Beyond Words: Using The Arts To Enhance Early Reading Comprehension

Synopsis

Dr. Kari-Lynn Winters is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Brock University in Ontario, Canada where she teaches drama-in-education and mentors teacher candidates. She holds a teaching degree from the University of Toronto, in regular and special education for children ages 3-13. She is also a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada (in Montreal), where she earned a certificate in technical theatre. Before completing her graduate degrees she taught in North Carolina for three years and in Toronto for 2 years. Her published work includes both scholarly texts and articles, and award winning picture books for children. Beyond Words reflects her research into the way in which arts can be effectively integrated with a reading program to teach and evaluate global reading comprehension strategies among less proficient readers. The project was undertaken with twelve third and fourth grade readers in a West Vancouver suburban public school for a total of seven months.