Teaching Elementary School Students to Identify Story Themes

Teaching Elementary School Students to Identify Story Themes

An instructional program focused on story theme was administered to 2nd and 3rd graders (high-, average-, and low-achieving students, including some with disabilities) in a high-poverty school. Compared with more traditional instruction, the program improved theme comprehension and the identificatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of educational psychology Vol. 94; no. 2; pp. 235 - 248
Main Authors: Williams, Joanna P, Lauer, Kristen D, Hall, Kendra M, Lord, Kathleen M, Gugga, S. Sonia, Bak, Sung-Jee, Jacobs, Pamela R, deCani, John S
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Washington, DC American Psychological Association 01-06-2002
Subjects:
At Risk Populations
Biological and medical sciences
Classroom Techniques
Cognition & reasoning
Educational Program Evaluation
Educational psychology
Elementary Education
Elementary School Students
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Grade 2
Grade 3
Human
Instructional Effectiveness
Male
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychopedagogics. Didactics
Reading
Reading Comprehension
Storytelling
Student Characteristics
Teaching
Teaching Methods
Thinking Skills
Human
Verbal comprehension
School age
Interindividual comparison
Educational schedule
Child
Academic ability
Teaching
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Summary:An instructional program focused on story theme was administered to 2nd and 3rd graders (high-, average-, and low-achieving students, including some with disabilities) in a high-poverty school. Compared with more traditional instruction, the program improved theme comprehension and the identification of instructed themes when they appeared in new stories. However, the program did not help students apply a theme to real-life situations or identify and apply noninstructed themes. Findings indicated that at-risk children (at all achievement levels, including those with disabilities) were able to achieve some degree of abstract, higher order comprehension when given instruction that combined structured lessons, a strategy, and discussion.
ISSN:0022-0663
1939-2176
DOI:10.1037/0022-0663.94.2.235