Narrative Text Strategies
Here are some strategies to use with narrative texts. Some strategies are great for both expository and narrative texts.
Corner Fold: Students use the four corners of a paper to synthesize their learning and make meaningful
connections to the text.
connections to the text.
| corner_fold.pdf |
Discussion Web: Students graphically represent points in favor or against a topic and critically analyze information based on prior knowledge and learning, and consider the input of others.
| discussion_web.pdf |
Double-Entry Journal: Students enhance text understanding, use a scaffold for challenging text material, reflect on the selection, and take purposeful notes while reponding in a journal to self-selected parts of the text.
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Directed Thinking-Reading Activity (DRTA): Students focus on a text by making and evaluating predictions about the text.
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Get the Gist: Students learn to shrink paragraphs or entire passages into one main idea statement that is 10 words or less. First, identify the main character. Then, identify the most important thing about the main character. Last, put the information together in one sentence 10 words or less.
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Linguistic Roulette: Students build comprehension, focus attention during reading, increase understanding through socialization, consider various points of view, and make meaningful connections to a reading selection.
| linguistic_roulette.pdf |
Mind Your P's and Q's: Students make personally meaningful connections with texts, develop questions from the texts, reflect on learning, and consider the viewpoints of others.
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Narrative Cards: Students develop and monitor comprehension before, during, and after reading, and make meaningful connections to the text.
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Paired Reading: Students increase learning through socialization and paired work, and focus on understanding and recalling the text.
| paired_reading.pdf |
PMI Chart: Students activate prior knowledge, build schema, organize current and new information, and relate new information to prior knowledge.
| pmi_chart.pdf |
Prevoke: Students activate prior knowledge, logically organize information, make predictions, set a purpose for reading, and evaluate predictions based on new understandings.
| prevoke.pdf |
Progressive Cinquain: Students synthesize their learning while sharing, perception-checking their understanding, and collaborating on increasingly sophisticated written summaries utilizing a cinquain poetry format.
| progressive_cinquain.pdf |
Question-Answer Relationships (QAR): Students focus on and critically analyze a text, and find information
in the text at various levels.
in the text at various levels.
| qar.pdf |
Save the Last Word for Me: Students enhance text understanding, foster group interaction/problem solving, use a scaffold for challenging text material, and take purposeful notes.
| save_the_last_word_for_me.pdf |
Shape Your Thinking: Students activate prior knowledge, set a purpose for reading, and increase concept development, reflective thinking, creativity, clarity of communication, and cognitive development.
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Sketch to Stretch: Students synthesize learning and relate personally to a text both graphically and orally.
| sketch_to_stretch.pdf |
Story Map: Students develop an understanding of a text by graphically representing the story elements.
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Summary in Hand: Students learn to summarize a narrative text using their fingers to remember the story elements. A graphic organizer is included to help when teaching the strategy, or for students to complete instead of doing the strategy orally.
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Tableaux: Students build comprehension, synthesize a reading selection, and creatively express new understandings.
| tableaux.pdf |
Venn Diagram: Students compare and contrast two (or more) topics or aspects about one topic, while synthesizing understandings about a topic or text.
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Write a Song: Students synthesize new learning while scaffolding reading and writing abilities through the use of familiar and predictable rhyme schemes.
| write_a_song.pdf |