Historically, comics have been viewed as a "debased or simplified word-based literacy," explains Dale Jacobs, who considers comics to be complex, multimodal texts. Examining Ted Naifeh's "Polly and the Pirates," Jacobs shows how comics can engage students in multiple literacies, furthering meaning-making practices in the classroom and beyond.

Strategies for gathering narratives from children are described. Two analysis approaches (narrative level and story grammar) are recommended for discriminating between the narratives of normal and handicapped students at various ages. (Author/DB)

Twenty language-disordered and 20 nonimpaired children, aged 9-11, performed story generation and story retelling tasks. For both groups, retold narratives were longer and contained more story grammar components and complete episode structures. Clause length differentiated story generation from story retelling for the language-disordered children…

Describes the use of the language experience approach (LEA) and semantic mapping strategies with three seven-year-old boys who were nonreaders. Finds the use of mapping strategies with LEA was successful when children had difficulty structuring and organizing their own stories. (MG)

A functional analysis of selected aspects of imaginative literature is presented. Reading imaginative literature is described as a process in which the reader makes indirect contact with the contingencies operating on the behavior of story characters. A functional story grammar is proposed in which the reader's experience with a story is…

The legacy of the New Critics, including its historically male-dominated canon of poets, continues to hold influence, in part because its methods of reading preside over many college classrooms. New Critical readings stress careful explications, based solely on the evidence offered in the lines of the poem. This way of reading encourages careful…

Metacognitive strategy instruction was used to teach two deaf children (ages 11 and 12) with differing American Sign Language and English language skills to summarize stories in writing. The instructional program used a knowledge of text structure--specifically story structure--to improve literacy skills by enhancing the children's ability to…

This paper reports on a project started November 1999, which aims at understanding the storytelling structuring processes put into action by children at primary education level. The ultimate goal of this study is to draft a script for a computer tool to support story telling. For this purpose it identifies narrative scheme as the main organizing…

A study determined the effectiveness of background classical music on listening comprehension. Nine special education students were read 10 different stories while music was either playing or not. They were asked the same four story element questions after each story. Results showed no significant differences between the two types of listening…

Discusses Robert Patlock's 1750 novel "The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins." Argues that the novel is more than just a late contribution to the tradition of the imaginary voyage, but a novel in which the voyage being traced is both the hero's and the reader's. (MG)

Uses the structural-affect theory of stories to predict that primary school children prefer narratives that involve suspense to those that fail to stimulate a pleasant affective response. Finds that suspense stories are liked better than mundane scripts or scripts with nonintegrated exciting events. (RS)

The study provided 7 dysphonetic and dyseidetic dyslexic children (aged 8 to 10) with instruction in reading comprehension using a story grammar strategy and instructional approaches matching each dyslexia subtype. Statistically and clinically significant improvements were found in the proportion of qualitatively important story elements recalled…

Finds that when children write without any picture, they use a more developed story narrative than when they are given pictures as an initial stimulus. Suggests that it is the content of the picture and the way in which it is presented that affects story structure. (RS)

When 54 second graders, 54 fifth graders, and 54 college students listened to stories that varied in extent of discontinuity, even the second graders showed an ability to detect discontinuity. Sensitivity varied with extent and location of discontinuity, and with variations in instructions and titles of stories. Verbal reports may underestimate…

Classroom teachers have numerous reasons to read to students. Reading to students aids in the understanding of story structure, broadens familiarity with different styles of books, and helps to increase vocabulary. Book language is often different from spoken language, and reading allows students to hear different ways of expressing thoughts.…