• Research shows that reading sets of related texts builds subject expertise and is associated with growth in vocabulary acquisition (Cervetti et al., 2016). • A robust vocabulary is critical to becoming a confident reader (Ricketts et al., 2007; Sénéchal et al., 2006). Content Knowledge • To understand texts successfully, skilled readers must connect new information with pre-existing content knowledge (Adams, 2009; Cervetti & Wright, 2020; Hwang et al., 2022; Kim et al., 2021). • Content knowledge (i.e., knowledge related to the natural and social world; Connor et al., 2018; Kim et al., 2021) helps students make inferences and sense of texts (Cabell & Hwang, 2020). • Studies show that content knowledge predicts and contributes to vocabulary and reading comprehension (Cabell & Hwang, 2020; Recht & Leslie, 1988; Smith et al., 2020). • Content knowledge enhances vocabulary by creating “well-structured semantic networks” that lead to “fast retrieval of word meanings” and support the effective use of words (Hwang et al., 2022, p. 147). • Content knowledge improves reading comprehension by helping readers connect ideas across sentences and make inferences about missing information in passages (Cabell & Hwang, 2020; Recht & Leslie, 1988; Smith et al., 2020). • Students’ content knowledge on a topic can compensate for low reading comprehension ability when reading a text (Recht & Leslie, 1988) and support accurate inferences on the meanings of unknown words (Pulido, 2007). Text Structure • Proficient readers strategically utilize text structure (how authors organize words, pictures, and ideas within a text) for both narrative texts (e.g., setting, character, plot, theme) and expository texts (description, chronology, causation, response, comparison) to infer and gather meaning from texts (Connor et al., 2018). • Because text structures follow a predictable format, understanding text structure can help students more quickly organize the information and details they are learning, identify the important elements in a passage, show how parts of a text relate to each other, make logical predictions, and monitor comprehension (Zimmerman et al., 2018). • Data from three recent meta-analyses (Hebert et al., 2016; Pyle et al., 2017; Hall-Mills & Marante, 2023) confirmed that explicit instruction on text structure improves students’ reading comprehension for both general education students and students with disabilities alike.
SCHOLASTIC LITERACY FRAMEWORK EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7
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