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

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 infor...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Early childhood education journal 2017-03, Vol.45 (2), p.285-296
Main Authors: Kuhn, Karen E., Rausch, Casey M., McCarty, Tiffany G., Montgomery, Sarah E., Rule, Audrey C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Common Core State Standards
Early childhood education
Education
Elementary school students
Grade 1
Grade 2
Instructional Effectiveness
Instructional Materials
Intermode Differences
Learner Engagement
Learning and Instruction
Literacy
Literature Reviews
Nonfiction
Primary Education
Reading Achievement
Reading Comprehension
Reading Strategies
Sociology
Sociology of Education
Student Development
Student Interests
Teaching Methods
Thinking Skills
Vocabulary Development
Vocabulary Skills
Young Children
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary: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.
ISSN:1082-3301
1573-1707
DOI:10.1007/s10643-015-0763-9