Cassie Mayer

EDUG 520
RICA Reflection 14 & 15
Comprehension: Narrative and Expository Text
There is a growing demand in the educational field for the reading of both
narrative/literary texts and expository text to be done equally. Both are very
important to a childs education and desire to read, but there are different
instructional strategies to be used when reading the two different genres. In
narrative and literacy text there is a focus on the elements of a story, character,
plot, setting, mood, and theme. While with expository text there is a focus on cause
and effect, problem and solution, comparison and contrast, and the sequence of
events.
Narrative texts are stories. There are characters, a plot, rising of action,
setting, theme, mood, and conclusion. Narratives are used for enjoyment, to teach a
moral lesson, express feeling, tell a story etc. In my third grade classroom I taught a
lesson on Beware of the Storybook Wolves, in this lesson I instructed my students
to focus on the characters and their motivations. At the end of the story we used a
graphic organizer to answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions in the
story. In my third grade classroom, my master teacher is reading the students A
Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snicket. While reading all of these books,
my master teacher is helping the students identify recurring themes throughout the
chapters, and even interwoven through other books of his. The students have a
running log in their writing journals about patterns they see, and common themes
Lemony Snicket uses in his books.

In an expository text, the goal is to convey information. As seen in the

science magazine my third grade class uses, there is a large focus on cause and
effect, sequence of events, problem and solution. My students read an article on
growing pumpkins. Within that article there was a diagram showing a pumpkin life
cycle, a word bank and definition, maps, and other text features. The focus of the
article was less on telling a story, and more on delivering information. The master
teacher and I went over how to find the information the students would need with
the kids, then we read the articles together as a class. The students found them
engaging, fun, and interactive.
As a teacher of my own classroom my goal will be to make narrative and
expository text fun and enjoyable to read. I will teach my students about narratives
and their characteristics, and meet the needs of all my learners by using story
maps, varying cultural content, and teaching vocabulary to help benefit my
students. Expository text is often looked at as boring and uninteresting. I will use
articles that are fun and relevant to my students. Getting to know my students will
help me choose material that is relevant and applicable to them.