This Action Research is hypothetically intended to accommodate the following participants;
Demographics:
Grade: 2nd
Gender: 14 girls and 10 boys
Students with specific needs: 7 ELL students
This research will take place within the district of the Guam Department of Education in a second grade classroom at Captain H.B. Price Elementary. ELL students and struggling readers will be the main participants of this research along with their classmates who may play a significant influence to their reading success.
Identifying Issue:
The problem consists of identifying the learning needs of struggling readers including English Language Learners in developing skills necessary for fluency and comprehension.
HS/V (Version of the question when you have a hypothesis or strategy):
What happens when I scaffold proper thinking strategies for ELL students that would facilitate deeper learning in terms of deeper knowledge and higher order thinking skills?
Note: The action research question is focused enough to be "do-able" because teacher knowledge and preparation of providing appropriate reading strategies is required to address reading gaps in fluency and comprehension. Since ELL students are the main participants of this study, the researcher (general education teacher) can team up with other school personnel especially the ESL instructor to improve their reading and language skills.
Promising Intervention:
Based on the review of the professional literature and research, the solution to my HS/V to develop greater levels of understanding would be implementing careful and flexible guidance of giving appropriate comprehension strategies, which would form around questions that would activate prior knowledge and build on critical thinking and higher order thinking skills through teacher to student and student to student interactions.
A) What will happen with the participants? Specify what participants will experience as part of the research.
The participants will be taught reading strategies for comprehending age appropriate and instructional texts, whether they would be nonfiction or fiction texts. They will learn to converse with each other students in exchanging ideas during cooperative learning. Many visual aids will be provided to accommodate them in small group instruction and independent practice.
B) How will the research be conducted? Specify what needs to be accomplished in order for the research to be conducted with the participants.
2nd grade ELL students will be taught explicitly how to use nonfiction and fiction texts during small group instruction at their specific reading levels for 20 minutes each day. If teacher assistants are available, then they would be taught the strategies ahead of time to assist ELL students during independent practice and when necessary, ELL students will be closely monitored by receiving one to one instruction on reading fluency and comprehension tasks.
C) When will the research be conducted? Establish a timeline or schedule for conducting all phases of the Action Research.
To obtain and evaluate more consistent results of the ELL students reading levels’ it would be best to conduct this research in two consecutive (first and second) or alternating quarters (first and third) within the same school year. Depending on the difficulty of the child’s reading performance, then it would seem fitting to conduct research the first and third quarters just so that the researcher is given more time to reflect in between to measure and assess the students’ progress, and seek alternative ways to help students increase their reading skills in fluency and comprehension. It will begin during the second week of school each day reading block except for Fridays which are mainly testing days. Students will be divided into small groups and ELL students will be paired up with who speak English and possibly their first language. The small group instruction will occur each day of the week for the students involved. If ELL students are taken out for services during reading block, then I would follow up with the ESL instructor regarding their reading skills and still implement small group instruction with them during content areas such as social studies, science, or health.
Data Collection Techniques:
To carry out my action research and seek possible solutions, I would conduct semi-structured interviews with second grade teachers regarding effective reading routines especially that would address the needs of English Language Learners and struggling readers. Because students come from different cultural backgrounds, I would request permission to use audio recordings to help me identify the strengths and struggles in their reading fluency. Small interviews with the students could also be conducted. To get a faster input on their personal perspectives of how they feel toward their teacher's reading routines, guided practices, and comprehension strategies, age appropriate attitude scales would be given. Along with observations and taking anecdotal notes, I would also collect student work samples and pictures of chart guides that aid active and skillful reading habits. To acquire more critical feedback from all second grade teachers, ESL instructors, other reading specialists, and school administrators, I would request a focus group meeting to discuss matters of reading improvement, such as various ways to properly implement modifications and creative ways to help educate and build confidence in our students about their reading capabilities.
Other Concerns/Anticipated Obstacles:
ELL and struggling students may learn best with lots of visual, word matching, and practice. My main concern would be making the appropriate accommodations and modifications possible for a 2nd grade ELL student who is below grade level to meet 2nd grade level standards especially within the Common Core State Standards curriculum. Not all learners are at the same reading level. Therefore, it is best to send struggling learners and students below grade level including ELL students immediately for testing. If I had a learner who is a newly transferred student and recognize any difficulty in reading, then I would immediately send him or her for testing. If parents or guardians do not fill out home language surveys for services, I would seek advice from the ESL instructors, other 2nd grade teachers who have ELL students, and administrators if necessary, and other outside resources regarding techniques to help my ELL students.
Demographics:
Grade: 2nd
Gender: 14 girls and 10 boys
Students with specific needs: 7 ELL students
This research will take place within the district of the Guam Department of Education in a second grade classroom at Captain H.B. Price Elementary. ELL students and struggling readers will be the main participants of this research along with their classmates who may play a significant influence to their reading success.
Identifying Issue:
The problem consists of identifying the learning needs of struggling readers including English Language Learners in developing skills necessary for fluency and comprehension.
HS/V (Version of the question when you have a hypothesis or strategy):
What happens when I scaffold proper thinking strategies for ELL students that would facilitate deeper learning in terms of deeper knowledge and higher order thinking skills?
Note: The action research question is focused enough to be "do-able" because teacher knowledge and preparation of providing appropriate reading strategies is required to address reading gaps in fluency and comprehension. Since ELL students are the main participants of this study, the researcher (general education teacher) can team up with other school personnel especially the ESL instructor to improve their reading and language skills.
Promising Intervention:
Based on the review of the professional literature and research, the solution to my HS/V to develop greater levels of understanding would be implementing careful and flexible guidance of giving appropriate comprehension strategies, which would form around questions that would activate prior knowledge and build on critical thinking and higher order thinking skills through teacher to student and student to student interactions.
A) What will happen with the participants? Specify what participants will experience as part of the research.
The participants will be taught reading strategies for comprehending age appropriate and instructional texts, whether they would be nonfiction or fiction texts. They will learn to converse with each other students in exchanging ideas during cooperative learning. Many visual aids will be provided to accommodate them in small group instruction and independent practice.
B) How will the research be conducted? Specify what needs to be accomplished in order for the research to be conducted with the participants.
2nd grade ELL students will be taught explicitly how to use nonfiction and fiction texts during small group instruction at their specific reading levels for 20 minutes each day. If teacher assistants are available, then they would be taught the strategies ahead of time to assist ELL students during independent practice and when necessary, ELL students will be closely monitored by receiving one to one instruction on reading fluency and comprehension tasks.
C) When will the research be conducted? Establish a timeline or schedule for conducting all phases of the Action Research.
To obtain and evaluate more consistent results of the ELL students reading levels’ it would be best to conduct this research in two consecutive (first and second) or alternating quarters (first and third) within the same school year. Depending on the difficulty of the child’s reading performance, then it would seem fitting to conduct research the first and third quarters just so that the researcher is given more time to reflect in between to measure and assess the students’ progress, and seek alternative ways to help students increase their reading skills in fluency and comprehension. It will begin during the second week of school each day reading block except for Fridays which are mainly testing days. Students will be divided into small groups and ELL students will be paired up with who speak English and possibly their first language. The small group instruction will occur each day of the week for the students involved. If ELL students are taken out for services during reading block, then I would follow up with the ESL instructor regarding their reading skills and still implement small group instruction with them during content areas such as social studies, science, or health.
Data Collection Techniques:
To carry out my action research and seek possible solutions, I would conduct semi-structured interviews with second grade teachers regarding effective reading routines especially that would address the needs of English Language Learners and struggling readers. Because students come from different cultural backgrounds, I would request permission to use audio recordings to help me identify the strengths and struggles in their reading fluency. Small interviews with the students could also be conducted. To get a faster input on their personal perspectives of how they feel toward their teacher's reading routines, guided practices, and comprehension strategies, age appropriate attitude scales would be given. Along with observations and taking anecdotal notes, I would also collect student work samples and pictures of chart guides that aid active and skillful reading habits. To acquire more critical feedback from all second grade teachers, ESL instructors, other reading specialists, and school administrators, I would request a focus group meeting to discuss matters of reading improvement, such as various ways to properly implement modifications and creative ways to help educate and build confidence in our students about their reading capabilities.
Other Concerns/Anticipated Obstacles:
ELL and struggling students may learn best with lots of visual, word matching, and practice. My main concern would be making the appropriate accommodations and modifications possible for a 2nd grade ELL student who is below grade level to meet 2nd grade level standards especially within the Common Core State Standards curriculum. Not all learners are at the same reading level. Therefore, it is best to send struggling learners and students below grade level including ELL students immediately for testing. If I had a learner who is a newly transferred student and recognize any difficulty in reading, then I would immediately send him or her for testing. If parents or guardians do not fill out home language surveys for services, I would seek advice from the ESL instructors, other 2nd grade teachers who have ELL students, and administrators if necessary, and other outside resources regarding techniques to help my ELL students.