Why Teach Story Elements?
Teaching students directly about story elements is a great way to enhance their comprehension skills. Since students vary in their abilities, using soup as an example reaches many different ways in which students learn. "According to Dickson, et al. (1998), teaching narrative text organization, using characters, a setting, problems, solutions to the problems, and so on, gives students a frame of reference for processing and storing information" (Teacher Vision). Explicitly teaching and modeling comprehension strategies is beneficial to students (Dymock, 2007, pg 161). In the end, "the ability to identify the elements of a story aids in comprehension, leads to a deeper understanding and appreciation of stories, and helps students learn to write stories of their own" (Teacher Vision).
Second Grade Iowa Core Standards that are addressed:
Reading Standards for Literature - RL.2.IA.1
Employ the full range of research-based comprehension strategies, including making connections, determining importance, questioning, visualizing, making inferences, summarizing, and monitoring for comprehension.
Reading Standards for Literature - RL.2.2
Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
Reading Standards for Literature - RL.2.3
Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
Speaking and Listening Standards - SL.2.2
Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media
Speaking and Listening Standards - SL.2.5
Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
