READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION

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,

throughout life. When a person is deficient in reading, opportunities for personal

accomplishments and job success inevitably will be lost (Kucukoglu, 2013).

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.

Throughout my review of recent studies related to explicitly teaching reading comprehension

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

and needs (Finnegan & Mazin, 2016; Guiterrez-Braojos, Rodriguez-Fernandez, &

Salmeron-Vilchez, 2014; LaRusso, Kim, Selman, Uccelli, Dawson, Jones, & Snow, 2016; Lee &
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Schmitt, 2014; Mahdavi & Tensfeldt, 2013; Oostdam, Blok, & Boendermaker, 2015; Williams,

Pollini, Nubla-Kung, Snyder, Ordynans, & Atkins, 2014).

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,

rather it is an ongoing learning process for both students and teachers.

Learning and Teaching Reading Comprehension Strategies

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

texts (Guiterrez-Braojos, Rodriguez-Fernandez, & Salmeron-Vilchez, 2014).

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

30th anniversary of the first book dedicated solely to research-based comprehension practices,

Teaching Comprehension ​(Pearson & Johnson, 1978). I noticed many researchers continue to
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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

interests in order to best differentiate when planning instruction.

Al Khaiyali and Tiyb (2014) created a study to find out the impact of using children’s

picture books to initiate explicit instruction of reading comprehension strategies. The

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

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)
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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

across all subject areas.

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

controlled by the teacher. The teacher’s role may purely be to prompt students on how to make

meaning of text.
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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. 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
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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.

Guided Reading is another strategy known by teachers to instruct reading comprehension.

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)

summarizing; and (h) analyzing text. Typically, students also wrote reading responses and

engaged in meaningful discussions with peers and teachers.

READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 7

Quantitative assessment results generally demonstrated a positive impact on the reading

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

improve comprehension score on required assessments in as little duration as eight weeks.

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

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)
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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

reading comprehension strategies is often challenging because it requires metacognitive thinking

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 &

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
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 9

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

the importance of being explicit in my teachings. In addition, promoting reciprocal teaching is

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

understanding of a person’s own thoughts) on text comprehension scores. Results in the

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

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,
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(b) metacognitive, or (c) motivational knowledge, students may need help to activate this

knowledge in order to further enhance their learning.

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

some metacognitive knowledge. Yet, existing metacognitive knowledge needs to be activated in

order for students to make better use of their own knowledge. While reading it is necessary to

have self-awareness of thinking in order to fully comprehend text. Therefore, text

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.

Another consideration when diagnosing the lack of a student’s comprehension, is the

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

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
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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

comprehension or vocabulary (Oostdam, Blok, & Boendermaker, 2015).

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)

conducted a study to determine reading comprehension outcomes for students in developmental

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

there were no differences in comprehension or knowledge of reading strategies between students

who received developmental education instruction, rather they had quite similar positive effects.

The researchers did discover that students receiving developmental education instruction were
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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

promote comprehension and strategy use.

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

deep reading comprehension. Deep reading comprehension incorporates a higher level of

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

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
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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 ​e​ight 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

engage in complex reasoning about challenging problems such as interpreting varied

perspectives in the context of a character’s or author’s roles, circumstances, cultural

backgrounds, and conflicting positions.

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

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
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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

reading comprehension strategies by encouraging deeper thinking questions, making

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

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
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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

piece in student achievement.

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

as an attempt to translate Ausubel’s (1968) cognitive theory of meaningful reception learning

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’

existing cognitive structure.

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

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.
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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

organizers including a Know-Want to Know-Learned (K-W-L) chart and visual charts,

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.

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,
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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,

& Atkins, 2014).

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

for discussions that lead to better understanding and recall.

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

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
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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

that graphic organizers may benefit all types of learners.

In another study, Narkon and Wells (2013) researched how to improve reading

comprehension for elementary students with learning disabilities, by implementing universal

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

curriculum because of comprehension deficiencies. Story maps provide a visual representation

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

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
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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

meaningful discussions (Pang, 2013).

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 &

Wells, 2013; Nubla-Kung, Snyder, Ordynans, & Atkins, 2014). Ultimately, it appears that

graphic organizers do improve reading comprehension if modeled and taught explicitly

READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 20

(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).

Mentor Texts/Read Alouds and Engagement

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

interactive read-alouds in their classrooms tended to cultivate comprehension, encourage

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

take place during interactive read-alouds. This instructional practice can be used to scaffold

students reading so they can use strategies in their own reading.

READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 21

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

student engagement. Engagement is a vital component of classroom instruction. Although it

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

student engagement distinguished higher performing classrooms from lower performing

classrooms (Allington, 2002). There are three types of engagement including: a) affective

engagement which emphasizes interest, enjoyment, and enthusiasm; b) behavioral engagement

which relates to effortful participation; and c) cognitive engagement which encompasses

strategic behavior, persistence, and metacognition.

READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 22

Parsons, Malloy, Parsons, Cohen-Burrowbridge (2014) researched student engagement in

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

students who desired to read it themselves and struggling readers who did not have a lot of read

aloud experience.
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 23

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

teachers face. It is obvious that engaged students do make greater achievements. In my

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

Santo, Scheiner, Skok, & Tucci, 2002; Gaffner, Johnson, Torres-Elias, & Dryden, 2014;

Lenhard, Baier,Endlich, Schneider, & Hoffmann, 2013; Oostdam, Blok, & Boendermaker, 2015;
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 24

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,

and rigorous instruction, or they are at a disadvantage (Rasinski, 2017).

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

theory (​McLeod, 2014)​.

Another important part of instruction is making sure to include immediate feedback

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

organizers and peer collaboration activities.

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

make improvements in reading comprehension. I noticed that learning to read is somewhat

individualized and student needs change frequently, therefore it is pertinent to be aware of

student’s abilities. The research I have found supports guided reading and ways to best
READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 25

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 26

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READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 31

Appendix B

Student Interview Questions (asked by teacher post instruction)

1. Would you rather learn about reading while: (a) using graphic organizers or (b) having

me read to you and tell you what I am thinking while I am reading?

2. Why do you like this way better?

READING STRATEGIES AND COMPREHENSION 32