Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Future Development
I have created a keynote presentation and an article for publication. Today I will publish the keynote.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Final Presentation for Action Research Requirement
There will be 4 entries on this page; however, they are not in the order they will appear on iweb. I aFCAT data next week before I complete my final video.
First entry: Abstract
A STRATEGY TO ASSIST STRUGGLING READERS 1
Abstract
According to Florida Comprehension Assessment Test data, Title 1 students in grades three through five typically score lower on main idea than any other section of the FCAT. Many textbooks are poorly written, thereby not clarifying the relationship between concepts, ideas and sentences. They fail to use precise language or text structure to relate content to main
idea. Communication results from the reader’s construction of meaning through integrating prior knowledge with the information presented in text. Following in depth research, Title 1 students participated in a 6-month study to determine the effectiveness of a strategy, which was designed to help them understand the main idea. Students were tested on main idea prior to implementation of the strategy and 31% of the students passed. After the conclusion of the study, 82% of the students passed the main idea portion of reading comprehension tests.
Literature Review Reflection
This is my Final Literature Review Reflection for my Action Research Project for FSO:
This visual representation of my literature review depicts that struggling readers are
the heart of my research; in particular, students. I chose the image to be in disarray, as
this is how struggling readers view text they do not understand. They can visualize some
order; however, overall it is jumbled. There is no organization of text and a multiplicity
of unfamiliar words. Struggling readers can read and understand some words, but in order
to formulate an understanding of what they are reading and picturing visually, students
must have background knowledge from which to infer meaning.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Transfer of Data from AR website
Due to problems with iWeb and my Action Research web page, I am transferring all of my data to this web site. I will post this url to the iWeb site for those who wish to follow my project.
Cycle 1 Data Analysis
Action Research Project: Develop a strategy to help struggling readers to understand main idea.
Cycle 1- Data Analysis
Data: Throughout Cycle 1, I tested the students weekly on reading comprehension, kept running records, continued to research this topic, analyzed daily writing and reading assignments and utilized student surveys to determine growth in the area of main idea.
I compared test scores from before we initiated Cycle 1 to after the completion of Cycle 1. I have analyzed their writing skills and grammar development as well as each student has been keeping a writing portfolio.
Each student had created a wooden avatar and written a story about the avatar. I tested the students on their own stories with reading comprehension questions including Main Idea, which is what this project is about. Each passed with high scores.
Insight
What I discovered from my data was that students must have some background knowledge in order to understand main idea. The majority of these students have no background knowledge of what their reading text, science and social studies texts are presenting; therefore, students must create their own background knowledge.
Surprises
What I was disappointed with was the fact that not all twenty-one students were on target for completion of Cycle 1 and I had to revise my approach in order to complete it close to the scheduled date.
One major surprise was that the students who range in age from 8-12, had no idea of how to hold a paint brush, dip the paint or mix colors. Another major surprise was that the majority of these students were not familiar with over 20 fairy tales that I named when they were trying to decide what they wanted their avatar to be.
Reaction From Critical Friends
This is a reaction from one of my critical friends: Kerry Marquis
This is from my principal: Angela Hutchinson
This is from Coach Webb:
This comment from Jan Rutherford:
As stated above, I was very pleased with the outcome of the eleven students who completed the Cycle. Even those students who did not complete on time, 60% had overall improvement in each category of reading assessment.
Critical friends have been very supportive of my research and project strategies.
Where do I go from here? What are my next steps? Was it relevant?
Because of the delay in completion of Cycle 1, I had to adjust the start of Cycle 2 by a couple of weeks and because of FCAT testing schedules.
Another small glitch is a change in our curriculum schedule which I did not anticipate. Therefore the students cannot resume their task until after FCAT which will delay my cycle completion by about three weeks.
I realize I will have to tweak Cycle 2 a bit, based upon the fact that only half of the students completed the entire first cycle on time. Instruction in painting which took a week or so, delayed us a little.
I think this is a worthwhile endeavor and I plan to continue with the method I have envisioned. I had to make a few minor adjustments; however, all is well.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
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.
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