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Comprehension Strategy Instruction:

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Teaching Narrative Text Structure

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Awareness
Susan Dymock
■ Good comprehenders use a number of strategies, in-

F
or more than three decades there has been con-

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siderable research on comprehension strategy in- cluding activating prior knowledge, monitoring
struction. The findings point to overwhelming comprehension, generating questions, answering

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evidence that comprehension strategies can be taught questions, drawing inferences, creating mental im-
(Block & Pressley, 2002; Pearson & Fielding, 1991; agery, identifying the text structure the writer has

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used, and creating summaries (National Institute of

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Pressley, 2002, 2006a; RAND, 2002), resulting in “sub-
stantial improvements in student understanding of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD],
text” (Pressley, 2002, p. 12). However, recent research 2000; Pressley, 2000; Smolkin & Donovan, 2002).
of fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms shows that com- ■ Research indicates that comprehension strategies
prehension strategy instruction has made little progress should be explicitly taught and modeled long term
since Durkin’s (1978/1979) landmark study. Durkin at all grade levels (Block & Pressley, 2002; Calfee &
(1978/1979) found that less than 1% of the reading peri-

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Patrick, 1995; Gaskins, 2003; Pressley, 2006b; RAND,
od was spent teaching comprehension strategies. Two 2002; Sweet & Snow, 2003).
decades later Pressley, Wharton-McDonald, Mistretta-

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■ Students should practice the strategy with guidance,
Hampston, and Echevarria (1998) reported that little
using many texts, until they have a good understand-

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has changed. Pressley et al. (1998) stated that, in the
ing of the strategy and how to apply it (Block &

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fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms observed, they “were
Pressley, 2002; Calfee & Patrick, 1995).
struck by the almost complete absence of direct in-
■ Initially, comprehension strategies can be taught
struction about comprehension strategies” (p. 172).
Pressley (2006b) reported, “The bottom line is that one at a time (Keene & Zimmermann, 1997; NICHD,
there is no evidence of children being taught such 2000) to “acquaint students with a strategic process”
strategies [comprehension] to the point that they use (Pressley, 2002, p. 19). According to Pressley (2006b,

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them in a self-regulated fashion, which is the goal of p. 17), the aim, over time, is to teach “a small reper-
such instruction” (p. 17). Pressley continued, “Even in toire of strategies” so children can use them in a “self
the classrooms of otherwise very effective elementary regulated fashion” to enhance comprehension.

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teachers...there is little comprehension strategies in-

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struction occurring” (p. 17). The focus of this article is on how to go about

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The following are key findings relating to compre- teaching one strategy, narrative text structure aware-
hension and comprehension strategy instruction: ness, for improving comprehension of narrative text.
What is narrative text? Narratives are more than sim-
■ Many students experience comprehension problems ple lists of sentences or ideas. Narratives are stories.
(Cornoldi & Oakhill, 1996; Pressley, 2006a, 2006b). Calfee and Drum (1986) reported that “stories gener-
■ Some students require explicit comprehension strat- ally tell ‘what happened.’ Who did what to whom and
egy instruction (Pressley, 2002, 2006a, 2006b). why” (p. 836).
■ Teachers play a critical role in helping pupils devel- Research suggests that comprehension of narrative
op comprehension strategies. “Good instruction is text is better when the text is organized to a well-known
the most powerful means of promoting the develop- story grammar (Kintsch, Mandel, & Kozminsky, 1977;
ment of proficient comprehenders and preventing Mandler & Johnson, 1977; Thorndyke, 1977). Story
reading comprehension problems” (RAND, 2002, p. grammars are “an attempt to construct a set of rules
xvii). that can generate a structure for any story” (Rayner &

The Reading Teacher, 61(2), pp. 161–167 © 2007 International Reading Association
DOI:10.1598/RT.61.2.6 ISSN: 0034-0561 print / 1936-2714 online 161
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Pollatsek, 1989, p. 307). Story grammars are rather like characters, place, time, problem, and solution) out-
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the set of grammatical rules that are used to structure performed students who were not.
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sentences. David Rumelhart introduced story gram- Idol (1987) taught grade 3 and 4 students to use a
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mars in 1975, and they were further developed by story mapping strategy to improve comprehension of
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Thorndyke (1977) and Mandler and Johnson (1977). narratives. The story map instruction focused on char-
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Story grammars identify the basic parts of a story and acters, time, place, problem, goal, action, and out-
show how these parts tie together to form a well- come. Results showed significant positive effects on
constructed story. passages read for grade 3 and 4 students.
Calfee and Patrick (1995) also reported that grade
1 students can be taught strategies such as character
Story Grammars Form a analysis, plot analysis, and how to identify the theme
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Hierarchy and setting in order to enhance story comprehension.

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The setting, theme, characters, plot, and resolution are Students can also be taught how to analyze episodes.
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According to Calfee and Patrick (1995), “For the first-

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located at, or near, the top of the story grammar hier-

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archy. The more specific details such as subgoal, at- grader, the boundaries [episodes] in The Three Little
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tempt, and outcome, are located lower in the Pigs are easy to spot. By making the structure clear
hierarchy. There are many different story grammars and giving names to the elements, the foundation is
for different stories (Mandler & Johnson, 1977; laid for coping in high school” (p. 78). The following
Rumelhart, 1975; Stein & Glenn, 1979; Thorndyke, 6-year-old demonstrates that pupils as early as grade
1977). It is not within the scope of this article to ex- 1 are able to gain an understanding of the structure
plore the various grammars. Similarities do exist, how- of narrative text. As the 6-year-old put it,
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ever, among stories in terms of structure (e.g., that the What you have to do with a story is, you analyze it; you
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setting, theme, plot, and resolution are at the top of break it into parts. You figure out the characters, how
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the story grammar hierarchy). they’re the same and different. And the plot, how it be-
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gins with a problem and goes on until it is solved. Then

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you understand the story better, and you can even write
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Are Story Grammars Important your own. (Calfee, 1991, p. 178)

to Classroom Teachers? As children progress through school, the more com-

Story grammars are very helpful. They provide an plex components of the characters (e.g., their influence
overall structure for teaching narrative text structure on plot), the setting (e.g., the influence of setting on oth-
awareness. According to Schmitt and O’Brien (1986), er components of the story), the plot (e.g., the influence
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“Story grammars provide teachers with an organiza- of plot on theme, characters, or setting or identifying the
tional framework to enhance children’s interactions subplot within the main plot), and the theme (e.g., how
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with stories” (p. 5). Story grammar research provides theme is shaped by characters) can be taught.
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teachers with an excellent tool for teaching narrative Most children enter school with a basic under-
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text structure awareness. Teaching pupils about story standing of narratives (i.e., beginning, middle, and
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grammars and how stories are structured will help end), but they are less likely to know that stories have
them to comprehend better. Story grammar research a more elaborate structure (i.e., setting, characters,
moves the teacher away from general explanations plot, theme; Calfee & Patrick, 1995; Dymock &
of story structure (e.g., that stories have a beginning, Nicholson, 1999). It is this more elaborate structure
middle, and end) to the more specific (e.g., that sto- that children should be taught. We know that students
ries have characters, a theme, and a plot). who have a good understanding of narrative text struc-
There are a number of interventions that have in- ture are advantaged. Research suggests that during the
structed students in the structure of narrative text with early grades, story comprehension is a significant
the aim of improving comprehension. Baumann and component of academic performance. What’s more,
Bergeron (1993) investigated the effects of story map teaching students the structure of narrative text from
instruction on narrative comprehension of grade 1 stu- grade 1 provides them with a foundation for compre-
dents. Results showed that the grade 1 students who hending the more complex narrative text encoun-
were instructed in the components of stories (e.g., tered at upper primary and high school (e.g., novels,

162 The Reading Teacher Vol. 61, No. 2 October 2007

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Shakespeare). As Calfee and Patrick (1995) stated, ry? Response. How do characters respond to the

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“Instruction in the narrative domain leads students to problem? Action. What do characters do about the

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a deeper understanding of how narratives are built, problem? Outcome. What is the outcome?
and gives them a technical language for talking about

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■ How to analyze individual episodes (i.e., subplot).

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both comprehension and composition” (p. 77).
Diagrams are used to enable the reader to visualize
the episode analysis (see Figure 1).
What Should Students Be ■ That the theme is the message that underlies the sto-
Taught? ry. The theme often explains the motives of the char-
Students should be taught acters or comments on social relationships or

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■ That the setting establishes where and when the society in general. The theme is often left to the
story takes place. reader to interpret. Ask your pupils, “Why did the au-

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■ That characters can be classified as major and minor. thor write the story?”

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■ How to analyze individual characters, focusing on

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their appearance and personality, and how to com- Narratives can also be graphed. The story graph visual-
pare and contrast characters. ly represents how the plot develops, showing the high
■ How to analyze the overall plot and that it consists of and low action points of the story as it progresses over
four parts: Problem. What is the problem in the sto- time. Figure 2 illustrates a common pattern.

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Figure 1
Analysis of Episodes

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Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3

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Problem Problem Problem
Response Response Response Conclusion
Action Action Action
Outcome Outcome Outcome

Note. From Calfee and Patrick (1995). Used by permission of R. Calfee.

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Figure 2
Story Graph

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X’s represent episodes X EACHING TIPS TEACHING TIPS
X X
X X
X X

Opening Episodes leading to Episodes leading Conclusion

a high point to the highest
point

Rising action Falling action

Note. From Calfee and Patrick (1995). Used by permission of R. Calfee.

Comprehension Strategy Instruction: Teaching Narrative Text Structure Awareness 163

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Figure 3
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Story Web
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Plot
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Characters

The Lorax
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Setting Theme
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Table 1
Student Contributions

Lorax Once-ler
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Appearance Small Long green arms

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Brown Yellow eyes

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Animal Beady eyes

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Short Green body

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Old
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Hairy
Personality Environmentalist Evil
Caring Greedy
Concerned about others Selfish
Spoke for the trees, birds, Money hungry
animals, and fish Loved making money
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Angry Cunning
Sad Sly
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Pushy Creative, but for the worse

Hassled the Once-ler Didn’t care about others
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Voice: sharp and bossy Responsible for the “mess” but didn’t care
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The voice of conscience until it was too late

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Story webs can also be created (see Figure 3). A ago and what it is like today. There are two main charac-
story web is like a word web where the terms defin- ters in this story, the Once-ler—a go-getter businessman,
ing the structure of a story surround the title. and the Lorax—a conservationist. As you read the The
Lorax I want you to think about the two main characters,
Narrative comprehension strategies (i.e., charac-
the Once-ler and the Lorax. How would you describe
ters, setting, plot, and theme) bring narratives to life. their appearance and personality to someone who has
For example, a fourth-grade teacher can begin a read- not read the book?
ing lesson by focusing on the two main characters in
The Lorax (Seuss, 1971): The Lorax (Seuss, 1971) is one of many narratives
Today we are going to read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. The that can be used, at a number of grade levels, to teach
Lorax is a story about what the earth was like many years narrative text structure awareness. A group of 10-year-

164 The Reading Teacher Vol. 61, No. 2 October 2007

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Table 2

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Character Weave—The Lorax

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Character Physical Attitude Feelings Modern day

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appearance toward the about others equivalent

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environment

Lorax

Once-ler

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Figure 4
Episode Analysis for No, Skipper!

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Episode 1

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Problem: Skipper wanted to be an inside dog.
Response: (Owners) Not happy.
Action: Mom, Dad, and Greg sent Skipper outside.
Outcome: Skipper remained outside.

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Episode 2
Problem: It rained very hard, flooding Skipper’s food bowl and the grass. His kennel was floating away.

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Response: Skipper was sad—miserable.

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Action: Dad let Skipper inside.
Outcome: Skipper stayed inside and was very happy, but not all of the family were [happy].

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Conclusion: When the rain stopped, Skipper was sent outside.

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old students analyzed the structure of The Lorax habit it (i.e., the problem). The two characters re- EACHING TIPS TEACHING TIPS
(Seuss, 1971), and they agreed that the setting of The spond to the problem in different ways. The Once-ler
Lorax (Seuss, 1971) is the earth many years ago and to- simply does not care, but the Lorax is mad, annoyed,
day and that the two main characters, the Lorax and frustrated, and very concerned for the animals, fish,
the Once-ler, differ significantly. The Lorax, for exam- and birds. The students determined the action in the
ple, is hairy, short, brownish, caring, and an environ- book to be that the Once-ler continues to pollute the
mentalist. While the Once-ler has yellow beady eyes, earth and that the Lorax endeavors to convince the
long arms, a green body, and is greedy, evil, cunning, Once-ler to stop. The outcome is that the water and air
and money hungry. During this discussion, the stu- are so polluted that animals, birds, and fish must
dents’ contributions were recorded on the whiteboard leave. In time, the Once-ler concedes he made a mis-
(see Table 1). Their plot analysis found that pollution take. He offers the reader hope. The students con-
is destroying the earth and the homes of all who in- clude that the theme of the book is that failing to look

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after the environment has disastrous results. The fu- Dymock teaches at the University of Waikato,
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ture of the earth is in our hands. Hamilton, New Zealand. E-mail

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The Lorax and Once-ler can also be compared [email protected].

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and contrasted on a number of variables. For exam-

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ple, their physical appearance, attitude toward the en- References

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episodes. No, Skipper! (Holt, 2002) is about a dog tion. In B. Means, C. Chelemer, & M.S. Knapp (Eds.), Teaching
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level. Skipper enjoys playing inside, but his owners

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Calfee, R.C., & Drum, P.A. (1986). Research on teaching reading.

see things differently. The episode analysis in Figure
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constructing mental images (e.g., “Close your eyes is it? How do you teach it? Wellington, New Zealand: New
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Gaskins, I.W. (2003). Taking charge of reader, text, activity, and con-
ing, and birds singing. Close your eyes and visualize
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Narrative strategy instruction gives students a more parsed: Story structure and recall. Cognitive Psychology, 9,
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Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read:

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For related lesson plans, visit ReadWriteThink.org
question!”: Developmental differences and comprehension ac-
and click Lessons to find
quisition. In C.C. Block & M. Pressley (Eds.), Comprehension in-
struction: Research–based best practices (pp. 140–157). New Developing Story Structure With Paper-Bag Skits
York: Guilford.

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