As students in the lower elementary grades begin reading expository text, it is an appropriate time to begin teaching them about study skills. According to research by Williams, Hall, and Lauer (2004), students as young as second grade benefit from learning the text structure of expository text, and Hall and Sabey (2007) propose teachers “should teach new skills that are specific to information text” (p. 261). The purpose of this article is to offer four study skills strategies that lower elementary teachers can introduce to their students to help them develop their study skill habits and better understand expository text. Teachers can provide examples of how to read and understand expository text and what it means to study.
Study skills can be defined as specific efforts learners make when attempting to acquire and assimilate knowledge frequently utilized with expository texts (McWhorter, 2008; Williams, 2008; Williams et al., 2004). Study skills strategies can help young readers new to expository text organize and better understand this new format. When students begin learning how to read expository text, study skills strategies support them in their path of becoming independent, self-directed learners (McWhorter, 2008; Williams, 2008; Williams et al., 2004). Burke (2007) defines self-direction as “monitoring one’s own understanding and learning needs, locating appropriate resources, transferring learning from one domain to another” (p. 151). Vacca and Vacca (2008) state, “Students who study texts are self-directed, deliberate in their plans and actions, and conscious of their goals" (p. 290). To become independent learners, students must be able to read expository text and learn what it means to study. Studying, according to Nist, Simpson, Olejnik, and Mealey (1991),
involves the use of a wide range of processes
(e.g., encoding, organizing, determining word
meaning, using executive control), which in
turn are manifested as strategies (e.g.,
annotating, structural and contextual
analysis, mapping, creating a study plan), all
aimed at varying goals (e.g. preparing for
tests). (p. 850)
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Introducing Study Skills in Early Literacy Instruction
by Cindy Hail, Beth Hurst, Randall Wallace, and Deanne Camp
Resourceful Research
Dr. Beth Hurst,
Professor of Literacy
Dr. Cindy Hail,
Professor of Communication Arts
Dr. Randall Wallace,
Associate Professor of Literacy
Dr. Deanna Camp,
Professor of Literacy
Colleagues at Missouri State University