Summary of Results

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

My Action Research Project was to develop a strategy to help struggling readers to understand the main idea in a reading selection. I chose students from my fourth grade class which is housed in a Title 1 school, to participate in my Action Research Project.

I chose this topic for my research project because I have observed students in Title 1 schools in particular, having more difficulty with reading comprehension, especially understanding main idea.

The study began as Cycle 1 in October 2009 with pre-testing utilizing three formal assessments to determine the percentage of understanding of main idea. The results of the initial assessment were that 7 students scored 75% or higher on main idea.

The strategy consisted of the students choosing an avatar to create a character for a story. They were given a plain wooden doll to create their avatar. It could be a mythical character, an imaginary friend, an idol or a career figure. The students painted the avatar in the manner of the character they selected.

Next, students were instructed to write a story with their avatar as the main character. Meanwhile, they were to play with the avatar each time they wrote a passage. I assisted them only by editing their stories for grammar and other writing conventions. I did not make any suggestions as to how it was written or what the context would be. They revised and edited several times before their stories were complete.

Cycle 1 ended in January 2010 with only 11 of the 22 students completing the total writing.

At the end of Cycle 1, all students were again tested with three formative tests, running records that had been kept since October as well as weekly comprehension tests.

The data at the end of Cycle 1 revealed that 11 students out of 22 scored 75% or higher on main idea.

I discovered that some of the students were not motivated enough to complete the writing of their stories at the beginning of Cycle 2. Prior, the students could play with the avatars and paint and write together. Eleven of the students had not completed painting the avatars so I took them away and instructed the 11 that they could not paint until the stories were completed. This was the motivation they needed because the first 11 who completed were now scripting their stories for a digital movie. The first 11 students completed their movies with animation and music about two weeks ahead of schedule. By the end of Cycle 2, all students had completed the project in its entirety.

At the conclusion of Cycle 2, students were again administered the three formal assessments to determine understanding of main idea. The results were outstanding.

Students were also tested on their own stories. There was a 100% pass rate on their stories. The results of the three formal tests showed that 18 out of 22 students scored 75% or higher on main idea. This is an 18% gain from the beginning of Cycle 1 to the end of Cycle 2, utilizing unfamiliar reading passages. I also recorded data for students reading familiar passages and that was a phenomenal 43% increase in understanding main idea.

My research demonstrated what I had discovered during the review of literature;

that, it is crucial for students to have prior knowledge of a topic to more fully understand the main idea. Stevens’ (1998) research demonstrated an increase in understanding main idea better even though prior knowledge was taught about a different topic than one being tested on.

The key for students to understand the main idea is becoming knowledgeable about the character or subject being discussed; the important aspect surrounding the character or subject. Once the student has been exposed to learning about or constructing his own main idea, then the student can have a better understanding because they have created “prior” knowledge.

The following chart is an example of where my students were in understanding main idea a year ago:

This is actual FCAT data. The third grade is representative of my students because I looped to fourth grade with them this year. This data also correlates with actual data for my 22 students, which data was the same for the entire third grade; 63%. I will not have FCAT data to compare this year to last year until June 7-11, 2010; however, I do

have FAIR, DAR and HARCOURT as well as SME, running records and weekly scores. My students’ data is off the charts! Hopefully, when I do have 2010 FCAT scores, it will render the same results.

My critical friends have been very supportive throughout this process offering words of encouragement, suggestions and advice. I am grateful to all of them.

I am hoping to loop to fifth grade with my students so that I can continue this study further. Now that my students have the concept mastered, they don’t need the avatar, they do need to continue to write and apply critical thinking skills to analyze each passage that they read to determine the facts pertaining to the main idea.

What I hope to further accomplish is sharing this concept by way of publishing my findings and sharing this strategy with colleagues worldwide.

It is my belief that this strategy will demonstrate the need for helping students to build upon background knowledge before attempting to understand material for which they have no knowledge. With this concept in place, it will be easier for students to grasp the key to understanding main idea.