Governor’s Teacher Network

 An initiative funded by North Carolina’s Race to the Top (RttT) grant, the GTN will provide a statewide platform for approximately 450

teachers from across our state to serve for one year as instructional & professional

development experts and facilitators. GTN teachers remain in their current roles, but will

also work to gain a deeper understanding of the State's RttT-funded work in one of two

"pathways“, lesson planning and professional development.

To improve Exceptional Children (EC) student reading comprehension skills using explicit reading

comprehension strategies

Purpose of the Study

4th grade Exceptional Children (EC) students that are reading at least two grade levels

below their peers

Participants

How can the use of explicit reading comprehension strategies be used to improve Exceptional Children (EC) student reading comprehension? ◦ Conduct explicit, direct reading comprehension strategy

lessons in a small group sessions in the resource room 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week

◦ Reference “Strategies that Work” by Stephanie Harvey beginning with Chapter 6

◦ Utilize Metacognition, Activating Prior Knowledge, and Questioning

◦ Develop a gradual release of responsibility

Research Question

Pre- and Post-reading interest survey Weekly AIMSweb MAZE Progress Monitoring Probes Reading Comprehension Tests Anecdotal Notes

Data Collection

September◦ Monitoring Comprehension

October and November◦ Connecting to Background Knowledge

December and January◦ Questioning

February◦ Analyze and Interpret Data

March◦ Write up Finding and Create an Action plan

April and May ◦ Disseminate findings

Timeline

Be able to describe the impact that writing has on reading comprehension and on the critical thinking and processing skills that are involved with reading

Examine how the use of small group/partner math interventions in the areas of number sense, rounding, mental math, and math fact fluency can be used with students in the third grade to improve foundational math skills

Examine the effects of student-led conferences using portfolios on parent involvement in my freshman English 1 classroom

Regional Research

Observe the effects of interactive read-alouds and their relationship to increased reading comprehension among third grade students who have been identified as struggling readers

Regional Research (Cont’d)