In this "prosumer" era in which people seem always to be producing and consuming texts, words matter as much as--or more than--they ever have. Learning how grammar works in the texts they read and write is essential to students' literacy. It is time to reframe English teachers' view to include both writing "and" reading as contexts for grammar…

The effects of using the Embedded Story-Structure (ESS) Routine in a literature course were investigated. A heterogeneous group of 79 ninth graders, including 14 students with LD, were randomly assigned to one of two conditions, with instruction occurring in groups of 12 to 14 students in general education literature classes over a nine-day…

A story mapping strategy was used to effectively improve reading comprehension in heterogeneous groups of third/fourth graders, including five learning disabled and low achieving students. Group averages maintained above 80 percent when students were no longer required to use the strategy. (Author/DB)

The study found that college students with learning disabilities (LD) were as able as nondisabled students to use story grammar and comparison text structure to aid recall of social studies text passages. However, LD students scored significantly lower on use of causation text structure. Results suggest that use of comparison structures precede…

POSSE, an instructional procedure for a reading comprehension curriculum, structures classroom dialogue about text meaning. Students with mild handicaps predict what the story will be about, organize their knowledge, search for the text structure, summarize, and evaluate. POSSE's successful application is dependent upon effective lesson dialogue…

Defines story grammar, reviews pertinent research, and describes classroom activities based on research findings. (NKA)

Presents the results of two studies where children were taught to identify textual cues, syntactic and semantic, in order to locate main ideas. The children also built graphic representations of these structures and were taught relevant questions to ask regarding comprehension. Results showed significant improvement, especially with older…

This thesis examined the reading comprehension process of three fifth-grade students who demonstrated the ability to read and write fluently but had difficulties remembering and understanding important information about what they read. The aim of this research was to develop and implement an effective teaching strategy for low-achieving students…