Using Story Frames to Develop Reading Comprehension

Author(s): Leslie Anne Oja

Source: Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Vol. 40, No. 2 (Oct., 1996), pp. 129-130
Published by: International Reading Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40016749 .
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of organizationalpatterns.Insuch cas- Figure 1
es, the pupilsmust concentrateon sig- Types of story frames
nal words. I also show the students
howto incorporatepatternsof organi-
zation when writing or speaking.
Finally,the studentslearnthat organi-
zationalpatternscanbe usedfortaking
notes andansweringessay questions.
Manystudents enter high school
and college withoutany awarenessof
organizational patterns. The PASS
strategyis an effective technique for
alleviatingthis problem.
Welkeris a readingspecialistand dean of stu-
dents at Warwood Middle School in
Wheeling,West Virginia, USA.

Using story frames to

develop reading
comprehension
Leslie Anne Oja

Inthe last decade comprehensionre-

search has encouraged teachers to
give their students opportunities to
become more engaged in literature.
Repeated readings, story retellings,
and dramatic reenactments allow
students to become more aware of
stories and more familiarwith their
structure. This article provides an
overviewof another type of compre-
hensionstrategy:the storyframe.
The term storyframecan referto a
numberof methods for looking at a
story'sstructure.Formypurposes,the
story frame is a cloze procedure.
However,insteadof onlyone wordbe-
ing left out of a sentence, keyphrases
or clauses are left out of a paragraph
that summarizes the story or high-
lightssome importantaspect of it.
Using story frames along with the
basic elements of story grammardi-
rects both students'and teachers'at-
tention to the actual structureof the
story and how the content fits that
structure.The strategyis particularly
useful with middle school students,
who aredevelopingsummarizingskills
andotherbasicanalyticapproachesto
literature.
Storyframescan be used withbasal
stories as well as trade books.
However, because not all the ele-
ments in a specificstoryframearepre-
sent in all stories, it maybe necessary
to develop morethan one storyframe
or change previously used story
framesto fit the passage.Forexample,
you may start with "Thisstory begins
when..."andadd "andthen."Following
this you mayaddwordsthat appropri-
ately follow the sequence of events
such as "next,""followingthat,"or "the
problemis solved when...."
Students' ability to monitor their
comprehensionmay be enhanced by
using story frames.Students have an
opportunityto reviewthe mainidea of
the story, clarifyparts they may not
have understood, and decide on the
author'spurposeforwritingthe story.
(See Gerald L. Fowler, "Developing
Comprehension Skills in Primary
Students Throughthe Use of Story
Frames," The ReadingTeacher,vol. 36,
1982,pp. 176-179.)
Figure 1 shows five types of story
framesthat maybe appropriateforall
types of stories; however, you will
probablyfindthat one or two of them
will fit your style or purpose more
readily.I suggest you first introduce
studentsto one of the simplertypesof
frames after they have completed
reading a story. Initially, the whole

Open to Suggestion 1 29
 Figure 2
Sample student story frames
class may complete the cloze activity
posed bythe storyframe.Storyframes
also lend themselves to cooperative
group workor a reading partnerfor-
mat. After students become more
adept at using each type of story
frame, they may use frames as ad-
vanceorganizersto monitortheirown
comprehensionas they read.
Figure2 shows two middle school
students'storyframes.
The following questions can help
you createyourown storyframe:(a) Is
1 30 Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy
there a problem?(b) If so, why is it a
problem? (c) Is there a relevant se-
quence of events that leads to a solu-
tion of the problem?(d) If so, what is
the sequence?(e) Howis the problem
resolved?and (f) Howdoes the story
end?Afteransweringthese questions,
lookoverthe basicframeto makesure
it willfitthe clozeprocedure.Ifnot, of-
ten the addition or deletion of a few
wordswill correctthe problem.
Whenintroducingstoryframes,tell
the studentsthat whenthey complete
40:2 October 1 996
a framethey will havea summaryor a
short way of retelling the story that
they have just read.Youmaywantto
begin with half-pageframesbecause
they are less intimidatingto students
learning this process (see Karen
Wood,"ProbablePassages:A Writing
Strategy," TheReadingTeacher,vol. 37,
1984,pp. 496-499).
Themainpurposeof the storyframe
is to encourage students to rethink
some aspect of the story.Theycan re-
ferbackto the passage if necessaryas
they complete the frame.As with any
reading activity, the more engaged
and enthusiastic your students are
about the content, the moreeffective
the strategywill be.
Oja is a readingspecialistin the Hillsborough
County Schoolsin Tampa, Florida,USA.
Faculty book talks:
Adults sharing books
and enthusiasm for
reading with
students
Sharon Morley
Voices soften to whispers, students
hustle to their respectiveclassroom
seats, and the silence of anticipation
fills the room.Studentsknowthat to-
day is Readers'Workshopand that a
faculty person will be doing a book
talk.The man smiles, takes his sport-
coat off,foldsit neatlyovera chair,and
rollsup his sleeves;on the tablebefore
him lies a copy of DavidMaraniss's
book Firstin HisClass,a biographyof
BillClinton(Simon&Schuster,1995).
He thanks the class for invitinghim,
explainswhatclasses he teaches and,
with book in hand, begins to speak.
Thesocial studies teacherwithinhim
emerges and he fills the roomforthe
next40 minuteswithhis loveof history,