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Final Action Research

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ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

Action Research Fall 2015: Comprehending Nonfiction


Abigail Hancock
Samford University

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

Initial Meeting with Teacher


I met with Mrs. Underwood, my cooperating teacher on October 1st. I met with her to
discuss the students she wanted me to work with in my action research and to find out what they
need the most help with. My teacher gave me three students, Student A, Student K, and Student
S. She explained that these three students are not her highest reading students, but that they are
very good readers. Mrs. Underwood explained that she would like me to work on improving
non-fiction reading comprehension. Specifically, she wanted me to work with the students on
looking back in the text for answers to questions about the text. She gave me a book about
butterflies as an example of the type of text she wanted me to work on with them. She said that
they also struggled with understanding the use of nonfiction text features to assist with their
reading. Together, we decided that I would work on nonfiction text features and Students A, K,
and S looking back in the text for answers to questions given to them about the text. This
became my focus as I looked for strategies to help these students.

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

Research Question
After thinking about all my teacher had to say about Students A, K, and S, I created my
research question. Since my teacher made it sound like all of the students were in about the
same place with their nonfiction reading comprehension, I decided to create one research
question that would be the same for all three students. The question I focused on with these
students this semester was: What are best practices for improving nonfiction reading
comprehension in higher level reading students?

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

4
Timeline

Pre-Session
October 1st
Session 1
October 14th

Session 2
October 15th

Session 3
October 21st

Session 4
October 27th

Session 5
October 29th

I meet with Mrs. Underwood to discuss which students


she would like in the action research and what she would
like to see progress in.
Initial Assessment:
The students will complete a survey asking how
they feel about different aspects of non-fiction
reading.
The students will read a non-fiction passage
(Bye-Bye, Fly) and answer questions that can be
found in the reading.
Initial Assessment:
Students will read another non-fiction passage
(Animals with Parachutes) and answer questions
that are found in the reading.
Students will complete an assessment of
knowledge of non-fiction text features.
Learning Non-fiction Text Features:
Each student was given their own non-fiction
book. They used different colored small sticky
notes to mark each of the different text features in
their books.
I created and used a poster with each of the text
features we wanted to focus on to teach the
students about the different features.
After the students located each of the text
features, we practiced finding them again and
finding more examples.
Learning to take note of new information
Each student was given their own pack of big
sticky notes.
I modeled reading the text and noting interesting,
new details with my sticky notes as I read.
The students read and took notes of their new and
interesting details on their own in their own
books that were the same as before.
We reviewed over the text features by finding
them in a new book together.
Use a graphic organizer to organize information
We went over a book about rocks and soils
together, chorally.
I modeled how to fill out the graphic organizer,
and asked the students about what they thought

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

5
should go in each of the blanks.
We focused on finding main ideas and details.

Session 6
November 3rd

Session 7
November 5th

Session 8
November 19th

Session 9
December 3rd

Midpoint Assessment
The students took the Text Features Assessment
and read and answered the questions to the
passage about the flying squirrel.
I also re-assessed the students feelings toward
reading non-fiction with the same survey as
before.
I only noticed one of the students really looking
back in the passage for answers.
We ran out of time to do the Bye-Bye, Fly
reading and questions.
Remediation Session:
Based on the midpoint assessments, I decided we
needed to focus more on text features.
We made Text Feature File Folders so that the
students had a concrete, visual organizer of the
text features they had learned. They had to
provide examples of each one from a book about
the butterfly life cycle.
Final Assessments
The students took both reading passage
assessments again and filled out the non-fiction
feelings survey.
I had the students write a sentence on the bottom
of the assessment something they wanted to tell
me, like something they liked or did not like
about what we did.
Final Assessment Continued:
The students completed the Text Features
Assessment.

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

Reflection of Initial Assessment


In my initial assessments, I focused on knowing the different text features and being able
to go back and find answers to questions in the text. All of my students finished these
assessments within 2 or 3 minutes of each other. On the Text Features Assessment, Student K
did the best, receiving a 6/8. The words that she mixed up: Glossary and Image, do not seem to
be ones that should be mixed up. This made me wonder if she just guessed on some of the
others. Student S received a 4/8 on this assessment which tells me she has a grasp on a few text
features. Finally, Student A received a 3/8 and started trying to look for the word bank words in
the description. I feel that this student was missing background knowledge for text features.
These results were encouraging to me because it showed me that all of the students needed help
with text features.
My second assessment was a passage called Bye-Bye, Fly with five reading
comprehension questions. In this, I was looking for the students to look back in the passage for
the answers. Student K received a 3/5 and I did notice her looking back in the text for the
answers, I just think she misread a few of the sections which caused her to respond incorrectly on
two of the questions. Student S and A both received a 2/5 on this assessment and I only saw
them look back in the text for an answer for some of the questions.
I gave a second reading comprehension assessment because I wanted to have two
different sets of data to compare. It would allow me to see if they used their same strategies on
every nonfiction text they read. This second passage was called Animals with Parachutes and
it had four comprehension questions. Student K received a 3/4. She looked back in the text for
all of her answers except the one she missed, I think she misread that questions. Student S and A
both received a 0/4 on this assessment. I did not see these students look back in the passage.
These comprehension assessments told me that all of my students needed help looking back and

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

finding the important information in a nonfiction text. Students S and A were going to need a lot
more help than Student K to become proficient at this.

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

8
Assessments

Text Features Sample

Reading Comprehension 1 Sample

Reading Comprehension 2 Sample

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

10

Anecdotal Timeline
Date

Description
of Session

Session 1
October 14

Session 2
October
15th

Skill/Strategy
Taught

Assessments

Anecdotal
Observations/
Reflection

Next Step

Students A, N/A
K, and S
completed
their initial
assessments.

- Nonfiction
Feelings
Assessment
- Bye-Bye, Fly
Reading
Comprehension

I can see from


what we did
that I need to
emphasize the
importance of
referencing the
text for the
answers to
questions about
the text.
However, in the
next session I
will do a few
more
assessments to
see what else
the students
know.

Finish
giving
initial
assessments.

- Flying Animals
with Parachutes
Comprehension
Assessment
- Nonfiction Text
Features
Assessment

Overall the students


seemed to feel average
about reading
nonfiction. They
thought that the text
they read on Venus fly
traps was interesting.
It seemed to me that
Student A and S only
looked back in the text
when they thought they
did not know the
answers, but if they
thought they knew the
answers then they just
wrote what they
thought rather than
looking in the text for
the answer. Student K
appeared to be looking
back in the text more
for her answers.
Once again, it appeared
that Students A and S
did not look back very
hard in the text for all
of their answers.
Student K looked back
in the text for most of
her answers. When
completing the Text
Features Assessment,
Student A and S were
very confused overall
about the text features.
Student A eventually

After
completing all
of the initial
assessments, I
feel that I need
to work with
my students on
being able to
pick important
information out
of nonfiction
texts. I also
feel like I need
to teach the

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

Session 3
October
21st

Teaching
Nonfiction
Text
Features.
Students
will find
each of the
text features
in their own
nonfiction
text by
marking
them with
different
colored
sticky notes
according to
the text
feature.

- MCREL:
Nonlinguistic
Representation

Session 4
October
27th

Teaching
how to
make notes
of new
information.

- Evidence
Based
Strategy:
Modeling
- Writing

11
started trying to find
the words in the
description in the word
box, I explained to her
that that was not going
to work, that she
needed to match the
words in the word box
with the description
that matched. In the
end, she decided not to
complete all of the
boxes because she did
not know the words.
Student K did very well
on the assessment.
Ongoing formative The students were very
assessments as I
engaged in this lesson.
watch and listen to I had a poster with each
what the students
of the text features on
say and do.
it, each one was
mounted with different
colored paper that
correlated with the
color sticky note the
students would use to
mark the features in
their text. They really
enjoyed doing this.
The one feature that all
of the students knew
right away was Title.
All of the rest, they
were not sure which
leads me to believe that
Student K was good at
guessing on the Text
Features Assessment.
Ongoing formative I started the lesson off
assessments as I
by modeling with a
watch and listen to nonfiction book I had
what the students
like theirs. I read a
say and do.
page and thought out

different text
features to my
students.

I feel that the


students have a
good grasp on
the different
text features for
the time being
and that we
should continue
using these
books and
focus next on
noting
important
information
while reading
the text.

I feel that this


session went
very well. The
students seem
to be

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

Session 5
October
29th

We used
bigger
sticky notes
for the
students to
write down
the new and
interesting
information
they learned
as they read
the text.

observations in
the book on
sticky notes
(From
Literature
Review)

Teaching
how to
organize
main ideas
from a
nonfiction
text in a
graphic
organizer.

- MCREL:
Cues,
Questions, and
Advanced
Organizers
- Evidence
Based
Strategy:
Modeling
- Evidence
Based
Strategy:
Choral

12
loud about the
information I read.
Then I wrote down an
interesting fact I
wanted to remember on
the sticky note and
posted it on the page.
Then the students each
had their own book,
they were the same
brand and level of
book, but on different
topics. Each one
enjoyed reading
silently through their
book and writing notes
of interesting facts. I
encouraged some of
them along as we went
and they were unsure
of what to write. They
also shared the things
they were learning with
the group which I
thought was cool since
I had not told them to
do that. They would
show each other
pictures from their
book as they read.
Ongoing formative We used a new book
assessments as I
today about Rocks and
watch and listen to Soil. The first thing we
what the students
did with this book was
say and do.
find the different text
features and talk about
how they look a little
different in different
books. We all went
through the same book
together. We read each
page chorally which
the students enjoyed

understanding
finding
important
information
better than they
were in their
assessments. I
think that the
next step is to
help the
students learn
how to visually
organize
important
information
from the texts
they read.

I feel that this


lesson was very
effective for
my students. It
helped them
make
connections
and they were
able to
visualize the
information in
a graphic
manner. Since

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

13

Reading

Session 6
November
3rd

Mid-point
N/A
Assessments

- Text Features
Assessment
- Animals with
Parachutes
Reading

and it kept them from


arguing over whos turn
it was to read. I gave
each student a graphic
organizer to organize
main ideas of the
reading. I modeled
what the students
should write on my
copy of the graphic
organizer, and the
students copied what I
wrote at first. After
doing that for the first
time, I gave the
students time to think
about what they
thought a main idea of
the page would me. I
explained to them that
it was ok if they each
wrote things down that
were a little different. I
asked the students
about experiences they
had with rocks and it
started a conversation
about the different
rocks each of them had
seen. Two of the
students even talked
about how they have a
rock collection. I loved
getting to listen to them
make connections to
the text and start to see
the value in reading
nonfiction texts.
All of the students did
very well on the text
features assessment.
There was a lot less
confusion and Student

we have
worked on both
focuses of my
research (text
features and
text
comprehension
). I feel that
the next step is
to take the midpoint
assessments.

Based on these
assessments, I
feel that the
next step is to
solidify both

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

14
Comprehension
Assessment
- Nonfiction
Feelings
Assessment

Session 7
November
5th

Remediation
session.
The students
will make
file folders
to find and
organize the
different
text
features,
while noting
important
information
from a new
nonfiction
text.

- MCREL:
Non-Linguistic
Representation
- Evidence
Based
Strategy:
Modeling
- MCREL:
Cooperative
Learning

A filled in all of the


blanks this time. Each
student made
improvement and
Student K even got
everything correct. I
feel like the strategies I
used to teach text
features really worked.
All of the students also
improved on reading
comprehension
assessment. They
looked back in the text
more. However, I was
unable to make it to the
second reading
comprehension test due
to a lack of time. On
the Nonfiction Feelings
Assessment, all
students had positive,
happy feelings about
how they were doing.
Ongoing formative I created an example of
assessments as I
the file folder organizer
watch and listen to first and then set up
what the students
each of their folders.
say and do.
They had to match the
description of each of
the text features to that
text feature in its
specific box. Then
they had to work
together to find
examples of each
feature and write/draw
an example of it in the
book. We were not
able to totally complete
these in the time that
we had, but they
finished them during

the text
features and
locating
important
information in
a more visual
way.

I feel that my
students made
a lot of
progress and
that this
learning tool
helped them
organize it all
together in a
very visual
way. My next
step is to give
the final
assessment.

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

15

Session 8
November
19th

Give final
N/A
(post)
assessments.

- Animals with
Parachutes
Reading
Comprehension
Assessment
- Bye-Bye, Fly
Reading
Comprehension
Assessment
-Nonfiction Text
Features
Assessment

Session 9
December
3rd

Give last
assessment.

- Text Features
Assessment

N/A

class. The students


loved this and enjoyed
working together. I
could see their brains
working as they put all
that they had learned
together.
The students were all
tires of reading the
passages again.
However, they all made
improvements again
and I could see each of
them looking back in
the text for their
answers. They all felt
good about nonfiction
texts again, though
Student A did move
one of heres down.
Sadly I was unable to
print the Text Features
Assessment
beforehand, so I had to
put it off another day.
Sadly I was unable to
take my students out in
the hall on this day so
they completed this
assessment after they
finished their morning
work in the classroom.
Student K still made
perfect score, Student S
improved again,
however Student A did
as poorly as she did on
her first one. There are
a lot of external facts I
think contributed to
this but I think the
main thing is that we
were in the normal

I need to give
my students
their last
assessment
next.

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

16
classroom with a lot of
distractions.

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

17
Strategies Used

Nonlinguistic Representation
This is a MCREL strategy that I used many times throughout my research. I used visual
representations to display information to my students as well as for them to organize their
information. The students responded very well to this, I feel that they enjoyed being able to
visually see what I was trying to teach them. The example below is of their Text Features File
Folders.

Modeling:
Modeling is an evidence based strategy and it is extremely important for teaching.
Students need to be able to hear and see what is expected of them in order to know what they
should be doing. I used modeling when I read sections of the text to them, used a graphic
organizer, and when we created the file folders. I would speak my thinking to the students as I

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

18

noted interesting information in the text and then they were able to do the same thing when it
was their turn.
Sticky Notes (Harvey & Goudvis, 2007):
This is a strategy that I got from my research for this project. It helps students note new
and important information in their text by writing their thoughts on a sticky note and then
sticking it where the information was. My students really enjoyed using this strategy and it
encouraged them to talk about their findings with the others in the group.
Cues, Questions, and Advanced Organizers:
This is a MCREL strategy that emphasizes organizing information into organizers. I
utilized this strategy after I found that my students struggles with locating important information
from texts. We used a graphic organizer to find main details in one of our readings. Images of
these completed graphic organizers are below.

Choral Reading:

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

19

Choral Reading is an evidence based strategy. It helps students speak fluently. This was
not the focus of my research, however I feel that it is important to include fluency in other
aspects of learning as well. Additionally, fluency is the key to comprehension which is necessary
when reading nonfiction texts. My students all read easily at the same rate and enjoyed reading
together.
Cooperative Learning:
Cooperative Learning is a MCREL strategy. I utilized this strategy when the students
created their Text Feature File Folders. They were able to work and brainstorm together. They
really enjoyed this and it lead to a good discussion about each of the text features. I also heard
the students explain the features in a different way than I had been that I think helped them better
understand the feature.

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

20
Assessment Results

Student K
Assessment
Text Features
Bye-Bye, Fly
Animals with Parachutes

Initial Scores
6/8
3/5
3/4

Mid-Point Scores
8/8
N/A
3.5/4

Final Scores
8/8
4/5
3.5/4

Initial Scores
4/8
2/5
0/4

Mid-Point Scores
5/8
N/A
2.5/4

Final Scores
6/8
3/5
3/4

Initial Scores
3/8
2/5
0/4

Mid-Point Scores
6/8
N/A
2/4

Final Scores
3/8
4/5
3/4

Student S
Assessment
Text Features
Bye-Bye, Fly
Animals with Parachutes
Student A
Assessment
Text Features
Bye-Bye, Fly
Animals with Parachutes

*Note: No Mid-Point Assessment was given for the Bye-Bye, Fly Assessment.

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

21

Graphs of Assessment Results

Text Features Assessment


8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Pre-Assessment

Mid-Point Assessment
Student K

Student A

Student S

Total Possible Points

Post-Assessment

"Bye-Bye, Fly" Comprehension Assessment


5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0

Pre-Assessment

Mid-Point Assessment
Student K

Student S

Student A

Total Possible Points

Post-Assessment

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

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"Animals with Parachutes" Comprehension Assessment


4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0

Pre-Assessment
Student K

Mid-Point Assessment
Student S

Student A

Post-Assessment

Total Possible Points

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

23

Progress Monitoring
At the Initial, Mid-Point, and Final Assessments, all of my students filled out the NonFiction Feelings Progress Monitoring Chart. This sheet allowed the students to let me know how
they felt about the main themes we looked at for the semester. They circled the picture of the
face that described how they felt about that aspect of nonfiction. I was able to see their feelings
toward nonfiction, text features, and comprehension change over the semester.

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

24

Sample Progress Monitoring SheetProgress Monitoring Results


Initial

Mid-Point

Final

Reading Nonfiction: 2

Reading Nonfiction: 3

Reading Nonfiction: 3

Text Features: 0

Text Features: 3

Text Features: 3

Looking back for


answers: 2
Reading Nonfiction: 1

Looking back for


answers: 3
Reading Nonfiction: 0

Looking back for


answers: 1
Reading Nonfiction: 0

Text Features: 2

Text Features: 0

Text Features: 0

Looking back for


answers: 0

Looking back for


answers: 0

Looking back for


answers: 2

Reading Nonfiction: 0

Reading Nonfiction: 0

Reading Nonfiction: 0

Text Features: 1

Text Features: 0

Text Features: 0

Looking back for


answers: 1

Looking back for


answers: 0

Looking back for


answers: 0

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

25

Instructional Changes Made


Sadly, I did not make that many changes in my instruction. This is something I would
like to work on and improve upon in the future. However, the file folder organizer for text
features was a change in my instruction. I had planned to move on and focus more on finding
the answer to questions in the text and creating their own questions, however after seeing the
results of their Mid-Point Assessment, I decided that they needed something more to give them
the right boost to really master those features. This is why I chose to create a file folder
organizer. The students had to match the descriptions of each feature to the feature's name, and
then they used a book to find examples of each features. They then wrote/drew an example of
each text feature. This served as a visual for them, and they loved working together to do this.
This activity helped improve the students scores on the final assessment. Although one student
had already scored a perfect score on the Mid-Point Text Features Assessment, I still felt that this
activity would allow her to expand her knowledge of text features and also help her apply what
she learned.

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

26

Data Reflection
Overall I was very happy with the data that I collected from all of my students. Student
K progressed on every assessment. She started off the strongest in each area, and I wish that I
had been able to individualize her learning more. Student S showed a steady progression on
each assessment. She started out not being able to correctly look by in the text for answers, to
actually looking back in the text and correctly answering most of the questions. She also
improved significantly with her text features recognition. Student A showed improvement in all
of her assessments except her final Text Features Assessment. On this assessment she fell back
to the same score she received on the initial test, however she got different ones correct. I feel
that there were outside circumstances that caused this. I was not able to pull my students out in
the hallway that day, so she had to complete the assessment at her table, and I think there were
too many distractions for her that she was not able to concentrate on the assessment. I loved
being able to see the improvement in all of my students. Not only did their assessment scores
improve, but I also noticed their attitudes improving, and they became closer together as a group
when we worked. They looked forward to our time together, and they were all able to come out
understanding nonfiction text features, and how to find specific information better than when
they started.

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

27

Final Assessment Reflection


Each of my students made improvements overall on the final assessment. The one
exception to this was Student A. Student A, as stated earlier, did as poorly on the final
assessment as she did on the first, although in the final she did write answers to all of the
questions, whereas in the initial assessment she did not. However, she got different ones correct
each time, and I feel that it was the environment that caused her to not perform as well on the
final assessment. She was the most easily distractible out of the three students, and I feel that
taking this final assessment in the classroom distracted her and affected her performance.
I was also very proud that by my students all wrote more thoughtful answers to the open
ended comprehension questions than they had at the beginning. I feel that it helped them that we
focused so much on picking out important information as they read. Student K was definitely
the most advanced student and consistently scored the highest. Students S and A showed a lot of
improvement from the initial assessment to their final assessment. I feel that this final
assessment (with the exception of Student As Text Features Assessment) accurately displayed
their abilities.

ACTION RESEARCH FALL 2015

28

Overall Reflection
I was very hesitant about this project at the beginning of the semester. I had no clue what
I was doing, and I was still trying to figure out how to teach things to students. However, now
looking back on it I think it was a great way to force me to start teaching and prepare for
teaching. There are many things that I think could have gone better or that I wish I could change
as I look back. However, that means that I will know these things beforehand the next time I
perform action research, and I will be able to do better and receive even better data.
One thing I really wish I had done in my action research was to individualize it more.
Student K was clearly performing at a higher level than Student S and A, but I still had her do the
same things with them. This means that Student K did not make as much improvement as the
other students. She needed to be challenged, and I should have been able to provide that for her.
In the future, I want to be able to make adjustments for each of my students individually to
individualize their learning.
Looking back, I also wish that I had been able to explicitly focus on finding answers to
questions in the text. I focused mainly on finding important information, which I felt was the
first step to being able to find answers to questions about the text, but I was never able to truly
focus on that aspect. The students did improve in their ability to locate the answers in the text, so
I do feel that what I did was helpful, I just think I could have done it even better.
The other thing that I regret not being able to do was completing all of my assessments
during the Mid-Point Assessment. I ran out of time before I was able to give my students the
Bye-Bye, Fly Assessment, and I knew that I needed to move on in the next lesson and would
not be able to complete this assessment. This means that I cannot accurately compare all of my
data for that assessment since I only have an initial and final assessment. The students did all
improve, I just do not have as much information on that aspect as I do for the others.
My students really enjoyed being able to spend this time together, and they had fun
receiving this extra help. They never complained about coming out with me, but they smiled and

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would bring the things I asked them to bring. I feel that this is very important to my action
research results as well. Students will do better if they are excited and motivated to learn.
Overall, my action research encourages me as I look to my future in teaching. It has
shown me the difference I can have in students understanding of concepts, even in a short
amount of time. I hope to be able to take the skills I learned here and apply them to my teaching.
I want to be able to make the changes in my teaching that I wish I had made here. Additionally,
there are things I did here, like the file folder organizers, that I would love to incorporate into my
students learning in the future. My action research makes me excited to continue on the road to
becoming a teacher.

Improving Nonfiction Reading Comprehension


Abigail Hancock
Samford University

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Abstract
This paper examines the importance of including nonfiction texts in the classroom. Nonfiction
encourages questioning, and engages students in their reading. A teacher can have the huge
impact on his/her students comprehension of nonfiction texts. There are many different
strategies that have been found to increase nonfiction reading comprehension. This paper notes
many different strategies that have been found to improve students comprehension of nonfiction
texts.
Keywords: comprehension, nonfiction, teaching, questioning, engaging

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Improving Nonfiction Reading Comprehension


Nonfiction is often overlooked in the classroom. Teachers tend to gravitate towards
reading fiction novels to their students, but they often forget the importance of reading nonfiction
novels. The new Common Core Standards are trying to resolve this by placing greater emphasis
on reading nonfiction (Goodwin & Miller, 2013). It has been found that students need to be able
to read and comprehend informational texts fluently just as easily as they are able to fluently read
and comprehend narrative texts (Goodwin & Miller, 2013). Nonfiction reading is so important
because it greatly improve students background knowledge (Miller, 2013) which in turn
improves their overall learning in the classroom. In order to do this successfully, teachers must
implement change in their classrooms to focus on nonfiction reading and comprehension. There
are many different ways teachers can incorporate this into their classroom.
The issue that comes from teachers expecting students to read nonfiction texts on their
own is that students need training in how to read nonfiction (Topping et al., 2008). It was found
that simply giving students more practice time to read nonfiction is not sufficient when it comes
to increasing students achievement (Topping et al., 2008). Students, especially younger
students, need guidance in how to choose nonfiction books, as well as help understanding the
features of these books. Monitoring and feedback is extremely important in this process.
Students need direct feedback from their teacher as they read nonfiction books in order to
monitor how much the student is really comprehending (Topping et al., 2008). There are many
different strategies teachers can use to monitor their students nonfiction comprehension as well
as assist with understanding the features of nonfiction text.
There are many different stratifies that can be used to increase nonfiction comprehension.
The first step is for the teacher to recognize when students are struggling to understand the
material. Teachers should not always keep pushing their students, to figure it out on their own,
instead the teacher should provide them with strategies the students can use when they reach a

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confusing part of the text (Harvey & Goudvis, 2007). One strategy is to have the students utilize
sticky notes while reading the text. To help students pinpoint their sports of confusion, the
students should use a sticky note to mark it, and write Huh? on it. Then, when the students
find the answer to their question later in the text, the students move the sticky note to that spot
and write the answer to their question on the bottom of the sticky note (Harvey & Goudvis,
2007). This strategy helps monitor the students thinking. It also helps them understand how
questions can be answered inside the text as they read it. This is an important concept that
students need to learn. Additionally, looking back in the texts for answers is included in the
Common Core Standards. Furthermore, reading nonfiction texts leads to students questioning
the world around them and how things work (Ghiso, 2013). This is why it is imperative that
students continually ask questions before, during, and after their reading, and this strategy
encourages exactly that.
It has also been found that when students make connections to the text, they are engaged
and able to better connect to the material. It is best to start out encouraging students to think
about connections in their everyday lives, and then moving further out and making connections
across the world. One great strategy to help encourage this in the classroom is by the teacher
demonstrating how he/she makes connections to the text. A way to do this is for the teacher to
speak what he/she is thinking as they read the text aloud to the students such as, Wow! I never
knew that this is how birds find their food. Following the statement, it is also important for the
teacher to demonstrating writing down the new information to model the importance of learning
as students read (Harvey & Goudvis, 2007). By the teacher modeling learning while reading, the
students are able to see how they can make the most out of what they read.
Another strategy to increase reading comprehension while reading nonfiction is creating
charts and graphic organizers. This is a great way to keep track of new vocabulary (Harvey &

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Goudvis, 2007). It also encourages discussions as students brainstorm together what should be
included on the chart or organizer. Additionally, it would also be beneficial to write down
questions students have before reading, and then go over the questions together at the end to see
if the questions were answered. Once again, this emphasizes the importance of finding answers
to questions within the text. One teacher discussed how a graphic organizer helps her students
understand nonfiction. Together they organized the information they learned as they read, and
after they read as a group, the teacher assigned them a section to read and continue their same
strategies for understanding. Another strategy that could be combined with the big graphic
organizer is, Board Equals Paper. This strategy helps students with notetaking because whatever
the teacher writes down on the board, or in this case, graphic organizer, the students write down
on their own paper as well (Lemov 2010). This helps the students keep their own record of what
they have learned, and it teaches them a strategy they can use when they read for comprehension
on their own.
All of these strategies have been found to increase nonfiction reading comprehension and
should be implemented in the everyday classroom. Research illustrates the need to engage
young students with nonfiction texts, however they must be shown proven techniques and
strategies for comprehending and learning from these texts (Ghiso, 2013). Additionally, the
importance of the teacher modeling these strategies cannot be stressed enough. If the teacher
demonstrates the importance of each of these things, students will have someone to model after,
which will in turn improve their comprehension of nonfiction texts.

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Resources
Ghiso, M. P. (2013). Playing with/through Non-Fiction Texts: Young Children Authoring Their
Relationships with History. Journal Of Early Childhood Literacy, 13(1), 26-51.
Goodwin, B., & Miller, K. (2013, Jan). Research Says/Nonfiction Reading Promotes Student
Success. Received from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/dec12/vol70/num04/Nonfiction-Reading-Promotes-Student-Success.aspx.
Harvey, S., & Goudvis, A. (2007). Strategies that Work: Teaching Comprehension for
Understanding and Engagement. Stenhouse Publishers.
Lemov, D. (2010). Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that put Students on the Path to
College. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub.
Miller, D. (2013). The Dazzling World of Nonfiction. Educational Leadership, 71(3), 22-27.
Topping, K. J., Samuels, J., & Paul, T. (2008). Independent Reading: The Relationship of
Challenge, Non-Fiction and Gender to Achievement. British Educational Research
Journal, 34(4), 505-524.

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