Comprehension of informational text by kindergarten students: Action research of repeated read-alouds of informational text within a unit

摘要

COMPREHENSION OF INFORMATIONAL TEXT BY KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS: ACTION RESEARCH OF REPEATED READ-ALOUDS OF INFORMATIONAL TEXT WITHIN A UNITudTracy B. Driver, EdDudIn the current educational climate, kindergarten students are expected to be proficient at highly academic tasks. One such task is the comprehension of informational text. The purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers can support kindergarteners’ comprehension of informational text through the use of repeated read-alouds within a unit. One intact kindergarten class of 25 students engaged in a two-week unit on the topic of bats, including interactive read-alouds of informational and narrative texts with repeated readings of two primary texts. Through observation of the read-aloud events, multiple choice assessments of content, and interviews with select students, I investigated how kindergarteners in this primary school engaged in learning from and comprehending informational text in the context of interactive read-alouds. In addition, I investigated how students in this class demonstrated acquisition and retention of the concepts presented in an informational text that is shared through an interactive read-aloud and what effect repeated readings of a text had on their comprehension. Findings indicated that the students in this kindergarten class utilized a variety of actions to access the text within the sociocultural context of the interactive read-aloud and were able to demonstrate comprehension of the text after the interactive read-aloud. Furthermore, repeated readings of the text resulted in increased acquisition and retention of concepts from the text. These results have implications for classroom practice as well as teacher preparation and professional development in the area of promoting comprehension of informational text by young students.