Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A MIXED-METHODS STUDY
A Research Project
Presented to the
Viterbo University
In Partial Fulfillment
By
Jessica M. Williams
August 2019
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 2
Introduction
This is the thirteenth year I have taught second grade in the same school district and I am
thankful for the amount of knowledge I have gained. I have taught at the same school I attended
as a young child and feel very lucky to have obtained my dream job. Over the years, I have had
a lot of valuable experiences working with seven and eight year olds in all school subject areas.
I noticed that most students are able to orally read the text at their individual instructional
reading level, but many of them showed struggles in comprehension according to their test
results and in-class discussions. I noticed that some of the students who struggled were very
focused on the phonics and reading the words correctly. When this occurred their fluency was
sometimes affected, in addition to their comprehension and recall. I have witnessed that many
students are not making meaning from text or remembering what they are reading. Some
students become frustrated and do not want to read because it is a pointless task that is not
for students to be successful in school and to fully participate in society. I know that the purpose
for reading is to be able to communicate and understand the text; comprehension of text is
necessary for students to flourish. There are multiple ideas and recommended strategies for
teaching reading comprehension, but I wanted to know if they are truly effective, best practices,
Problem Statement
read and comprehend text. I know that comprehension and communication are the reason for
reading and are important lifelong skills necessary to be successful and flourish. According to
Mahdavi and Tensfeldt (2013), “ Reading is necessary to get most jobs; to pass a test to get a
coveted license to drive; to access menus, contracts, transit schedules, and more. Reading ability
transcends the mere skills of decoding letters and words, and into the more complex realm of
comprehension, which is the goal of all reading related activities” (Mahdavi & Tensfeldt, 2013
p.77). Most second grade students are able to read texts at their instructional level both orally
and silently with few errors. However, according to my students’ test results and in-class
discussions, some students are not comprehending what they are reading. I have observed a
significant lack of understanding in reading text for some of my students and to me; some is too
many. I feel that some students are putting too much focus on phonics and reading the words
correctly rather than processing the meaning. Others may be lacking prior knowledge or life
experiences that promote understanding of the topics and stories they are reading about.
Regardless of the reasons for their lack of understanding, these students need help to better
All students have received whole group instruction from the required Journeys reading
curriculum at the second grade level. All students also have received books to read at their
instructional reading level. Their instructional reading levels have been determined by their most
current STAR Reading Assessment reports and Fountas and Pinnell Assessments from the end of
first grade. My goal was to increase reading comprehension by explicitly teaching reading
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 4
strategies in guided reading groups at my students’ instructional reading levels. I used graphic
organizers and mentor texts to teach five reading strategies including: (a) activating prior
modeled metacognitive thinking and discussions, (c) analyzing text and structure including
characters, setting, problems and solutions, and main ideas, (d) visualizing through illustrations,
Purpose Statement
This study took place for eight weeks in the fall of 2018 in a school district in southern
Wisconsin. I met with students in small groups four times per week. Participants included
nineteen second graders from my classroom. The specific purpose of this action research study
was to investigate the effects of explicitly teaching reading strategies on student comprehension
in guided reading groups. My study topic was developed because I wanted to improve reading
comprehension skills with my students to ensure they were all successful. In my experiences, I
have become well-informed about the many reading strategies, but wanted to know their impact
if taught explicitly. According to Rupley, Blair, and Nichols (2009), students are more likely to
learn essential reading skills and strategies if they are taught explicitly from their teacher. This
means that students will learn new information through meaningful teacher to student
interactions with teacher guidance of student learning. The teacher clearly leads the teaching and
learning process. During this direct instruction method there are explicit explanations, modeling,
and guided practice. The researchers noted that direct, explicit instruction must be an integral
part of learning the major parts of the reading process including phonemic awareness, phonics,
fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension (Rupley, Blair, & Nichols, 2009). With this study in
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 5
mind, I wanted to research the impact of explicitly teaching students comprehension strategies in
small groups vs. only receiving whole group instruction from the Journeys r eading curriculum.
Based on the problem that I have identified in my practice and my desire to study my
practice, I designed a study that addressed the following primary question: What impact does
explicitly teaching reading comprehension strategies in small groups, through mentor texts and
graphic organizers, to second graders, have on student comprehension, using the STAR
assessment, and weekly Journeys assessments? In addition to the primary question for the study,
I identified and posed a sub-question that included: After teaching reading comprehension
strategies to second grade students through mentor texts and graphic organizers, which of the
two seemed to positively impact student engagement the most and which of the two did students
Definitions
● Fluency: the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. Fluent reading
● Fountas and Pinnell Assessment: the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment is a
test that teachers perform one to one with students to dig deeper and analyze a student’s
reading strengths and weaknesses. This test gives information including independent and
● Graphic organizers: a visual display that shows important parts of the text in an
organizational chart. It can help the reader to remember and better understand text.
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 6
● Guided reading: is a teaching approach used by teachers to differentiate reading needs
for all students. The teacher meets with small groups of students to teach reading
● Instructional reading level: the highest level at which a reader is not independent and
needs some support with the text. The reader has adequate background knowledge and
can read most of the text, but makes some errors and may need support to make meaning.
The independent level is the highest level you would ask a child to read with only a
● Journeys curriculum: a common core reading curriculum used for Language Arts
instruction.
● Mentor texts: pieces of literature that both the teacher and students can return to and
reread for many different purposes. They are texts to be studied and imitated in reading
and writing.
● Reading (comprehension) Strategies : techniques that are taught to students and used
to comprehend text. They should be learned and students should be able to apply them to
all texts.
evaluating a student's oral reading and identifying strengths and weaknesses in reading.
Learning for students typically in grades K-12. The test consists of 32 questions that
evaluate 46 reading skills across eleven domains. This test gives teachers data such as
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 7
areas of strengths and weaknesses, percentile rank, reading levels, student growth, as well
Review of Literature
Introduction
The mission statement for the school district in which I teach second grade includes
having high expectations for all students and differentiating the instruction to meet the needs of
every student in a literacy rich environment. In order to meet high expectations, it is imperative
for students to be able to read and comprehend text. It is my responsibility as their teacher to
ensure students are effectively trained in multiple comprehension strategies so they are able to
understand and recall information. In my classroom, part of our classroom mission statement is:
Students will grow socially, emotionally, physically, and intellectually throughout the year to
best prepare for their future. It is a foundation for a child's success in school and most definitely,
A challenge I encountered was that some students lacked comprehension and the ability
to recall texts they have read, leading to my concern of their success in reading and learning new
information. I knew that reading strategies were valuable in comprehending texts, but desired to
find out the impact explicitly teaching reading strategies had on district required assessments.
strategies while using graphic organizers and mentor texts, I identified many commonalities in
the studies. Explicitly teaching comprehension strategies in small groups along with graphic
organizers makes a positive impact for understanding text for most students with various abilities
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 8
Salmeron-Vilchez, 2014; LaRusso, Kim, Selman, Uccelli, Dawson, Jones, & Snow, 2016; Lee &
Schmitt, 2014; Mahdavi & Tensfeldt, 2013; Oostdam, Blok, & Boendermaker, 2015; Williams,
In addition, after reviewing multiple relevant articles, I noticed that many of the pertinent
research articles about guided reading and reading comprehension strategies are a little older
than five years. I believe it is because reading comprehension has been a concern for quite some
time. There are so many ideas about the best practices to teach comprehension and teachers
cannot tell exactly what is going on in students’ minds. Students develop at different rates and
they have various needs within most classrooms. Reading comprehension is not black and white,
LaRusso, Kim, Selman, Uccelli, Dawson, Jones, and Snow (2016) noted that reading
comprehension is without a doubt the literacy challenge of the 21st century. During past decades,
active efforts have been made in educational research with the ultimate goal of understanding, as
well as, improving the processes involved in reading competence. The purpose of reading
competence is to construct an understanding of text that allows the reader to respond to all
different demands. In order to attain this skill, the reader must be able to decode and activate a
set of reading comprehension strategies that facilitate the representational construction of various
According to Al Khaiyali and Tiyb (2014) there were many reading comprehension
studies about using various comprehension strategies back in the 1970’s. May 2008 marked the
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 9
30th anniversary of the first book dedicated solely to research-based comprehension practices,
Teaching Comprehension (Pearson & Johnson, 1978). I noticed many researchers continue to
develop comprehension studies in attempts to discover how to best meet all students’ learning
needs. I was able to locate many current peer reviewed articles regarding reading
comprehension strategies to help students with extra needs including: (a) students with autism;
(b) students with English as a second language (ESL); and (c) students who struggle with reading
(Al Khaiyali & Tiyb, 2014; Finnegan & Mazin, 2016; Mahdavi & Tensfeldt, 2013). There was
much attention in recent studies to the use of graphic organizers and modeling with mentor texts
to reach all learners (Delacruz, 2013; Griffin, Malone, & Kameenui, 1995; Ledger & Mergna,
2018; Williams, Pollini, Nubla-Kung, Snyder, Ordynans, & Atkins, 2014). Locating this
information specific to helping students with extra needs and the success of guided reading,
further told me that explicitly teaching comprehension strategies can potentially benefit all
learners if taught with efficacy. It is the teacher’s role to be aware of students’ needs and
Al Khaiyali and Tiyb (2014) created a study to find out the impact of using children’s
researchers findings demonstrated that using children’s picture books with English as a second
language ( ESL) students could resolve some of the major issues in comprehension strategies,
particularly if they were precisely selected and appropriately used. The researchers emphasized
the fact that reading comprehension instruction should be explicit and flexible; teachers and
students should jointly communicate with the text in order to understand it; meaning that
teachers should understand that reading comprehension is a sophisticated process that entails
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 10
teacher-student collaboration. Researchers further explained that teachers should not simply tell
students what to do, but rather teachers should: (a) model; (b) discuss; (c) explain; and (d)
re-explain while using reading strategies, which results in students understanding (Al Khaiyali &
Tiyb, 2014). As an elementary educator, the importance of interactions during learning are
known to be valuable for teaching student understanding. I have witnessed numerous peer
discussions, small group work, and partner work that has led to greater student understanding
The value of social learning has been discovered for quite some time. McLeod (2014)
researched the work of Lev Vygotsky from the 1930’s and noted that Vygotsky’s research, “Has
become the foundation of much research and theory in cognitive development over the past
several decades, particularly of what has become known as Social Development Theory.
Vygotsky's theories stress the fundamental role of social interaction in the development of
cognition, as he believed strongly that community plays a central role in the process of making
meaning” (p. 1). While keeping this theory in mind, it has been recommended for teachers to
encourage discussions and interactions within the classroom to promote learning. The various
approaches to teach reading comprehension strategies such as: (a) small group instruction, (b)
whole group instruction, (c) literacy circles, (d) graphic organizers, (e) discussions, (f) direct
instruction, (g) interventions, and (h) modeled instruction have been used for ongoing studies
(Block & Pressley, 2007; Duffy, 2003; Kucukoglu, 2013; Lee & Schmitt, 2014). Researchers
continue to question what the best strategies for teaching comprehension are and which strategies
promotes student progress. Comprehension instruction requires discussions that are less
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 11
controlled by the teacher. The teacher’s role may purely be to prompt students on how to make
meaning of text.
During this research, I questioned how long it takes to see reading improvement from
strategic reading instruction. Droop, Van Elsacker, Voeten, and Verhoeven (2016) conducted a
study to examine the long term effects of strategic reading instruction in the elementary grades.
It was determined that in order for students to use reading strategies effectively, students not only
need to build explicit knowledge about the strategies, but students must also acquire the
appropriate self-regulation skills; meaning that it is not enough for students to solely identify the
meaning of the strategies, rather they must learn how to adapt and use the strategies in the
various reading situations. The researchers’ study included 1,469 students from 40 different
schools in the Netherlands. There were a total of 62 classrooms that were randomly assigned to
participate as the experimental group or control group for two school years while in third and
fourth grade. A total of 842 students participated in the experimental group and were delivered
instruction through Strategic Reading Instruction (SRI). The remaining 627 students participated
in the control group and received instruction from the regular school reading curriculum.
Students were assessed at the beginning of third grade, at the end of third grade, and at the end of
fourth grade. Results showed a clear, positive effect on student strategy knowledge including
growth on both of the comprehension tests by the end of fourth grade, as well as, improvements
noted by the teacher in observations. At the end of third grade, after one year of intervention, and
at the end of fourth grade, after two years of intervention, the students in the intervention group
exhibited greater growth with respect to knowledge of reading strategies than the control group.
It was concluded that using SRI was effective in enhancing children’s declarative knowledge of
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 12
reading strategies. It is important to keep in mind that the control group also received some
strategy instruction from the general reading curriculum. With respect to reading
comprehension, at the end of fourth grade, significant positive effects were evidenced on the two
general reading comprehension tests. The improvement index in reading comprehension was
about eight percentile points at the end of fourth grade, while hardly any improvement was
evidenced at the end of third grade. Conclusions suggest that students should first enhance their
knowledge of reading strategies by learning what the strategies mean through teacher modeling,
then the students should learn how reading strategies can be verbalized. Lastly, students must
learn to apply the strategies while reading texts, which could result in the transfer of knowledge
and understanding. T
hese findings show that it takes a long time for students to independently
apply reading strategies while reading texts in comparison to my study that took place for eight
weeks.
Gaffner, Johnson, Torres-Elias, and Dryden (2014) conducted a study to research if reading
performance would improve after elementary students participated in small group guided reading
(SGGR) two times per week. In the control group, a total of 21 below reading level first through
fourth grade students received guided reading instruction for one semester, and in the
experimental group, a total of 16 below level first through fourth grade students received guided
reading instruction for a whole year. Instruction was given two times a week by college students
aspiring to become teachers. During guided reading lessons, instructors taught strategic
behaviors such as: (a) problem solving to decode new words; (b) maintaining fluency; (c)
self-monitoring; (d) searching for information; (e) self- correcting (f) predicting (g)
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 13
summarizing; and (h) analyzing text. Typically, students also wrote reading responses and
growth of the elementary students involved in the reading instruction, especially those students
who were younger and those students who had participated in guided reading for both semesters.
This research study gave me positive feedback that my young second graders were capable of
making improvements from explicit teaching of reading comprehension strategies. This study
reiterated the importance of time and ongoing practice as if internalizing reading strategies is on
a learning continuum.
Research has indicated that internalization of comprehension strategies may take less
time than originally thought (Cummins, Stewart, & Block, 2005). Prior to 2000, researchers
believed that students needed up to eight months of direct instruction in reading comprehension
strategies to independently transfer such strategies to other reading tasks (Block & Lacina,
2009). In a more recent multi-year study, Cummins, Stewart, and Block (2005) demonstrated
that students used comprehension strategies continually after only eight weeks of instruction.
These findings supported my desired results that explicit teaching of strategies could potentially
It is known that there are many different reading strategies children can be taught, but
how do we know which are most effective in improving reading skills? Kucukoglu (2013)
conducted a study to determine which reading strategies are effective in order to improve reading
skills in language classes. Kucukoglu (2013), who was both the teacher and researcher, had
students take a reading awareness survey prior to instruction. The results showed that nine out of
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 14
14 students were not aware of the strategies. The researcher modeled and provided reading
awareness to her students by teaching six reading comprehension strategies including: (a)
predicting, (b) visualizing, (c) making connections, (d) summarizing, (e) questioning, and (f)
inferring. Following the instruction of the reading strategies, the teacher researcher administered
the Metacomprehension Strategy Index (MSI) to see if the strategies presented changed student
understanding in reading. The index is a tool which measures students’ familiarities about
reading strategies used before, during, and after reading. The results of the post MSI showed
that the students developed a better understanding of the strategies and their comprehension in
reading improved. The teacher researcher did not specify if one strategy was more beneficial
than another, rather that all the strategies taught improved her students’ comprehension.
Similarly to Kucukoglu’s findings (2013), Lee and Schmitt (2014) noted that teaching reading
strategies is a key element in developing student comprehension. It appears that many teachers
lack a solid foundation for teaching effective reading comprehension strategies. Teaching
and it is challenging to know what is going on inside students’ minds. The metacognitive
modeling required to make comprehension instruction effective can be a challenging process for
many teachers (Ness, 2011). Expertise by knowing how to use observations and analysis of
these student behaviors can give teachers valuable information to diagnose and plan future
lessons (Lee & Schmitt, 2014). Preparation on how to design effective comprehension
strategies and how to teach these strategies to their students is a necessity for teachers
(Kucukoglu, 2013). Educators must have the professional knowledge to be flexible and modify
their guidance from moment to moment based on student responses and student need (Block &
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 15
Pressley, 2007). It is pertinent that teachers are relentless and when teaching the strategy does
not work the first time, teachers must make adjustments and try again. Giving up on students is
not an option for teachers. They must give students many opportunities to practice what they
have learned by reading independently (Duffy, 2003). These research studies regarding teacher
delivery impacted my research study because they made me conscious of my own delivery of
instruction during guided reading lessons. Findings from the research created an awareness of
beneficial so that my students fully comprehend the strategies and how to use them in small
groups, as well as,independently. Reciprocal teaching can play a valuable part in fully
understanding.
Likewise, prior knowledge and life experiences can also play a large role in student
understanding. Kostons and Van Der Werf (2015) investigated the effects of prior topic
knowledge activation and prior metacognitive knowledge activation (the awareness and
researchers’ study showed that activating prior metacognitive knowledge had a positive effect on
text comprehension and activating prior topic knowledge within the instruction did not have a
significant effect. Researchers concluded that activating prior metacognitive knowledge leads to
enhanced performance scores on text comprehension; meaning that teaching students how to
think and use what they already know is more valuable than teaching directly about the topic.
Results showed that if students are taught how to use what they know, then students can gain
meaning from numerous texts. Simply activating topic knowledge is not enough. More research
is needed with the method in which teachers could achieve long-term results with prior
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 16
knowledge activation and what types of prior knowledge activation work best for students. The
results of this study suggested that if students have specific knowledge including: (a) cognitive,
(b) metacognitive, or (c) motivational knowledge, students may need help to activate this
The researchers’ study also showed that explicit instruction of metacognitive knowledge
may not be necessary for all students, especially in the situation of students who already have
order for students to make better use of their own knowledge. While reading it is necessary to
comprehension is often difficult for students, particularly if they do not make use of what they
already know (Kostons & Van Der Werf, 2015). Comprehension of text can also be challenging
for students who do not have a lot of life experiences because those students may have restricted
prior knowledge.
As I worked with my second graders, I needed to be aware of text topics and intentionally
choose topics in which students were familiar with or topics of great interest. I did not want
unfamiliar text to interfere with their learning of the reading strategies. Once students are more
fluent with strategies, unfamiliar texts are important to utilize so they can demonstrate their use
of the strategies. However, at the introductory level I did not feel students needed any extra
obstacles.
student’s ability to decode text. Oostdam, Blok, and Boendermaker (2015) conducted a research
study to determine the effects of guided oral reading interventions on reading skills and attitude
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 17
of poor readers in second through fourth grade. It is known that the more automatic decoding
becomes, the more attention students can pay attention to the meaning of the text. The
researchers focused on repeated reading, continuous reading, and independent reading, as well as
the impact each has on comprehension, vocabulary, and attitude during a 12 week study. Some
teachers in this study felt that continuous reading would make improvements while other
teachers believed rereading would make greater improvements because students become more
fluent and available to focus on meaning. The researchers found that the students in their study
had improvements in fluency and reading attitude, but did not determine a significant growth in
During my research study, students also participated in rereading text before moving on
to new text. In fact, all of my students, including members in both my experimental group and
control group, participated in rereading text from the weekly Journeys story. Additionally,
students in my experimental group reread their leveled texts one to three times for guided
reading practices.
Similar to my research, Van Rijk, De Mey, De Haan, Van Oers, and Volman (2017)
education (DE) versus the programmatic instruction (PI). Developmental education appears to
be like guided reading because reading instruction is done in small groups at the same reading
level. While the programmatic approach resembles our Journeys c urriculum because it is the
required basal program. These approaches were compared in terms of reading comprehension,
knowledge of reading strategies, and reading motivation. The researchers’ results revealed that
who received developmental education instruction, rather they had quite similar positive effects.
The researchers did discover that students receiving developmental education instruction were
more motivated and those that had greater motivation were also the students who performed
better in reading comprehension. In addition, readers with good comprehension skills also had
greater knowledge of reading strategies and were more motivated for reading.
Van Rijk, De Mey, De Haan, Van Oers, and Volman (2017) agreed with Allington
(2002) that good readers are more motivated and that motivated readers are better at reading.
Allington (2002) discovered that in order to increase motivation and comprehension in reading
students need: (a) choices to read what they want to; (b) texts that they can read accurately
without struggles; (c) time to read and practice skills; (d) time to discuss and talk about the texts;
and (e) teacher modeling of reading texts. The information from Allington (2002) and Van Rijk,
De Mey, De Haan, Van Oers, and Volman (2017) emphasized the value of motivating readers to
As a student becomes a more skilled reader, there are different levels of comprehension.
LaRusso, Kim, Selman, Uccelli, Dawson, Jones, and Snow (2016) developed a study to research
understanding and thinking which may include: (a) generalizing; (b) determining importance; (c)
synthesizing; and (d) analyzing what was read. Challenging students with higher level questions
will help push students’ thinking deeper. This study transpired because there has been great
focus on decoding and oral language comprehension, as well as, reading comprehension; if
students can understand text orally then they can also understand it through reading if decoding
is not a barrier. The researchers noted that sometimes students can read well orally and teachers
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 19
do not recognize students lack of comprehension; this results in the failure to recognize the role
of broader cognitive abilities that are strongly related to comprehension. In basic terms, this
means that teachers cannot read what is going on inside students’ minds, but need to find out
what they are thinking. The researchers proposed a model of deep reading comprehension that
included higher level tasks such as academic language, perspective taking, and complex
reasoning. These are all skills that are required in secondary school, higher education, and many
job settings. The researchers conducted the study with 2,933 fourth through seventh graders and
assessed student knowledge in eight tasks: (a) connecting ideas; (b) tracking themes; (c)
organizing texts; (d) breaking words; (e) comprehending sentences; (f) identifying definitions;
(g) interpreting epistemic stance markers; and (h) understanding metalinguistic vocabulary. The
tasks assessed students’ skills through a range of multiple-choice, matching, or short written
responses. The results indicated that deep reading comprehension is co-determined by students’
abilities to understand academic language, to take and understand social perspectives, and to
Academic language was the strongest predictor of deep comprehension meaning that
students with higher level vocabulary could better understand challenging texts and those with an
average or limited vocabulary struggled to make meaning of these texts (LaRusso, Kim, Selman,
Uccelli, Dawson, Jones, & Snow, 2016). This study showed that it is necessary to teach students
the academic language so they can fully understand. Complex reasoning, also known as critical
thinking, was also a significant predictor of deep comprehension and predicts deep
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 20
comprehension (LaRusso, Kim, Selman, Uccelli, Dawson, Jones, & Snow, 2016). Some
students lack the ability to think critically, especially on an independent basis, yet others excel in
critical thinking skills. When students are able to think critically, they are able to work through
misunderstandings, draw inferences, and analyze text. Although this research is aimed at
students older than second grade, it was valuable research that I incorporated into my teaching of
connections, and modeling my own metacognitive thinking while reading mentor texts.
In another study researchers compared the impact of direct reading instruction versus
computer-based guided practice (Lenhard, Baier, Endlich, Schneider, & Hoffman, 2013).
Researchers randomly selected 148 sixth graders to participate and initially gave them all a
pretest to assess reading fluency, verbal intelligence, metacognitive knowledge and reading
comprehension. Students were then randomly placed in either the Reading Recovery group or a
conText group. The Reading Recovery group received teacher-directed instruction of declarative
metacognitive knowledge, similar to guided reading. The conText group used a computer
program based on latent semantic analysis (LSA) and received immediate feedback on written
summaries of the text they read. A posttest was administered and results showed that both
groups improved their strategy knowledge to the same extent, but the conText group showed a
greater improvement in reading comprehension. This led to the conclusion that guided practice
that includes intensive practice and individualized corrective feedback is superior to explicitly
teaching strategy knowledge. This study appears to contradict my hypothesis in the value of
instructing guided reading to improve comprehension. However, this study was done with sixth
grade students who are more capable of working independently on a computer. Taking my
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 21
experiences working with second graders and knowledge of their abilities, I know that most
second graders are not ready to independently work at a computer to learn and use reading
comprehension strategies. I was surprised by the results of this study and had thought that
students of all ages learned more effectively through interactions and discussions. I question if
perhaps the immediate corrective feedback played a larger role in the overall gains that the sixth
graders made. This leads me to conclude that written and oral feedback are another valuable
Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers are valuable tools used for teaching across subjects. A graphic
organizer is a visual display that demonstrates relationships between facts, concepts or ideas. A
graphic organizer guides the learner’s thinking as he or she fills in and build upon a visual map
or diagram. The graphic organizer was originally called a structured overview and it was created
into practice. Ausuble argued that an individual’s existing knowledge is very important in
learning new material in content areas. Ausuble hypothesized that new meanings are acquired
only when they are related to previously learned information (prior knowledge and making
connections). New learning will be enhanced if the existing information is clearly organized in a
meaningful way. Ausubel promoted the use of organizers for teachers to strengthen students’
It is known that the use of graphic organizers can help increase student comprehension.
Griffin, Malone, and Kameenui (1995) developed a study to examine if graphic organizers
facilitate comprehension, recall, and transfer of information and to what degree explicit
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 22
instruction is necessary for fifth grade, normal-achieving students. The researchers found that the
group of students who used graphic organizers needed a lot of explicit teacher support.
However, with the teacher examples and support, students were engaged and able to transfer
knowledge from the text. This research supports my study and the need to explicitly teach and
support students with the use of graphic organizers to promote comprehension and engagement.
When students struggle with reading, teachers must plan effective interventions to meet
student needs. Graphic organizers can help students to organize and visualize their thoughts
before, during, and after reading to promote understanding of text. Williams, Pollini,
Nubla-Kung, Snyder, Garcia, Ordynans, and Atkins (2014) conducted a study that addressed the
level of second grade students at-risk for academic failure and provided a more developmentally
appropriate context for determining the value of explicit instruction in text structure for these
students. The researchers had 149 at-risk participants in the experimental group who received
interventions, and 48 at-risk students in the control group who received no extra instruction.
During the interventions, students received instruction on cause and effect with graphic
vocabulary, read aloud, and review. The study showed that explicit comprehension instruction
can be effective at the primary level because students in the experimental group who received
the explicit instruction outperformed students that were in the control group that did not receive
the instruction. The researchers discovered that second graders appear to be at the level in which
it is feasible to begin text structure instruction. Prior to the second grade level, most at-risk
students have such limited decoding ability that it would be difficult to provide readable texts
containing sufficient cause and effect structure for effective reading comprehension instruction.
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 23
Researchers realized that not all second graders had mastered word recognition, not all were
fluent readers, and some students may have lacked a mature understanding of cause and effect,
but many students gained from explicit instruction in reading comprehension which provided a
strong foundation for later learning (Williams, Pollini, Nubla-Kung, Snyder, Garcia, Ordynans,
This study reassured me that second graders are at an appropriate level of learning to
engage in and use graphic organizers to promote comprehension and recall. Graphic organizers
help organize ideas and create a visual so students can better recall the information. The use of
graphic organizers provides a hands-on approach to learning and provides opportunities for
student participation which definitely promotes engagement. With support, graphic organizers
can be used to pull out important focus pieces from texts and allow students to be better prepared
Students with special needs also need to learn how to comprehend text, but different
methods may be more effective because of their learning challenges such as lack of verbal skills.
Finnegan and Mazin (2016) conducted a study in hopes of finding effective strategies for
increasing reading comprehension skills in students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Many higher-functioning school-aged children with ASD are placed in general education
classrooms and are working toward meeting grade level standards in reading. Graphic
organizers provide significant structure for readers to create relationships between what they
know and the text. During the study, a total of 32 students eight-12 years old with ASD
participated in five studies. Each study used a different type of graphic organizer: (a) thinking
maps, (b) -wh question organizers, (c) story maps, (d) venn diagrams, and (e) character event
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 24
maps. In all of these studies, the results supported the use of graphic organizers to teach reading
comprehension to students with ASD. It was also noted that it is important to be aware of a
student’s needs to effectively match the graphic organizer with the needs of the student and what
the teacher wants him or her to learn from the text, such as what element the teacher wants the
student to learn. For example, if the focus is on the setting, then the student may need to
describe or illustrate a picture of the setting from the text. The study was unclear as to how the
graphic organizers were exactly implemented including cues and amount of support. It was
noted that students were engaged and cooperative in learning while using graphic organizers.
This study gave me even more reasons to use graphic organizers including the fact that graphic
organizers have shown to be effective in teaching students with ASD. This success suggested
In another study, Narkon and Wells (2013) researched how to improve reading
design learning (UDL) and story mapping. Story mapping, used as a graphic organizer, is an
effective visual strategy to enhance student comprehension of texts, with or without disabilities.
The use of UDL and story mapping removes the barriers to engagement and interaction
experienced by students with learning disabilities who have reading and writing challenges.
Many students, including those with and without disabilities, struggle with the general
for students to identify, organize, and analyze story elements including setting, characters,
context, events, and problem/conflict. In this study, the teacher supported students by modeling
and supporting them in filling out the story map graphic organizer. This preparation allowed for
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 25
students to be more engaged in the peer discussions. The teacher explicitly taught strategies and
the story elements depending on the students’ individual instructional needs. To enhance student
interest, the students were then allowed to select a new story or to create their own story map.
This study revealed that all types of learners can engage in story maps as graphic organizers if
explicitly taught with teacher support. This study also revisited the importance of ensuring
students understand the elements they are looking for to input into their graphic organizer;
teachers should not assume they know what the “setting” is, for example.
From these studies it has been determined that the use of graphic organizers improves
comprehension for students with autism, students with learning disabilities, at-risk students, and
students of all levels (Finnegan & Mazin, 2016; Narkon & Wells, 2013; Williams, Pollini,
Nubla-Kung, Snyder, Ordynans, & Atkins, 2014). In addition, Pang (2013) also found that
visual strategies improve comprehension for English language learners (ELL). Using visuals
including graphic organizers for various texts and strategies can help students better understand.
Greater comprehension occurs for ELLs when the teacher supports them in using graphic
organizers to classify facts, analyze problems, summarize main points, and criticize or evaluate
the text. It is recommended to help ELLs predict, check for understanding, retell, and summarize
what they can remember after reading. An example was to use a beginning, middle, ending
graphic organizer so the student can organize his or her thoughts and visually see the order of
events. Using graphic organizers can help ELL students to understand text and to engage in
The findings from these studies emphasize the value of using graphic organizers for a
variety of students with varying needs (Finnegan & Mazin, 2016; Williams, Pollini, Narkon &
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 26
Wells, 2013; Nubla-Kung, Snyder, Ordynans, & Atkins, 2014). Ultimately, it appears that
(Finnegan & Mazin, 2016; Griffin, Malone, & Kameenui, 1995; Williams, Pollini, Nubla-Kung,
Snyder, Ordynans, & Atkins, 2014). It also appears that graphic organizers can promote student
discussion and engagement because they help students to be better prepared (Griffin, Malone, &
Kameenui, 1995).
Teachers often use mentor texts to promote student engagement. Mentor texts are books
that students and teachers can use in teaching and learning a variety of things such as modeling
reading strategies, fluency, and the elements of writing. Many students find read alouds to be
enjoyable because students are able to sit back, relax, and enjoy the “show”rather than decoding
while thinking for understanding. Delacruz (2013) researched the use of interactive read alouds
to increase K-2 students’ reading comprehension and engagement. This study was conducted
during whole group instruction and both kindergartners and second graders made significant
gains on the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) in comparison to the control group of
students who did not participate. The researcher found that an interactive read-aloud (IRA)
inspired the students to become active participants in discussing the text. Teachers who used
independent thinking, and improve reasoning through discussion. The essential benefits of
interactive read alouds included: (a) teacher modeling of reading skills (b) the ability to use
logical talk and (c) greater knowledge of genre and content. Intentional, explicit teaching can
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 27
take place during interactive read-alouds. This instructional practice can be used to scaffold
Read alouds are known to be great for modeling and teaching metacognitive thinking.
Modeled thinking during read alouds can begin at an early stage of development. It is
recommended that parents start reading to their children at a very young age to increase
vocabulary, overall exposure to print, and for enjoyment/engagement. Exposure to books has
been found to be a significant factor in the development of literacy levels of young children
(Ledger & Mergna, 2018). The Journeys c urriculum I used as our main reading curriculum
contained a weekly read-aloud that all students partook in. In addition, I used mentor texts to
model the reading strategies and metacognitive thinking during small group read alouds for my
experimental group. I used this read aloud method as an introduction for each strategy that I
focused on during guided reading instruction. Using mentor texts for read alouds modeled
fluency and metacognitive thinking in addition to many teaching the strategies. Proper teacher
modeling of thinking while engaging in text is another useful teaching method because students
frequently mimic their teacher’s behaviors. Reading aloud is purposeful because it promotes
can be quite challenging, engagement must be a priority in lessons for students. Teachers must
address curriculum in ways that encourage students to participate with interest and
thoughtfulness. Research on distinguished reading teachers has determined that high levels of
classrooms (Allington, 2002). There are three types of engagement including: a) affective
literacy tasks with six sixth grade students. The researchers used observations to document the
tasks assigned to students and their behavioral engagement. Researchers used post observation
interviews to document cognitive engagement and then used rubrics to rate the tasks and classify
them. Researchers found that the, “Activities that are authentic, collaborative, challenging,
student-directed, and sustained have been identified in the literature as essential to enhancing
engagement” (Parsons, Malloy, Parsons, Cohen-Burrowbridge, 2014, p.4). When the researchers
reviewed the most engaging tasks the students responded that the opportunities for working with
peers and extra help made the work more engaging. Students from this study also responded that
they were less engaged when the tasks required little involvement including worksheets and
repetitive tasks.
Along with instructional practices, educators must consider the impact student attitudes
can make on learning. Therefore, it is important to be positive and show students that reading is
fun so they in turn want to read and do not think of it as work. Ledger and Merga (2018)
completed a study inquiring about children’s attitudes toward being read to (read alouds).
Overall, most children had a positive attitude toward being read to and reading. Children felt
relaxed and stress free because their task was to listen, comprehend, and respond with prompts
rather than decoding and using strategies. However, some students did not enjoy read alouds and
considered them to be bothersome. Of these students that found it bothersome, were higher level
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 29
students who desired to read it themselves and struggling readers who did not have a lot of read
aloud experience.
I know the importance of making the lessons relevant and collaborative to engage
students. Meeting the curriculum requirements and student needs is an ongoing challenge that
research, I wanted to see if the use of graphic organizers or the use of modeled mentor texts was
more engaging for second grade students. Instruction was in small groups with teacher support
and peer discussions. During my guided reading lessons I observed that students were engaged
during read aloud. Also, most students noted that they did prefer read read alouds over using
graphic organizers because it was easy and fun to listen to the stories.
Conclusion
Reading comprehension has been a concern for many years and numerous studies have
been done on the best methods to teach reading comprehension strategies (Droop, Van Elsacker,
Voeten, & Verhoeven, 2016; Kucukoglu, 2013; Lee & Schmitt, 2014; Lenhard, Baier,Endlich,
Schneider, & Hoffmann, 2013; Van Rijk, De Mey, De Haan, Van Oers, & Volman, 2017).
During my research I located many studies with evidence that indicated positive outcomes from
explicitly teaching reading comprehension strategies and guided reading to students of all
abilities (Droop, Van Elsacker, Voeten, & Verhoeven, 2016; Gaffner, Johnson, Torres-Elias, &
Dryden, 2014; Kucukoglu, 2013; Lenhard, Baier,Endlich, Schneider, & Hoffmann, 2013;
Oostdam, Blok, & Boendermaker, 2015; Van Rijk, De Mey, De Haan, Van Oers, & Volman,
2017). Research indicated that explicit instruction of reading strategies through the use of
guided reading groups was a practical way to improve reading comprehension (Chevalier, Del
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 30
Santo, Scheiner, Skok, & Tucci, 2002; Gaffner, Johnson, Torres-Elias, & Dryden, 2014;
Lenhard, Baier,Endlich, Schneider, & Hoffmann, 2013; Oostdam, Blok, & Boendermaker, 2015;
Van Rijk, De Mey, De Haan, & Van Oers, & Volman, 2017). Guided reading gives students the
opportunity to develop reading strategies so they can become more independent readers. Tools
such as graphic organizers should be implemented, as well as, allowing ample time for
independent reading (Chevalier, 2002). In order to be successful, students need consistent, clear,
To increase student understanding, the research focused on ensuring that discussions and
collaborative work are a large part of reading instruction resembling Vygotsky’s social learning
because it gives students awareness of their strengths, as well as, their weaknesses which can
increase learning. Young readers are very impressionable and teachers need to model fluent
reading, metacognitive thinking, and excitement toward reading. Teachers not only need to
instruct the meaning of each of the reading strategies, but they must demonstrate how to use
them and the meaning of the elements that go along with each strategy. Teachers also need a
“tool kit” with many meaningful activities to promote student engagement such as: graphic
In addition to modeling during read alouds, teachers need to support students and allow a
gradual release of responsibility in reading. I know that teaching reading comprehension is not
an easy task, and I have been searching for the best methods to use in order for my students to
student’s abilities. The research I have found supports guided reading and ways to best
implement it including discussions, graphic organizers, and using mentor texts with teacher
support (Delacruz, 2013; Ledger & Mergna, 2018; Finnegan & Mazin, 2016; Williams, Pollini,
Nubla-Kung, Snyder, Ordynans, & Atkins, 2014). Time and the varying rate of learning should
also be a consideration for students and their individual growth. The ultimate goal in reading is
comprehension. Students learn to read so they can read to learn. Teaching the proper use of
reading strategies fosters comprehension and future reading and learning success.
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 32
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