Unit 2- Article 1

"Use of Story-Mapping to Increase the Story Grammar Text Comprehension of Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities"

Purpose

The main goal of this article is to examine the use of story mapping improves reading comprehension of several intermediate school level students with specific learning disabilities. The authors, Boulinea, Fore, Hagan-Burke, and Burke, also wished to analyze whether the effect of story map instruction on the students' comprehension of story grammar elements was observed.

Overview

• The participants in the study that this article describes were six elementary age students from grades third through fifth. Each of these students had previously been labeled with a specific learning disability.
• The story map templates used in this article consisted of seven areas for recording the stories' setting/time, characteristics, problem, solution, outcome, reaction, and theme.
• The study took place in three stages of intervention.

• Stage 1- Four days prior to the actual intervention period.

1. Instruction involved discussing relevant vocabulary and prior knowledge about the topic before reading a passage.
2. The students took turns reading the passages out loud.
3. Students were each given a story map and instructed to simply "do their best" with no further instruction.

• Stage 2- The intervention phase.

1. A story map was used as a visual aid and organizer for guided practices and each element of story-grammar was taught individually.
2. After the passage was read, the students independently completed their story maps.

• Stage 3- The final stage.

1. The teacher did not give any explicit instruction on how to fill out story maps. She only encouraged the children to visualize a map as they read.
2. Students were given a blank story map after they read the provided passage and complete their own map.

Conclusion

• Before the intervention adn instruction, the mean percentage correct was 31%. During and after the intervention, the percentage was shown to have increased to 84%!
• The research shows that story mapping is a successful tool. When instructing children about literature, story mapping and grammar documentation is an effective means of increasing retention and understanding for students with specific learning disabilities.

Resource Citation

Boulineau, T., Fore, C., Hagan-Burke, S., & Burke, M.D. (2004). Use of Story-Mapping to Increase the Story Grammar Text Comprehension of Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities. Learning Disabilities Quarterly, 27 (2), 105-121.

Return to Unit 2- Story Maps