The interpretive strategies utilized by elementary students with and without learning disabilities in comprehending poems
Keywords:
Poetry Comprehension, Learning Disabilities, StrategiesAbstract
Poetry is a genre that supports all aspects of literacy, and it is the first to which most children are
exposed through motherly lullabies. Yet, while many studies have been conducted on prose
comprehension, there is little empirical research on poetry comprehension, and none published on
the specific strategies elementary students with learning disabilities (LD) utilize in understanding
poems. The purpose of this study is to examine the interpretive strategies used by students in
comprehending poetry. Participants were 16 fifth and sixth grade students with LD and 16 of their
typical peers, who individually listened to poems and answered questions about them. Students with
LD effectively used as many interpretive operations as their peers, adopted an aesthetic stance to
reading, and performed more like experts than novices. Furthermore, the difficulty of the poems did
not appear to have affected the students’ enjoyment of them.
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References
Braun, I. (2003). Poetry comprehension: A description of the cognitive and emotional processing of literary
experts and novices (Master’s thesis). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database.
(UMI No. MQ84319).
Cain, K., & Towse, A. S. (2008). To get hold of the wrong end of the stick: Reasons for poor idiom
understanding with reading comprehension difficulties. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing
Research, 51, 1538-1549.
Certo, J. L. (2004). Cold plums and the old men in the water: Let children read and write “great’ poetry.
The Reading Teacher, 58(3), 266-271.
Dyson, A., & Genishi, C. (Eds.). (1994). The need for story: Cultural diversity in classroom and community.
Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
Eva-Wood, A. (2004). How think-and-feel aloud instruction influences poetry readers. Discourse
Processes, 38(2), 173-192.
Eva-Wood, A. (2008). Does feeling come first? How poetry can help readers broaden their
understanding of metacognition. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 51(7), 564-573.
Gasparro, M., & Felletta, B. (1994). Creating drama with poetry: Teaching English as a second language
through dramatization and improvisation. Washington, DC: FRIC Clearinghouse on Languages and
Linguistics (ERIC Document Reproduction Services. ED 568214).
Gersten, R., Fuchs, S. L., Williams, P. J., & Baker, S. (2001). Teaching reading comprehension strategies to
students with learning disabilities: A review of research. Review of Educational Research, 71, 279-
320.
Gill, R. (2007). The forgotten genre of children’s poetry. The Reading Teacher, 60(7), 622-625.
Gordon, J. (2009). Sound’s right: Pupils' response to heard poetry and the revised National Curriculum
for English. The Curriculum Journal, 20(2), 161-175.
Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Hansson, G. (1996). Emotions in poetry: Where are they and how do we find them? In R. J. Kruz & M. S.
M. Nealey (Eds.). Empirical Approaches to Literature and Aesthetics (Vol. 52). Norwood: NJ: Ablex
Publishing.
Harker, W. J. (1994). “Plain sense” and “poetic significance”: Tenth-grade readers reading two poems.
Poetics, 22(3), 199-218.
Harris, C. W. (1948). Measurement of comprehension of literature: The nature of literary
comprehension. The School Review, 56(5), 280-289.
Harris, V. (2008). Selecting books that children like. The Reading Teacher, 61(5), 426-430.
Holbrook, S. (2005). Practical poetry: A nonstandard approach to meeting content-area standards.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Kucan, L. (2007). “I” poems: Invitations for students to deepen literacy understanding. The Reading
Teacher, 60(6), 518-525.
Lenz, L. (1992). Crossroads of literacy and orality: Reading poetry aloud. Language Arts, 69(8), 597-603.
Linaberga, M. (2004). Poetry top 10: A foolproof formula for teaching poetry. The Reading Teacher,
58(4), 366-372.
Manning, M. (2003). A poetic awakening. Teaching Pre K-8, 33, 85-87.
Miall, D., & Kuiken, D. (1994). Beyond text theory: Understanding Literary response. Discourse Processes,
17, 337-352.
National Reading Panel (NRP) (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the
scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC:
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Nesi, B., Levorato, M. C., Roch, M., & Cacciari, C. (2006). To break the embarrassment: Text
comprehension skills and figurative competence in skilled and less-skilled text comprehenders.
European Psychologist, 11(2), 128-136.
Oakhill, J., & Cain, K. (2000). Children’s difficulties in text comprehension: Assessing causal issues.
Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 5, 51-59.
Peskin, J. (1998). Constructing reading when reading poetry: An expert-novice study. 16, 235-263.
Peskin, J., Allen, G., & Wells-Jopling, R. (2012). “The Educational Imagination”: Applying instructional
research to the teaching of symbolic interpretation of poetry. Journal of Adolescent and Adult
Literacy, 53(6), 498-507.
Pressley, M., & Afflerbach, P. (1995). Verbal protocols of reading: The nature of constructively response
reading. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Rosenblatt, L. M. (1995). Literature as exploration (5th ed.). New York: The Modern Language Association
of America.
Sekeres, D. C., & Gregg, M. (2007). Poetry in third grade: Getting started. The Reading Teacher, 60(5),
466-475.
Sipe, L. (2000). The construction of literary understanding by first and second graders in oral response
to picture storybook read-alouds. Reading Research Quarterly, 35(2), 252-275.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of Qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures techniques.
Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Poems Cited
Frost, R. (2004). Stopping by woods on a snowy evening. In J. Hollander (Ed.), Poetry for young people:
American poetry. New York: Scholastic.
Katz, B. (1990). October Saturday. In P. B. Janeczko (Ed.), The place my words are looking for (p.87). New
York: Bradbury Press.
experts and novices (Master’s thesis). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database.
(UMI No. MQ84319).
Cain, K., & Towse, A. S. (2008). To get hold of the wrong end of the stick: Reasons for poor idiom
understanding with reading comprehension difficulties. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing
Research, 51, 1538-1549.
Certo, J. L. (2004). Cold plums and the old men in the water: Let children read and write “great’ poetry.
The Reading Teacher, 58(3), 266-271.
Dyson, A., & Genishi, C. (Eds.). (1994). The need for story: Cultural diversity in classroom and community.
Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
Eva-Wood, A. (2004). How think-and-feel aloud instruction influences poetry readers. Discourse
Processes, 38(2), 173-192.
Eva-Wood, A. (2008). Does feeling come first? How poetry can help readers broaden their
understanding of metacognition. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 51(7), 564-573.
Gasparro, M., & Felletta, B. (1994). Creating drama with poetry: Teaching English as a second language
through dramatization and improvisation. Washington, DC: FRIC Clearinghouse on Languages and
Linguistics (ERIC Document Reproduction Services. ED 568214).
Gersten, R., Fuchs, S. L., Williams, P. J., & Baker, S. (2001). Teaching reading comprehension strategies to
students with learning disabilities: A review of research. Review of Educational Research, 71, 279-
320.
Gill, R. (2007). The forgotten genre of children’s poetry. The Reading Teacher, 60(7), 622-625.
Gordon, J. (2009). Sound’s right: Pupils' response to heard poetry and the revised National Curriculum
for English. The Curriculum Journal, 20(2), 161-175.
Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Hansson, G. (1996). Emotions in poetry: Where are they and how do we find them? In R. J. Kruz & M. S.
M. Nealey (Eds.). Empirical Approaches to Literature and Aesthetics (Vol. 52). Norwood: NJ: Ablex
Publishing.
Harker, W. J. (1994). “Plain sense” and “poetic significance”: Tenth-grade readers reading two poems.
Poetics, 22(3), 199-218.
Harris, C. W. (1948). Measurement of comprehension of literature: The nature of literary
comprehension. The School Review, 56(5), 280-289.
Harris, V. (2008). Selecting books that children like. The Reading Teacher, 61(5), 426-430.
Holbrook, S. (2005). Practical poetry: A nonstandard approach to meeting content-area standards.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Kucan, L. (2007). “I” poems: Invitations for students to deepen literacy understanding. The Reading
Teacher, 60(6), 518-525.
Lenz, L. (1992). Crossroads of literacy and orality: Reading poetry aloud. Language Arts, 69(8), 597-603.
Linaberga, M. (2004). Poetry top 10: A foolproof formula for teaching poetry. The Reading Teacher,
58(4), 366-372.
Manning, M. (2003). A poetic awakening. Teaching Pre K-8, 33, 85-87.
Miall, D., & Kuiken, D. (1994). Beyond text theory: Understanding Literary response. Discourse Processes,
17, 337-352.
National Reading Panel (NRP) (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the
scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC:
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Nesi, B., Levorato, M. C., Roch, M., & Cacciari, C. (2006). To break the embarrassment: Text
comprehension skills and figurative competence in skilled and less-skilled text comprehenders.
European Psychologist, 11(2), 128-136.
Oakhill, J., & Cain, K. (2000). Children’s difficulties in text comprehension: Assessing causal issues.
Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 5, 51-59.
Peskin, J. (1998). Constructing reading when reading poetry: An expert-novice study. 16, 235-263.
Peskin, J., Allen, G., & Wells-Jopling, R. (2012). “The Educational Imagination”: Applying instructional
research to the teaching of symbolic interpretation of poetry. Journal of Adolescent and Adult
Literacy, 53(6), 498-507.
Pressley, M., & Afflerbach, P. (1995). Verbal protocols of reading: The nature of constructively response
reading. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Rosenblatt, L. M. (1995). Literature as exploration (5th ed.). New York: The Modern Language Association
of America.
Sekeres, D. C., & Gregg, M. (2007). Poetry in third grade: Getting started. The Reading Teacher, 60(5),
466-475.
Sipe, L. (2000). The construction of literary understanding by first and second graders in oral response
to picture storybook read-alouds. Reading Research Quarterly, 35(2), 252-275.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of Qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures techniques.
Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Poems Cited
Frost, R. (2004). Stopping by woods on a snowy evening. In J. Hollander (Ed.), Poetry for young people:
American poetry. New York: Scholastic.
Katz, B. (1990). October Saturday. In P. B. Janeczko (Ed.), The place my words are looking for (p.87). New
York: Bradbury Press.
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Published
2017-08-23
How to Cite
Lee, G. G., & Hughes, M. T. (2017). The interpretive strategies utilized by elementary students with and without learning disabilities in comprehending poems. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 4(3), 489–506. Retrieved from https://www.iejee.com/index.php/IEJEE/article/view/192
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