Basic HTML Version
Story map (narrative)
Purpose:
A story map provides students with a visual representation of the main features
of a story and story structure. This assists students to understand the relationships in a
narrative and to remember the plot.
Instructional scaffolding: teacher questioning
Start: Who are the characters?, where is the story set?
Middle: What is the problem?, how did the character(s) react?, how do they try to solve
the problem?
End: What happened in the end?, how was the problem solved?
Graphic organisers
Purpose:
Graphic organisers are used to visually illustrate a concept or the relationship
between concepts. This learning strategy is particularly useful for informational texts.
Graphic organisers may include:
– concept maps (map of reading material)
– diagramming (Curriculum Corporation 2005)
– semantic webs (graphic representation of a word/character).
Metacognitive strategies
Purpose:
Metacognitive strategies involve planning, monitoring and evaluating one’s
thinking while reading. It involves students being aware of what they do and do not
understand, and thinking about what they can do to help when they do not understand.
Metacognitive strategies might involve:
Before reading
• determining a purpose for reading
• previewing a text.
During reading
• monitoring understanding and repairing difficulties with comprehension (eg reading
faster or slower, re-reading, asking for help).
Teachers may scaffold the use of self-instruction, self-questioning and self-monitoring
techniques to support students to use metacognitive strategies during reading.
• Self-instruction, for example:
– ‘I do not understand what I have read, so I will re-read it, this time more slowly’
– ‘I underline the important information’
– ‘I keep reading to see if it helps me to understand and then I go back and re-read
the chunk’
• Self-questioning, for example:
– ‘Should I read faster/slower?’
– ‘What is the key idea?’
– ‘Is there an underlying message?’
– ‘How has language been used, and what effect does it have?’
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Support Materials for Students with Special Education Needs
English K–6
Reading
IMPLEMENTATION