Date of Award
5-1-1986
Document Type
Thesis - NSU Access Only
Degree Name
Education Specialist
Department
Center for the Advancement of Education
Keywords
Comprehension, Disabled Readers, Inferential Comprehension, Reading, Reading Strategies, Remedial Skills.
Abstract
The author identified a key strategy for teaching inferential comprehension as implemented in a 7th grade classroom of students who were, at least, one year below grade in reading. The purpose was to improve the students' inferential comprehension skills. The implementation began with a diagnostic reading test followed by several weeks of introducing different forms of semantic webbing to help clarify basal reader stories and other activities. After a mid-point teacher-made exam showed good results, the author implemented a few more weeks of webbing before a final diagnostic reading test was given to monitor progress. A comparison of the beginning and ending test scores indicated 33 percent of the students showed a 5 point increase in percentile rank. Results indicate semantic webbing to be an effective tool for improving the inferential comprehension of many students.