Improving Reading Comprehension of Informational Text: Text Structure Instruction for Students With or At Risk for Learning Disabilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 232-241
Author(s):  
Leah M. Zimmermann ◽  
Deborah K. Reed
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Informational Text ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
Structure Instruction

Increasing Secondary Students’ Comprehension Through Explicit Attention to Narrative Text Structure

2021 ◽  
pp. 004005992110255
Author(s):  
Whitney Sommers Butler ◽  
Casey Hord ◽  
Susan Watts-Taffe
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Reading Instruction ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Students With Learning Disabilities ◽  
Narrative Texts ◽  
School Students

In spite of the prevailing assumption that formal reading instruction is no longer needed once adolescents reach high school, students at the secondary level still benefit from explicit reading instruction to continue developing advanced literacy skills enabling them to access complex narrative texts. This article argues for the importance of teachers to scrutinize the texts they plan to teach to determine what instruction and supports are needed to promote reading comprehension for students with learning disabilities. Specifically, this article examines how nonlinear text structures can challenge adolescent reading comprehension and illustrates explicit text structure instruction with three exemplar texts which use unconventional narrative patterns. The article emphasizes the importance of considering the qualitative features of texts to inform instruction to support reading comprehension for students with learning disabilities.

Sentence-Level Gist: Literacy Instruction for Students With Learning Disabilities in Co-Taught Classrooms

2020 ◽  
pp. 105345122094437
Author(s):  
Marney S. Pollack ◽  
Alexandra Shelton ◽  
Erin Clancy ◽  
Christopher J. Lemons
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Main Idea ◽  
Students With Learning Disabilities ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Identification Strategy ◽  
Main Idea Identification

Several strategies that demonstrate promise are available for educators to improve reading comprehension outcomes for students. However, some students, including students with and at risk for learning disabilities, require more intensive supports to develop proficiency in reading comprehension. To support these students, teachers must intensify instruction. This article describes an intensive main idea identification strategy, sentence-level gist, for teachers to use with students with persistent reading comprehension difficulties in the co-taught classroom. The sentence-level gist strategy requires students to determine the subject and important words in each sentence and then synthesize this information to write a main idea statement for a section of a text.

scholarly journals A Meta‐Analysis on the Effects of Text Structure Instruction on Reading Comprehension in the Upper Elementary Grades

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne T.M. Bogaerds‐Hazenberg ◽  
Jacqueline Evers‐Vermeul ◽  
Huub Bergh
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
Upper Elementary ◽  
Elementary Grades ◽  
Structure Instruction

Improving content area reading comprehension of Spanish speaking English learners in Grades 4 and 5 using web-based text structure instruction

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 1969-1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kausalai Wijekumar ◽  
Bonnie J. F. Meyer ◽  
Puiwa Lei ◽  
Anita C. Hernandez ◽  
Diane L. August
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Content Area Reading ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
Content Area ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Structure Instruction

Using Anticipation Guides to Support Comprehension of Science Informational Text

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-148
Author(s):  
Nicole S. Fenty
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Informational Text ◽  
Advance Organizers ◽  
Advance Organizer ◽  
Informational Texts ◽  
Students With Learning Disabilities ◽  
Text Types ◽  
Students With Ld

Students with learning disabilities (LD) in reading often struggle to succeed due to difficulties with reading comprehension. Comprehension difficulties can impact access to a variety of text types, including informational texts. Researchers suggest that students with LD in reading require explicit comprehension supports before, during, and after reading. This article outlines the use of a comprehension tool, anticipation guides (AGs), a type of advance organizer especially suited for use with informational text. A brief summary of the literature surrounding the use of advance organizers in elementary settings is provided. General steps for planning and adapting instruction using AGs are also included. In addition, planning and instructional steps are contextualized using a science illustration. Finally, conclusions are offered.

1980s: A Change in Focus of Reading Comprehension Research: A Review of Reading/Learning Disabilities Research Based on an Interactive Model of Reading

1988 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renee Weisberg
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Reading Disabilities ◽  
Explicit Instruction ◽  
Metacognitive Strategies ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Disabled Students ◽  
Interactive Model ◽  
And Task

This article contains a review of reading comprehension research since 1980, based on an interactive model of reading, with a focus on reading disabilities / learning disabilities. The interactive model conceptualizes influences on reading comprehension as multifaceted, that is, reader-based, text-based, and situationally based, for example, variables in a given task. The review includes studies which have investigated the influence of readers' prior knowledge of a topic, the influences of text structure and task demands, and metacognitive strategies. Conclusions explain reasons for reading disabled students' need for explicit instruction in understanding what the task is, how to use appropriate procedures, and why the use of metacognitive strategies can help them become more able readers.

Reading Comprehension Performance of Adolescents Withlearning Disabilities

1989 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicki E. Snider
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Prior Knowledge ◽  
Junior High School ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Students With Learning Disabilities ◽  
Knowledge Group ◽  
Experimental Group

A study was conducted to examine the effects of prior knowledge on the reading comprehension performance of students with learning disabilities. Instruction in information and vocabulary concepts was provided to 13 junior-high school students with learning disabilities who had been predetermined to lack the prior knowledge required by an experimental test of reading comprehension. The effect of prior knowledge was examined by comparing the performance of an experimental group (high prior knowledge group) to a control group (low prior knowledge group). The effect of text structure was also examined by comparing reading comprehension performance on three types of reading passages - textually explicit, textually implicit, and scriptually implicit. The results indicated that students in the experimental group increased their prior knowledge and, as a result of instruction, demonstrated superior reading comprehension performance. In addition, text structure was found to affect reading comprehension performance. When comprehension questions tapped information provided in the text, reading comprehension performance improved for all students. Educational implications of the results are discussed.

Digital Literacies and Text Structure Instruction

2020 ◽  
pp. 52-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracey S. Hodges ◽  
Sharon D. Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
New Literacies ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
Digital Literacies ◽  
Instructional Tools ◽  
Text Structures ◽  
Structure Instruction

In considering the intersection of digital texts and reading comprehension, teachers now need strategies and instructional tools that promote deep, critical thinking of multimedia text. One area of literacy instruction that can increase students' reading comprehension of multimedia texts comes with understanding, analyzing, and evaluating text structures. As a first step to understanding what research says about integrating text structures with digital literacies, the researchers conducted a systematic literature review of articles published between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2017. While new literacies, visual literacies, and other digital media show increased prominence in education, the researchers identified only eight studies focusing on how text structures are unique to digital content. In the present chapter, the researchers analyze benefits and new language demands presented by these studies. Additionally, the researchers discuss implications for teacher practice and pedagogy when intersecting text structure instruction with digital literacies.

Effective Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meenakshi Gajria ◽  
Athena Lentini McAlenney
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Main Idea ◽  
Cognitive Strategy ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
Expository Texts ◽  
Students With Learning Disabilities ◽  
Narrative Texts ◽  
Sequence Of Events

Reading comprehension, or the ability to extract information accurately from reading narrative or content area textbooks, is critical for school success. Many students identified with learning disabilities struggle with comprehending or acquiring knowledge from text despite adequate word-recognition skills. These students experience greater difficulty as they move from elementary to middle school where the focus shifts from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” Although the group of students with learning disabilities vary with respect to their challenges in reading, some general characteristics of this group include problems identifying central ideas of a text, including its relationship to supporting ideas, differentiating between important and unimportant details, asking questions, drawing inferences, creating a summary, and recalling textual ideas. Typically, these students are passive readers that do not spontaneously employ task appropriate cognitive strategies nor monitor their ongoing understanding of the text, resulting in limited understanding of both narrative and expository texts. An evidence-based approach to comprehension instruction is centered on teaching students the cognitive strategies used by proficient readers. Within the framework of reading comprehension, the goal of cognitive strategies is to teach students to actively engage with the text, to make connections with it and their prior knowledge, so that learning becomes more purposeful, deliberate, and self-regulated. Texts differ in the level of challenge that they present to students. Narrative texts are generally simpler to read as these are based on a temporal sequence of events and have a predictable story structure. In contrast, expository texts, such as social studies and science, can be particularly demanding as there are multiple and complex text structures based on the relationship of ideas about a particular concept or topic. Using principles of explicit instruction, all learners, including students with learning disabilities and English language learners, can be taught cognitive strategies that have been proven effective for increasing reading comprehension. Early research focused on the instruction in a single cognitive strategy to promote reading comprehension such as identifying story grammar elements and story mapping for narrative texts and identifying the main idea, summarizing, and text structure for expository texts. Later researchers embedded a metacognitive component, such as self-monitoring with a specific cognitive strategy, and also developed multicomponent reading packages, such as reciprocal teaching, that integrated the use of several cognitive strategies. Instruction in cognitive and metacognitive strategies is a promising approach for students with learning disabilities to support their independent use of reading comprehension strategies and for promoting academic achievement across content areas and grade levels.

Enhancing Text Structure Instruction with Video for Improved Reading Comprehension

1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 216-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie J. Bristor
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Text Structure ◽  
Structure Instruction
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