George Washington Carver Elementary Krysta and Kaitlin
Slide 2
Connection to SIP One of the goals of the SIP: To improve
students writing (p. 12 in SIP) We will focus on vocabulary
Throughout the SIP vocabulary was an area of weakness for all
students Grades 3-5 have limited experiences with exposure to a
wide range of vocabulary (p. 4-5 in SIP)
Slide 3
Population Elementary students at George Washington Carver
Elementary One 4 th grade class (22) One 5 th grade class (20) now
one 1 st grade class (19)
Slide 4
Vocabulary Graffiti students compose drawings that are related
to the words they are learning Spencer & Guillaume, 2009
Slide 5
The Research Edens and Potter (2001) found that students have
to select, organize and represent ideas when images are drawn by
the students Bromley (2007) found that a students memory is
supported by drawing images because the information has to be
translated from one form to another Personal associations with
unfamiliar words can also form (Hopkins & Bean, 1998-1999;
Standerfer, 2006)
Slide 6
Implementation Introduce three vocabulary words throughout the
day in different subjects Students will be given a new vocabulary
word and asked to take out their writing journals Students will be
given 5 minutes to draw their vocabulary graffiti and then we will
move on Students will have the vocabulary graffiti for reference in
their writing journals
Slide 7
Why Vocabulary Graffiti? Enhance students vocabulary, which
will enhance students writing (this is a goal of the SIP, p. 12)
Students will have the opportunity to use their new vocabulary
words in their journals Connecting the usage of vocabulary in the
different subjects throughout the day Spencer, B. H. &
Guillaume, A. M. (2009). 35 strategies for developing content area
vocabulary. Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon.
Slide 8
Pre/Post Test Sample question (Fourth Grade): 1. What is the
definition of waterfall? a. A steep descent of the water of a
river. b. An indentation of a shoreline larger than a cover but
smaller than a gulf c. A larger body of water. d. A body of water
surrounded by land.
Slide 9
Sample question (First grade): 1. leaf
Slide 10
Goal To have the students journal entries improve in the word
choice category of the 6+1 Trait Writing Model (Education
Northwest, 1980s) How will we do this? Compare previous journal
entries before our implementation of the vocabulary graffiti to
journal entries after out implementation New goal: To have the
students knowledge of vocabulary words increase Compare pre tests
and post tests
Slide 11
6+1 Traits Writing Model Developed by Education Northwest in
the 1980s because of the need for a better way to gather
information about students writing Seven qualities Ideas
Organization Voice Word choice Sentence fluency Conventions
Presentation Rubric scored from 1 to 4 We are focusing on the
improvement of the word choice trait
Slide 12
Research Questions Does vocabulary graffiti increase vocabulary
usage in journal entries? Does vocabulary graffiti increase
students knowledge of vocabulary words?
Slide 13
Data Collection Plan Pre/Post Vocabulary Test Journal Analysis
using 6 + 1 Writing Traits Model Does vocabulary graffiti increase
vocabulary usage in journal entries? N/ACompare journal entries for
word choice category before and after vocabulary graffiti
implementation Does vocabulary graffiti increase students knowledge
of vocabulary words? See if the students scores increase because of
vocabulary interventions Compare journal entries for word choice
category before and after vocabulary graffiti implementation
Slide 14
Timeline for each group member Give pre test on Monday, October
18 th Implement vocabulary graffiti throughout the weeks of October
18 th, October 25 th, and November 1 st Give post test on week of
November 1st
Slide 15
Pre-Post Test Findings: 1 st Grade Mean of pretest Mean of
posttest p-value (n=17) 64.68235 81.35294 0.008265
Slide 16
Pre-testPost-test Student A 100 Student B 5033.3 Student C 100
Student D 5083.3 Student E 33.3100 Student F 83.3100 Student G
33.383.3 Student H 5083.3 Student I 066.6 Student J 83.3100 Student
K 83.3 Student L 33.3 Student M 83.3100 Student N 83.3 Student O
83.3100 Student P 83.3 Student Q 66.650
Distracter Analysis Question 1 D = 0.06 AB*CD Upper 8 Students
0800 Lower 8 Students 2600
Slide 19
1 st Grade Discussion Students enjoyed connecting words to
pictures Vocabulary graffiti proved effective for circling the
picture in relation to the vocabulary word Students excited when
they got to do the same test again
Item analysis- post test ItemPNCItem AItem BItem CItem D
10.919*19011 20.91920*190 30.9191*1910 40.8164*1610 50.95201*2000
60.9520100*20 70.91911*190 80.9520*20001 90.919002*19
100.85181*1811
Slide 26
Slide 27
Distracter analysis Item 3Answer 1Answer 2 *Answer 3Answer
4Omit p=.9, D-= -.20 Upper 11 Students38000 Lower 11 Students110000
Which of these men would you consider feeble?
Slide 28
4 th Grade Discussion Students enjoyed this activity Hands on
Group work Significant difference between scores on pre/post test
The post-assessments for was too easy- consider rewriting
Slide 29
Does vocabulary graffiti increase students knowledge of
vocabulary words? Vocabulary graffiti does increase students
knowledge of vocabulary Students scores in both 1 st grade and 4 th
grade on the vocabulary posttests improved significantly
Slide 30
Does vocabulary graffiti increase vocabulary usage in journal
entries? We were not able to look into this research question
because of a switch in placement Not enough information in the
journals in 1 st grade To keep consistent across grade levels, we
decided to not use the 6+1 writing traits model to compare journal
entries
Slide 31
Implications Confounding variables Original research design was
compromised due to extenuating circumstances
Slide 32
Next Steps Incorporate into first grade curriculum Tweak design
of delivery of vocabulary graffiti Vocabulary graffiti is a fun,
engaging activity that should be used to directly instruct
vocabulary