The Effect of the Integration of Technology with Text Structure Strategy to enhance

Reading Comprehension.

I have been teaching at the Grade Six level for the past five years. During this period of
time, I have found that there are several issues that affect the teaching/learning process of the
twelve year old students entrusted in my care. The problem that has been most evident is the lack
of understanding of what is read. Most of the students have been reading at and above the Grade
Six level but have been way below their comprehension level.
There has been also an ongoing concern about the substandard performance of many
students on examinations such as, the Grade Four Achievement Test (GFAT), the Grade Six
Achievement Test (GSAT) and the Grade Nine Achievement Test (GNAT) that include reading.
With various projects being developed, the Ministry of Education saw where technology was a
positive feature which educators and instructors could use to enhance their lessons; students were
usually excited whenever technological devices such as computer, television, DVD players, and
radio were used. As a result, in 2003, the Education Technology Resource Centre (ETRC) came
into existence, which is aimed at enhancing and enriching the teaching/learning process and the
development of competencies in literacy through appropriate and innovative educational
technologies.

An Action Research

In 2012, as part of the completion of my Bachelor of Education in Literacy degree

programme, I did an action research investigating the effects of integrating technological devices
with text structure to improve the reading comprehension level of a group of Grade Six students
at a particular Primary School. I chose technological devices with text structure as the teaching
strategy because I believed it would enhance the reading lessons that were being taught. Once a
lesson is taught integrating technology with text structure strategy, the educator will have the full
attention of students and thus it would be easier for them to grasp the concept/s being passed on.
Using technology with text structure
Text structure refers to how the information within a written text is organized. This
strategy helps students understand that a text might present a main idea and details; a cause and
then its effects; and/or different views of a topic. Teaching students to recognize common text
structures can help students monitor their comprehension. However, this strategy is more
effective when integrated with the use of technological devices.
 Text structure strategy integrated with the use of technological devices can be used by
teachers with the whole class, small groups, or individually. Students learn to identify and
analyze text structures which help them navigate the various structures presented within
nonfiction and fiction text. As a follow up, having students write paragraphs that follow
common text structures help them recognize these text structures when they are reading.
To create the text structure strategy with the use of technological devices,
teachers should choose the assigned reading and introduce the text to the students; introduce the
idea that texts have organizational patterns called text structures; introduce the following
common text structures: description, sequence, problem and solution, cause and effect, and
compare and contrast and introduce and model using the appropriate technological device to
chart the text structure.

To use the text structure strategy with the use of technological devices teachers should:
show examples of paragraphs that correspond to each text structure, examine topic sentences that
clue the reader to a specific structure, model the writing of a paragraph that uses a specific text
structure, have students try writing paragraphs that follow a specific text structure, have students
diagram these structures’ model, using the appropriate technological device.

Results

After six weeks of working with the students daily the results were that all the students in
the group had shown improvement in comprehension at varying degrees. Some students had
shown significant improvement while others were marginal but everyone showed improvement
none the less.

Submitted by: Jacqueline Clarke, Clapham Primary School.

 Using the Language Experience Approach

What is the Language Experience Approach?

According to Marcia Taylor (2000)
The language experience approach (LEA) is a whole language approach that promotes reading
and writing through the use of personal experiences and oral language. It can be used in tutorial
or classroom settings with homogeneous or heterogeneous groups of learners. Beginning literacy
learners relate their experiences to a teacher or aide, who transcribes them. These transcriptions
are then used as the basis for other reading and writing activities. (p.308)
Benefits of the Language Experience Approach: According to Burns, Roe and Smith (2000), in the text
“Teaching Reading In Today’s Elementary School,

The language experience approach inter-relates the different language arts and uses children's
experiences as the basis for reading materials. This approach has many advantages: it
incorporates the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic modes of learning; it promotes a positive self-
concept and fosters close contact between teachers and students; and it serves as an effective
remedial technique in the upper grades. (p. 308)

According to Heald-Taylor, (1989), “The LEA technique keeps the focus on the content rather
than the form of what is written and provides concrete evidence of the learner's language growth
over time. Errors can be corrected later, during revising and editing stages of the writing
process. (p. 45)”

Here are some benefits of the language experience approach:

 It brings together writing, reading, art, and language.

 It extends the learners' creativity in storytelling through writing.
 It helps learners understand that what they think and say can be written.
 It is learner-centered and demonstrates that the learners' thoughts and language are valued.
 It provides reading material that is predictable and readable because it uses the learners'
natural language.

How is the Language Experience Approach used: The language experience approach is an effective
tool in stimulating the minds and interest of students, as they are brainstormed, by teacher, to bring out
personal experiences which can be fascinating to build their story or writing. This approach allows
students to see the transformation from oral language to printed words; thus allowing them to accept their
writing more.

The Language Experience Approach begins with a shared class experience; a novel or exciting experience
works well when first using the LEA strategy. After the class activity is completed, the teacher asks the
students to dictate the story of the experience to her and she writes what they say word for word on large
chart. She reads the sentences back to the class so that the story is written exactly how they have
composed it. The teacher reads the final story to the class and then has the class read it with her. As the
students read their words about their experience aloud they are building their reading vocabularies. From
here the teacher can personalize the lesson to focus on language arts concepts in which the class needs
instruction or practice.

Submitted by: Theressa Hutchinson, Burnt Savannah Primary School.