What does research say about the texts we use in elementary school?

Abstract

Much of the attention given to literacy, of late, has focused on ensuring that students can read, without consideration to what they are given to read. Kristin Conradi Smith & Elfrieda H. Hiebert discuss four general aspects of the texts used in elementary classrooms – text complexity, text type (narrative versus informational), text format (paper versus screen), and diversity of people presented in the text. They review recent research on each of these text characteristics and then make suggestions for how to apply the research in the classroom.

Engaging Students with Expository Books through Interactive Read‐Alouds

“…There are benefits to incorporating expository texts in the classroom read‐aloud repertoire. Reading content‐specific books helps students develop content knowledge (Cervetti et al, 2012; Conradi Smith & Hiebert, 2022). Scholars have found that by combining expository read‐alouds with real‐world experiences, children can deepen their understanding (Cervetti et al, 2012).…”

“No More Strategy of the Week”: Considerations for Connecting Comprehension Instruction Back to the Book

“…This one might seem so obvious that we are apt to forget it, but if we are to pivot from letting the standard or strategy drive the instruction to more text‐focused comprehension instruction, the first consideration should be, “What texts are we using?” Absent from much of the science of reading discussion has been discourse of the very texts we use (Conradi Smith & Hiebert, 2022). The old way might have involved something like this: “I'm teaching inferring, so which book should I use that really helps me teach that?” The teacher then goes online or goes to their librarian and finds a book that allows for some concrete inference examples.…”