Comprehension of Narrative Text Strategies for Third Grade
1. Story Lines:
Description: Used with struggling readers.
Purpose: Used with struggling readers who enjoy making up their own stories. This strategy connects writing, predicting, reading, and validating.
Directions: This strategy can be used with any story. On a piece of paper, list 10 to 15 nouns as they appear in the story. Have the students write short stories using those nouns in the given order. The story must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Ask students to read their stories aloud. Have either you or your students read the original story and compare it to their versions.
2. Alternate Writing:
Description: This strategy combines reading and writing. Alternate writing is a pre-reading activity that helps readers understand the beginning, middle, and end of stories. All good stories begin with a setting and a problem and include roadblocks as well as a resolution.
Purpose: Creates a story written by a teacher and a struggling reader. It helps students acquire literacy knowledge, such as elements of a story- setting, characters, conflict, climax, and resolution- and thus aids comprehension.
Directions: Agree with the student on a topic and a title for their story. Write the first the sentence of the story. Have the student read your sentence and then add a sentence. Then, you read the first two sentences and add the third sentence. Take turns writing sentences until the story is complete. Then discuss story elements with the student as they write their sentences.
Description: Used with struggling readers.
Purpose: Used with struggling readers who enjoy making up their own stories. This strategy connects writing, predicting, reading, and validating.
Directions: This strategy can be used with any story. On a piece of paper, list 10 to 15 nouns as they appear in the story. Have the students write short stories using those nouns in the given order. The story must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Ask students to read their stories aloud. Have either you or your students read the original story and compare it to their versions.
2. Alternate Writing:
Description: This strategy combines reading and writing. Alternate writing is a pre-reading activity that helps readers understand the beginning, middle, and end of stories. All good stories begin with a setting and a problem and include roadblocks as well as a resolution.
Purpose: Creates a story written by a teacher and a struggling reader. It helps students acquire literacy knowledge, such as elements of a story- setting, characters, conflict, climax, and resolution- and thus aids comprehension.
Directions: Agree with the student on a topic and a title for their story. Write the first the sentence of the story. Have the student read your sentence and then add a sentence. Then, you read the first two sentences and add the third sentence. Take turns writing sentences until the story is complete. Then discuss story elements with the student as they write their sentences.