Teaching Cause—Effect Text Structure Through Social Studies Content to At-Risk Second Graders

Abstract

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a comprehension program integrated with social studies instruction designed for at-risk second graders. The program included instruction in cause-effect text structure, emphasizing clue words, generic questions, graphic organizers, and the close analysis of specially constructed cause-effect target paragraphs. This program was compared (a) to a content-only program that focused only on social studies and did not include text structure instruction and (b) to a no-instruction control. Fifteen classroom teachers, randomly assigned to treatment, provided the instruction. The program improved the comprehension of instructional cause-effect texts, and there were transfer effects on some comprehension measures. The performance of the 2 instructed groups did not differ on any of the content measures, indicating that such integrated instruction can be accomplished without a loss in the amount of content acquired. This study supports our previous findings on the effectiveness of explicit instruction at the primary-grade level.

An analysis of causal asyndetic constructions in United States history textbooks

“…In addition to teaching students to identify causal conjunctions (Williams et al 2007) and CMPs (Achugar and Schleppegrell 2005;Schleppegrell et al 2004), these data demonstrate that United States history teachers should also teach students how to identify and make meaning from CACs; CACs account for a large number of total causal constructions in United States history textbooks. In doing so, teachers will enable students to comprehend and create a wider variety of causal relationships.…”

“…The graphic representations that only imply causal relationships and the focus on explicit causal signals in historical thinking instruction are similar to the paratextual graphs and inclusion of causal connectors that textbooks use to aid students' causal comprehension (Coffin 2006). Indeed, when teachers use textbook passages to teach students how to identify, comprehend, and create causal connections, they use the same methods discussed above; teachers are only occasionally urged to focus on causal signals (e.g., Meyer and Poon 2001;Williams et al 2007) or mapping causal events without explicit causal connections (e.g., Ciardiello 2002). It appears that textbook editors and history education scholars of various pedagogic orientations tend to teach causation either graphically or with a limited set of explicit linguistic signals (e.g., because and so).…”

“…Causal conjunctions such as because, so, and as a result signal to readers that a causal connection is being made between two discrete events (Meyer and Poon 2001;Williams et al 2007). Using connectors limits the number of causal connections that can be made with any particular event; connectors directly link two events to the exclusion of multiple causal factors.…”

“…These explicit causal signals are used to teach students about causation at all educational levels -in elementary (Williams et al 2007), secondary (Meyer et al 1980), and post-secondary (Meyer and Poon 2001) schools. Implied causal constructions, such as causal asyndetic constructions (CACs), have not been given much attention in the literature.…”

Teaching Text Structure: Examining the Affordances of Children’s Informational Texts

“…Recently, text structure was specified as an important element of text complexity to be considered when selecting informational texts for instructional purposes (NGA Center & CCSSO, 2010). The structure of a text conveys information to the reader in a way that shows the connections among ideas in the text and how some of these ideas are of central importance while others are subordinate (Meyer & Rice, 1984;Williams et al, 2007). Meyer (1981) reported, "It is the structure of text that primarily differentiates text from simple lists of words or sentences" (p. 7).…”