"Reading comprehension" is difficult for many students with disabilities, including those with specific learning disabilities. However these students can be explicitly taught strategies to improve their comprehension abilities. One such strategy is teaching students story grammar in order to provide them with a framework for…

The Common Core State Standards and the continued inclusion of students with learning disabilities (LD) in Tier 1 classrooms are changing how close reading of texts occurs in English Language Arts classrooms. Therefore, understanding the potential impact of literacy-related evidence-based practices during Tier 1 instruction that includes students…

Story mapping is an effective visual strategy to enhance comprehension of narrative text in students, with or without disabilities. This article demonstrates how instruction can be designed using principles of universal design for learning with the evidence-based story-mapping strategy to improve reading comprehension for elementary students with…

With the majority of students with learning disabilities (LD) having difficulties in reading, teachers at all grade levels need to incorporate comprehension strategies into their instruction to explicitly teach students with LD how to use the strategies to enhance their comprehension. One way for teachers to support students' comprehension of…

Social skill deficits and learning disabilities often coexist. Academic work is negatively impacted by students' lack of social skills. Remediation of these deficits in pull-out programs has not generally resulted in transfer to real-world settings. Embedding social skills instruction within literature during a read-aloud session taught in the…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using a story-mapping procedure to improve and enhance the reading comprehension skills using expository text passages for 3 fourth-grade students with learning disabilities (LD). The study was conducted in the resource classroom in which the participants regularly received reading…

This action research case study measured the effectiveness of a writing strategy designed to enhance imagery in stories that 3 students with severe writing difficulties (2 were identified as learning disabled, 1 was undergoing assessment) produced during their resource room sessions. The authors combined the use of the self-regulated strategy…

This study examined the use of story-mapping to improve the reading comprehension of six third- and fourth-grade students with specific learning disabilities who exhibited reading deficits. Also of interest was whether the effects would maintain once the intervention was discontinued. Using a descriptive, three-phased, single-subject design, the…

Twenty learning-disabled students (grades 5 and 6) who received procedural facilitation for narrative composition, including story grammar cue cards and a metacognitive check-off procedure, produced better quality stories than a control group of 10 students. Including verbal reminders to develop characters did not affect story quality. (Author/JDD)

This multiple baseline study investigated the effectiveness of direct instruction of an advanced story-map procedure on the reading comprehension performance of six middle school students with learning disabilities (LD). Results indicated an increase in story grammar and basal comprehension performance generalization to a novel passage, and…

An instructional strategy for teaching comprehension of literature was tested with seven high school students with learning disabilities. The strategy taught story grammar through use of short stories and the paradigm of modeling/guided practice/independent practice. Students showed improved story comprehension. (Author/JDD)

Discusses "story grammar" strategies, such as self-questioning, story maps, character and plot development, and comparison and contrast of similar stories, which can be used to help elementary students with learning disabilities or low-achieving students improve their reading and writing skills. Activities are described for each…

This article provides specific recommendations for teaching students with learning disabilities how to use a story grammar cueing system for improving writing. The article emphasizes the importance of individualizing instruction and teaching for generalization, and discusses the purpose of the system and methods of assessment. (JDD)

In this replication study, supplemental writing instruction in strategic planning was used to improve the story writing ability of young writers with learning disabilities (LD) and poor writing skills. Six 2nd-grade students with learning disabilities who experienced difficulty with story writing were taught a strategy for planning and writing…

Reviews research on the effectiveness of story grammar in promoting the comprehension of narrative text in students with learning disabilities and at-risk students. Offers instructional recommendations for successful implementation of this strategy. (RS)