Mv Action Research in a Nutshell

1.      Focus: "How can I effectively implement Guided Reading into my classroom to increase individual reading levels?"

2.      Process:

2.1 Rationale:

• need to implement Guided Reading to improve student's reading levels
• need to assist students in Guided Reading

2.2 Steps:

• test students using the Developmental Reading Assessment(DRA) Kits to see what their current level is
• set up a Guided Reading Program - need to level books
• order books (Literacy Infusion Money)
• set up a library, labeled at levels A to S+ (Fountas & Pinnell)
• make boxes for the students to put their books in
• set up a timetable
• get help if available ie. E. A. , coop student, parental help, to help while children are at their seats
• begin Guided Reading in my classroom, listening to three groups a day
• do the DRA Assessment again second term
• adjust reading levels accordingly
• do the DRA Assessment again third term

3      Findings:

3.1 Small group intense reading was beneficial in improving student's reading level.

3.2 Students enjoyed the reading material and the variety it offered.

3.3 All students improved.

The Action Research Process has been a fantastic growth process for my students and myself. I have learned a great deal about myself and have become more conscious of the importance of being accountable for my daily activities with my students.It is my hope that my students will be excited about reading and about the material that is available for them to read. I hope I will be able to improve my student's confidence in reading along with their achievement levels. I want Guided Reading to be a tool to make reading enjoyable.

Project

Where to begin! In October of 200l our Consultant, Christine Stewart, mentioned at a Grade 3 meeting, that she was looking for volunteers to do an Action Research Project on Guided Reading. At first, I wasn't interested. Why would I add one other commitment to an already demanding schedule. After talking with my very supportive principal and learning the importance of taking on such a commitment, I phoned Christine Stewart. I felt I was embarking on a new adventure that I knew nothing about. With the help of a few resources, I began to read about Action Research and Guided Reading. I had the opportunity to attend the Guided Reading Conference by Cindy Merrilees in February of 2001. At that time, I did not know what Guided Reading was or how to implement it into my classroom effectively, after only one exposure at a conference. Feeling a bit stagnant in what I was doing on a daily basis and remembering a bit from the previous conference, I jumped at the opportunity to learn to help my students by helping myself. Anne LaRoche, Cheryl-Lyn Boyko -Summerfield and I began implementing a Guided Reading Program into our classroom in December 2001.

I learned that Action Research, according to Jack Whitehead(2001) is "a commitment to educational improvement, using a research question, putting the "I" at the centre of the research. It is research that is informed, committed and intentional." Doing an Action Research project made sense. I was hoping to improve my student's reading ability by implementing Guided Reading into my classroom. I learned that Guided Reading was an instructional process in which the teacher provided the support the children needed to read the text that was at their instructional level. I learned that I should have a maximum of six students per group and so, in my case, I would have six groups. I learned that I would provide appropriate instruction and give my students the opportunity to practise the strategies needed to be successful readers. Once 1 understood both, I was ready to begin my work/research.

Setup

In order for me to begin my Action Research in my classroom, I needed to set up my Guided Reading Program. The steps I took were as follows:

1. My students were leveled using the Developmental Reading Assessment(DRA) Kits. This was done by our literacy teacher as I was learning how to use the DRA Kit as well.
2. I put together boxes and labeled each group by colours. 1= red, H=orange, N=Yellow, N=green, O=purple, S=pink. These were just a random choice of colours.
3. I found reading material that each group needed to use and made follow-up activities.
4. I planned a timetable for the groups.

• Days 1,3,5 = Groups 1,2,3
• Days 2,4, 6 = Groups 4, 5,6 10:30 - 10:50 a.m., Group 1 or 4
• 10:50 - 11:10 a.m. Group2 or 5
• 11:10- 11:30 a.m. Group 3 or 6 (These could be changed if incidentals came up and I was unable to teach Guided Reading that day.)

I posted the daily routine for students to follow. I found that the students were able to complete their work if they had a routine to follow.

1. Activities from Guided Reading
2. Journal Entry
3. Reading Response (the student's own choice of reading and a response following the Response Log outline on the blackboard)
4. Phonic Activities
5. I had an E.A. in on Days 1,3,5, a Co-op in on Days 2,4 and a Parent Volunteer on Day 6.
6. I made a checklist for the students who were working at their desks to make sure they were completing their work/assignments daily.

Plan of Action

My plan of action began with some reading. First I had to learn what Action Research and Guided Reading was all about. A few excellent resources were given to our team. They included:

1. The Learning School by Ruth Sutton
2. You and Your Action Research Project by Jean McNiff, Pamela Lomax and Jack Whitehead
3. Action Research and School Improvement through Research- Based Professionalism by Jackie Delong and Ron Wideman
4. Action Research for Professional Development by Jean McNiff
5. Guided Reading by Fountas and Pinnell
6. On Solid Ground by Sharon Taberski
7. Effectively Using Guided Reading by Cindy Merrilees

I also had the opportunity to see and speak with Jack Whitehead, University of Bath, at the Ontario Educational Research Council's(OERC) conference in December,2001. This was a remarkable workshop which gave me a further insight into Action Research.

Our team consisting of Anne LaRoche, Cheryl Lynn Boyko-Summerfield and myself, met and chose an Action Research question. Once our question was chosen, it gave us an avenue to proceed. We then disbanded and went our separate ways and began the process to implement Guided Reading into our classrooms.

• My next challenge was to learn what Guided Reading was. Cindy Merrilees defined Guided Reading as:
• "small group activity involving four to six children working with an unseen book."
• the child's role "is to create meaning independently while drawing support from the group and the teacher."
• the teacher's role is to "observe, monitor, affirm, and respond to the child's needs" rather than provide the answers.
• "Guided Reading groups are formed by placing together students who have a common need at a particular time."
• "students read material at a 90-94% accuracy rate which is their instructional reading level."

Fountas and Pinnell(1999) further defined Guided Reading as a way that the teacher can show children how to read and can support children as they read. According to Fountas and Pinnell the ultimate goal in Guided Reading is to "teach individuals to read increasingly difficult texts with understanding and fluency" (p. 200). I proceeded to set up a Guided Reading Program in my classroom. It did take time but it was worth it.

I set up a personal time line to follow. It went as follows:

1. November 2001 - get prepared, assess students' reading level with the help of our Literacy Teacher and put students into groups
2. December 2001 - begin Guided Reading in my classroom
3. January/February 2002 - continue and monitor the students
4. March 2002 - DRA Kits used to assess the students a second time to see their progress and place them in their respective groups. Comment on their reading level on their report card.
5. April/May - introduce testing material to help prepare the Grade3*s for the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) test.
6. June - DRA Kits used to assess students and see which level they achieved. Pass this information on to the next grade teacher.

Implementing My Plan

Creating Groups

Once my students' reading levels were established, I proceeded to place them in their respective groups. I ended up with six groups. What was fascinating was that I ended up with my Grade 2's in with my Grade 3's and vice versa. I covered boxes with construction paper. I put the names of each student and their reading level on the boxes. This helped me to keep them organized. Finding reading material was a chore. It took time to read the lists from Fountas and Pinnell and the lists that the Early Literacy Teachers made. I leveled some books within my own Reading Centre. Once a package of leveled reading books was purchased, it made finding stories more manageable. The students who were beyond level "Q"began reading novels.

Creating a Daily Schedule:

I reorganized my day so Guided Reading would be the same time, each day. This helped me to keep organized, knowing who was coming and on what day. It also gave me the opportunity to have an Educational Assistant present on days 1, 3, 5 and a co-op student on days 2 and 4. Day 6 was the only day that the group, at their seats, had to work totally independently.

Dealing with Small and Large Groups:

Dealing with the small and large group activities was challenging at first because the noise level tended to get high but once we were in the routine and the students knew what was expected, they worked independently. The strategies I used for keeping the noise level down were ideas like putting my hand up and counting with my fingers , after having a group I would circulate and see what was being accomplished and I would re-enforce the rules of Guided Reading at our discussion time. I wrote a list on chart paper of what the students at their seats were to do. I found this was helpful as I could refer back to it, in between reading groups.

I made a checklist to monitor the work that was being done during their activity time. I also prepared papers with each group's names on them and purchased a small clipboard. This I used daily to record how the students read and also to keep a running record of what they read to me. It helped me to focus on what each student needed to improve upon ie. reading strategies or fluency.

Findings

Once the organization and preparation was completed, we began reading. The findings showed themselves almost immediately:

I found the students enjoyed reading in small group situations. It gave each student the opportunity to express themselves in a more informal way. They didn't need to feel as threatened as some would when speaking in front of a whole class situation.

I found myself focusing on what was important to each group and to each individual student. I enjoyed the time I could discuss their reading and really found out what each student liked and disliked about their stories.

I found out that my students could very easily relate their reading to their own life situations. I found that the students who had prior knowledge to what we were discussing showed more interested in the book. I also had students wanting to do research, self-extending their reading.

I had students who went from reading in a choppy way to reading fluently, in short phrases. I had students meeting the expectations and using reading strategies independently.

I found that the activities didn't always have to be a pencil/paper-tasks. When we read about making pizzas, the students made pizzas for the class. When we read about totem poles, the students made their own totem poles and had to tell the rest of the class about them. The students made puppet plays, did research on the computer, made dioramas about the setting of their stories, made hats, and many other things.

The best part of Guided Reading was when the students shared with the rest of the class. This was a component that Anne LaRoche had suggested to me and it worked very well. The students were thrilled and I took photos of them. Some photos are included:

The DRA Kits were beneficial in assessing the reading level of the students. Without the kits, I do not think the students would have been leveled properly. All the students went up in their levels and some even jumped a few levels. This was evident after the second DRA assessment that I did.

A challenge was always the students left at their seats. I found that if I kept them busy, they worked diligently. Having an extra body in the room also was a great asset. If the students had a question, that person could answer it. The person "floating" around also had a checklist that enabled them to record what was completed. This helped me to see who was not completing their activities and I would then work with them at lunch time. I also changed my seating arrangement. My students soon fell into routine and knew what was expected of them. It was amazing how quickly the Guided Reading hour went. I enjoyed it as well and had established a system that worked well for me.

The students improved in all aspects of the reading program. The chart on the next page shows the levels when I began in November as well as my DRA testing in March, April and June. All students improved.

Conclusions

I found myself being accountable for my student's reading and knowing exactly where they were at and what help they needed to proceed. The students enjoyed reading and were thrilled when it was Guided Reading Time. Some comments made by the students about Guided Reading were:

Zoey: "I liked Guided Reading because you get to write sentences about the book."

Michael: "I liked Guided Reading because I liked reading to the teacher."

Zachary: "I liked Guided Reading because I liked the learning skills that you taught us."

Taylor: "I liked Guided Reading because I liked reading to the teacher and I love to read."

Guided reading enhanced my literacy program. I still had a shared reading time and during their Guided Reading time, they had a Reading Workshop time when they could choose their preferred reading material. Our school hosted a Curriculum Fair in April 2002. As evidence of my confidence in my literacy program, I felt very comfortable discussing the Literacy Program to the parents.

I have also used the Guided Reading time to go over the stories for the Grade 3 EQAO testing. I found this time, spent in small groups, was beneficial in guiding my students and showing them what the different levels entailed. They too were very surprised at the different work for the different levels. It appeared to make the Grade 3 testing less invasive for them. Unfortunately, I could also tell who would do well with the testing and who would have difficulty. My next step will be to try the Four Blocks Way(2000) to Literacy. I would like to implement this into my program in the fall. I think it would be more manageable with a straight grade than a split grade.

I will definitely continue with Guided Reading in the fall. I will be looking for boxes that are more durable as this was the only downfall. The boxes I made out of cereal boxes did not hold together very well. They were the right price but not strong enough. I have learned that taking a step forward into something unknown is worth it. My students are reading and have improved in their learning. Guided Reading is worth the effort!

References

Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. (2001). Guiding Readers and Writers. Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann.

McNiff, J., Lomax, P. & Whitehead, J. (1996). You and Your Action Research Project. London: Routledge.

McNiff, J. (2002). Action Research for Professional Development. Available online: www.jeanmcniff.com.

Sutton, R. (1997). The Learning School. Salford, England: RS Publications.

Taberski, Sharon. (2000). On Solid Ground. Portsmouth NH: Heinemann