
predict and preview, make text connections, construct
mental images, and retell or summarize.
 Strategies before, during, and after reading:
 Story maps can help in recognize story structure by
creating a visual aid. These can be used effectively both
before and during reading.
 Asking questions encourages active reading.
 Answering questions helps jumpstart student thinking to
push for deeper analysis. Bloom’s Taxonomy serves as an
aid in question formulation.
 Strategies before, during, and after reading cont. :
 Monitoring Comprehension tracks progress of
understanding.
 Connecting to World Knowledge
Helps students to understand text by
making connections to their lives.
 Predicting helps focus students attention
while they are reading text.
 Constructing Mental Images increases students’ chance
to follow text and maintain understanding of events.
 Summarizing helps assess student comprehension as well
as guides towards deeper understanding of the text.
Developmental Levels of
Summarizing
 Emergent
 Focus on event listing and sequencing
 Introduce basic story elements
o Early Fluent
• Help students apply basic elements in both written and
oral forms
• Introduce main event identification
• Model and guide retelling events
• Fluent
• Introduce plot summary
• Practice refining sequencing and other elements
in retelling
Multiple-Strategy Instruction Program: TSI
 TSI = Transactional Strategies Instruction
 TSI covers a wide range of theories, all involving
“transactions.”
Transactions include:
Those between reader and text,
Those between readers, and
Those between reader and instructor.
TSI Strategies
 Reader Response
 Personal interactions with the story
 Discussion Oriented Instruction
 Teacher directed questioning
 Student directed questioning
 Open ended questions
 Writer’s Response
 Personal, Narrative, and Critical
Why?
 Understanding story structure is important because it
helps students to:
 Remember the story.
 Understand “sameness” across a variety of texts.
 Understand the author’s message in a broader context.
When?
 Comprehension instruction should begin at earliest
levels of text interaction and continue throughout
education.
 Comprehension instruction must be presented with
reliable assessment
HOWEVER…
 Most tradition assessments are inadequate in that they:
 Confuse comprehension with vocabulary, background
knowledge, and other reading skills.
 Fail to represent the complexities of comprehension.
 Do not explain why or where a student may be struggling.
How to supplement formal
assessment
 Use informal assessments like:
 Retellings
 Student think-alouds
 Process-focused practices
These will help better identify areas of strengths
and weaknesses.
How?
 Multiple strategies are available to aid in Narrative
Reading Instruction.
 CROWD – Teacher prompted questioning
 Completion, Recall, Open-Ended, Wh- (who, what,
when, where), Distancing
 PEER – Student retelling of story
 Prompt, Evaluate, Expand, Repeat
 Scaffolding – Slowly turning over reading to students
after repeated readings
 For detailed lesson plans on teaching students to
recognize story structure as well as utilize it to enhance
comprehension, see pages 651-680 of the text.
 These lesson plans discuss the following tools:
 Story Maps
 Theme Identification Questioning (used after story map
completion)
 Comprehension Strategies and Questions in multiple forms
 Prediction Activities
 Think-Alouds
 Lesson Tools cont.
 “Fix-Up” Strategies (encouraging students to problem
solve while reading)
 Choral Readings of story
 Book Club
 Written responses that are personal, creative, and critical
 Tripod Response Sheets (support Book Club writing
tool)
Conclusion
 Teaching students to recognize story elements in
narrative texts encourages good reading practices
from the first introduction into reading and all the
way through education.
 While assessment is necessary, traditional assessments
are often ineffective and need to be accompanied by
more engaging informal assessments
 Comprehension strategies are best taught in a variety
of ways.