Using Story Grammar to Assist Students with Learning Disabilities and Reading Difficulties Improve their Comprehension

With the majority of students with learning disabilities (LD) having difficulties in reading, teachers at all grade levels need to incorporate comprehension strategies into their instruction to explicitly teach students with LD how to use the strategies to enhance their comprehension. One way for teachers to support students' comprehension of narrative text is to actively instruct them in using story grammar strategies. Story grammar provides students with a framework to help them understand narrative texts and includes common elements such as plot, character, setting, and theme. This review provides an overview of research focused on using story grammar as a comprehension strategy, as well as examines the success of the strategy with students with special needs and reading difficulties.