Chapter 14
Marlene Mabey
WHAT?
 Story structure
 How stories are systematically organized
 Story structure gives predictable meaning to stories
 How stories are structured
 Setting
 Characters
 Plot
 Theme
WHAT?
 Story structure knowledge drives the application of
comprehension strategies to narrative text
 Strategy Application
 Recognizing story structure enhances memory
 Asking questions helps promote active reading
 Answering questions directed by the teacher promote deeper
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level of comprehension
Monitoring comprehension involves noting progression
Connecting to world knowledge enables students to understand
Predictable phrases are excellent for developing skills of
prediction
Constructing mental images
Summarizing or retelling
WHAT?
 Multiple-Strategy Instruction Program: TSI
 Emphasizes collaborative discussion among learners
 Focuses on
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Metacognition
Motivation
Reader response
 Understanding text equally important to learning use
of comprehension strategies
 “Transactions” between text, readers, peers and
teachers
WHAT?
 Reader Response
 The interaction with stories and form personal
responses that influence their interpretations
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Discussion-oriented instruction
 Discussions supports students as they develop
understanding
Writing in Response to literature
 Use before, during and after reading
WHY?
 “Strong evidence links readers’ awareness of text
structure to successful reading comprehension.”

Coyne et al., 2007
 Story elements provide the framework for applying
comprehension strategies to narrative text.
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Dickson et al., 1998
 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.
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Williams, 2005
WHEN?
 Comprehension instruction should begin as soon as
students start to interact with text and should
continue through high school.

Duke et al, 2002
 Effective teaching balances explicit comprehension
strategies instruction with the literary experience of
a story.
WHEN?
 Comprehension instruction should be accompanied by
reliable assessment aligned with instruction.
 Informal and traditional assessments should be
combined
 Most traditional assessments are inadequate
 1. They often confuse comprehension with vocabulary,
background knowledge, word reading ability, and other
reading skills
 2. They fail to represent the complexity of comprehension
 3. They do not distinguish specific processes that underlie
comprehension problems
WHEN?
 Comprehension assessment tools
 Think-aloud protocols make comprehension processes
more visible
 Process-focused measure may serve as useful tools for
diagnosing and remediating comprehension
problems.
HOW?
 Dialogic Reading: Picture Book Read-Aloud Method
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Teacher become the listener and questioner
Student is the teller
Commonly used with picture books
 Fosters engagement
 Give access to books before they can read them
independently
 Uses CROWD and PEER
HOW?
 Dialogic Reading Prompts (CROWD)
 Completion
 Recall
 Open-minded
 Who, what, when, where, why questions
 Distancing –making a bridge between stories and real
world
HOW?
 Interactive Instrumental Sequence (PEER)
 Helps students become the teller of the story
 PEER
 Prompt –use CROWD prompts, student responds to a
story
 Evaluate—evaluate student response
 Expand—expand by adding info to student response
 Repeat—repeat expanded response
HOW?
 Story Structure
 Students ask and answer questions about story
structure
 Students use story maps after
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Direct instruction
Teacher modeling
HOW?
• Transactional Strategies Instruction (TSI)
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Emphasizes coordinated use of strategies to help
students to build and monitor comprehension
First introduce individually
Explicit instruction needed
Strategy choices shifts from teacher to student over time
HOW?
• Book Club
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Writing in response to literature
Provides instruction in three categories
• Personal responses---relating to story personally
• Creative responses---new ideas
• Critical—analyzing aspects of literary works