Comprehension Strategy Project: Story Face University of New England EDU-742 Created By: Alyssa (Kludt) Baker

Comprehension Strategy “Strategic readers need to be able to differentiate between important and less important information in their daily reading, not just on forced- choice (multiple choice) tests.” (Alvermann, 2003) Teaching this strategy starts very young and is most often paired with some form of graphic organizer. In this presentation I will walk through one of my favorite graphic organizers that I use in my Kindergarten class. Alvermann, D., Swafford, J., Montero, M.K. (2003). Content Area Literacy Instruction for the Elementary Grades. Allyn & Bacon: New York. ISBN-13:978-0205366194

Graphic Organizer : Story Face The Story Face is a graphic organizer that aids students’ comprehension of narrative text. It functions like a story map, allowing students to visualize the important components of a narrative text, including setting, main characters, problems, events, and a resolution. Younger students enjoy this organizer because it resembles a smiling face! Here is a link to the organizer! Story Face Organizer

Story Face The two “eyes” of the organizer are where students record a story’s setting and main characters. The “nose” represents the problem or conflict in the story. The “smile or mouth” is where students record the events that took place throughout the story. The solution can also be added to this section. I personally add a “beard” where I have my students write the solution to the problem in the story.

Graphic Organizers Graphic organizers help students of all ages construct meaning of a text. Here is a link to a video of the Story Face Organizer in action!

Why use a graphic organizer to help with comprehension? With younger students filling out the information after they have read the whole text seems best while going back into the text if need be. Older student who are reading larger texts might often need to stop every few chapters to use a graphic organizer to help with comprehension as throughout the book characters, setting, problems, and solutions often change. Graphic organizers such as the “Story Face” help students pull important information out of a text to help with their comprehension.

Something I found and want to share! I found this on a website and find it very useful! Just copy and paste into your browser because it would not let me link it! http://teacherresourcecatalog.pwnet.org/docs/Reading%20Strategies%20for%20Content%20Teachers.pdf