Cycle 2- Action Research Plan

Continuing my Plan of Action:

My goal is to discover why Title 1 students typically fail the Main Idea portion of the FCAT (Florida's Comprehension Assessment Test) and then to create a strategy for these students which will assist them in not only passing the FCAT, but to also help them to understand Main Idea.

The problem to be solved: ensure my students pass the Main Idea portion of the FCAT Reading Comprehension exam.

The strategy: I decided to use avatars and digital storytelling in order for my students to understand Main Idea. I thought if they could create a character themselves, write a story about the character, then perhpas they could better grasp what Main Idea is.

The solution: I hope is that by creating a character and following it through the story will give students a better understanding of not only Main Idea, but all aspects of story telling and reading comprehension. Time will tell. FCAT is in 3 weeks!

In Cycle 1, my students created avatars from wooden dolls which they painted in the form of the avatar of their choice. Some are animals, super heroes, flowers, a bee, a Mom, and Mother Nature. They are all quite interesting and imaginative.

The students then developed a story about their avatar. After the completion of the story, I designed a test specifically for each one's avatar. Of the eleven who are ready to publish, all eleven passed the test. The remaining ten students have now completed their final draft and are ready to resume painting of their avatars, and taking a test on their own story.

Given that FCAT is 3 weeks away, I have to delay the start of Cycle 2 for a couple of weeks. We just completed the writing portion of FCAT last week. My eleven students who are ready to publish, probably won't get to publish until FCAT has been completed. However, I am hoping the ten students who completed their final draft will be able to test on their own story before FCAT. I really need to have them accomplish this because their results will show whether or not the strategy is working as well as the results of the FCAT.

Cycle 2 consists of completing the avatars, completing the stories, taking and passing tests related to their stories, and publishing their stories and saving to a DVD to share with family.

My projected finish date was originally March 5, 2010 for all but the writing to a disk. I am still going to try for that date, but it is looking more like April 4th for total completion. Until FCAT has been completed, our school curriculum schedule has been modified and I am not certain that I will be able to incorporate what I need for the students to finish on time.

This month's FSO course is incorporating digital storytelling! How amazing and coincental is that? I will keep you posted.