An Analysis of Comprehension Strategies and Skills Covered within Grade 3–5 Reading Textbooks in the United States

Abstract

This study examined the comprehension skills and strategies presented in current reading textbooks used within the United States as a means of describing a contributor to the ecological component of reading. The ways in which comprehension skills and strategies are distributed across genres as well as connected to the National Reading Panel recommendations were also examined. Reading textbooks for grades 3, 4, and 5 from the Journeys (Scope and sequence grades K-6. https://www.hmhco.com/programs/journeys/about , 2017), SRA Open Court (Scope and sequence grades 3-5. https://www.mheducation.com/prek-12/program/open-court-reading-20162016/MKTSP-THA14M0.html , 2016), Reading Street (Afflerbach et al. in Reading Street (Grade 3, vol 1). Pearson, Glenview, 2011a, Reading Street (Grade 3, vol 2). Pearson, Glenview, 2011b, Reading Street (Grade 4, vol 1). Pearson, Glenview, 2011c, Reading Street (Grade 4, vol 2). Pearson, Glenview, 2011d, Reading Street (Grade 5, vol 1). Pearson, Glenview, 2011e, Reading Street (Grade 5, vol 2). Pearson, Glenview, 2011f), Reach (Frey et al. in Reach (Grade 3). Hampton-Brown, Jefferson City, 2011a, Reach (Grade 4). Hampton-Brown, Jefferson City, 2011b, Reach (Grade 5). Hampton-Brown, Jefferson City, 2011c), and Wonders (Scope and sequence grades 3, 4, and 5. https://www.mheducation.com/prek-12/program/microsites/MKTSP-BGA07M0/wonders.html , 2020) series were analyzed for the comprehension skills and strategies covered in each lesson. Analysis revealed a lack of coverage of comprehension skills and strategies across most textbooks. Further, comprehension skill and strategy instruction by genre was very sporadic and strategies recommended by the NRP were often inadequately addressed by the textbooks examined. Findings of this study point to the need for educators to critically examine the textbooks used for reading instruction within their classrooms.