Informational and Narrative Text Helping with Comprehension By: Gretchen Klahr Gretchen Klahr

Narrative Text  This is writing in which a story is told. It is usually written sequentially. The main purpose is to entertain the reader. Gretchen Klahr

Elements of Narrative Text  Characters  Setting  Plot  Conflict  Theme Gretchen Klahr

Sample Questions to Ask Your Child When Reading Narrative Text  What is the setting of the story?  What big event happens in the beginning of the story to the get the story going?  What does the main character do because of this event?  What problem does the main character face or what goal does he/she set for himself/herself?  How does the main character solve the problem?  What other events happen because of the main characters’ actions?  What is the highpoint or climax of the story?  Does the problem get solved? If so how does it get solved? Gretchen Klahr

Narrative Strategy-Story Maps  Why: Sometimes your child has difficulty keeping track of the main events in a story. It is hard for him to identify the elements that are important to a narrative text. This strategy will help him to organize this information and keep track of it as he is reading. The image provided on the right is an example of what one story map may look like. Gretchen Klahr

Narrative Strategy- Story Maps Continued  Explanation: Narrative texts have key elements within the story. Students must be able to identify these elements in order to comprehend the story. A story map keeps all of these key elements organized in a visual representation or graphic organizer. As your child reads have him fill in the story map in order to keep track of and identify each key element. The image to the right is another sample of a story map that could be used with your child. Gretchen Klahr

Informational Text  It is written to inform or persuade.  It can also be referred to as expository text. Gretchen Klahr

7 Organizational Patterns in Informational Text  Chronological Sequence  Compare/Contrast  Concept/Definition  Descriptive  Episodes  Generalization/Principle  Process/Cause-Effect Gretchen Klahr

Informational Strategy-KWL  Why- Your child sometimes has difficulty retaining new information he has learned. A KWL chart will allow your child to tap into his prior knowledge, ask questions about what he wants to learn, as well as write down information that he learned on the topic. Otherwise, he will build on his own schema by making connections with old information and new. Gretchen Klahr

Informational Strategy-KWL Continued  Explanation-Before reading the informational text your child will fill in the “K” part of the graphic organizer with information that he already knows about that topic. Then he will compose questions on what he hopes to find out as he is reading. This will give him a purpose for reading. Finally after he reads he will fill out what new information he has learned about this topic. I provided a sample image to the right that has an extension to it, so your child could even take his thinking a step further. What we know What we want to find out What we learned How can we learn more Gretchen Klahr

Closing  The more your child becomes immersed in narrative and informational text the better his comprehension will get. These are just two strategies that will assist with that comprehension. If you would like more I can send you many more ideas.  Comprehension Bookmarks Comprehension Bookmarks This link is a great website that contains bookmarks that can be printed. The bookmarks contain questions that your child can ask themselves as they are reading. Or you could ask your child the questions to create a great discussion on the book. Gretchen Klahr