Story Map Instruction Using Children's Literature: Effects on First Graders' Comprehension of Central Narrative Elements

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of instruction in story mapping as a means to promote first-grade students' comprehension of central story elements in children's literature. Participants were 74 children in four first-grade classrooms, which were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (a) a Story Mapping 1 (SM1) group, in which students were taught to construct story maps for unadapted, unabridged children's stories they had read; (b) a Story Mapping 2 (SM2) group, which involved the same instruction as SM1 but included using story maps to compose stories; (c) a Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA) comparison strategy group, in which students read the same stories according to a predict-verify procedure; or (d) a directed reading activity (DRA) instructed control group, in which students engaged in a noninteractive, guided reading of stories. Quantitative analyses were conducted on five whole-sample dependent measures: an important idea test on a parsed story, a wh-question test of central story elements, a summary selection task, an important story element recognition test, and a delayed wh-question test. Results revealed that (a) some form of active comprehension instruction (SM1, SM2, or DRTA) was superior to the control-group DRA on most measures, (b) story mapping (SM1 and SM2) students consistently outperformed DRA controls, (c) story mapping was superior to DRTA on some measures but not on others, and (d) SM1 and SM2 groups did not differ on any measure. Qualitative data from student interviews generally supported these findings. It was concluded that instruction in story mapping is an effective instructional strategy for promoting first-grade students' ability to identify central narrative elements in authentic children's literature.