Utilizing Nonfiction Texts to Enhance Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary in Primary Grades

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• 作者：Karen E. Kuhn ; Casey M. Rausch ; Tiffany G. McCarty…
• 关键词：Nonfiction ; Informational text ; Comprehension ; Vocabulary ; Primary grades
• 刊名：Early Childhood Education Journal
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：March 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：45
• 期：2
• 页码：285-296
• 全文大小：
• 刊物类别：Humanities, Social Sciences and Law
• 刊物主题：Learning and Instruction; Education, general; Sociology of Education; Sociology, general;
• 出版者：Springer Netherlands
• ISSN：1573-1707
• 卷排序：45

文摘

Many primary grade students are not afforded nonfiction-rich opportunities, with fiction comprising the majority of books read aloud in classrooms. With the Common Core Standards recommending that half of the texts made available to students be nonfiction, educators are increasing their use of informational text. The present study explored the impact of explicitly teaching reading comprehension and vocabulary strategies with nonfiction text compared to fiction text in primary-grade classrooms. Two first-grade (n = 39; 25 male, 14 female) and one second-grade class (n = 20; 13 male, 7 female) participated in the quantitative study that followed a repeated measures design in which the students alternated every 2 weeks between fiction-based instruction and nonfiction-based instruction for a total of 8 weeks. Vocabulary and use of comprehension strategies were assessed at the end of each 2-week period. Overall findings indicated that students were better able to apply the comprehension strategies and define vocabulary following nonfiction-based instruction; they also were more motivated to read informational text. The authors recommend that teachers use more nonfiction texts in the primary grades to support students’ reading comprehension and vocabulary development.