Action ResearchStudents K and MKindergarten
Steffani BaxterECE Block 2014
Action Research Question
How can students K and M increase their fluency skills while researching something that they do not know about?
Initial Meeting with Teacher
O Both students were chosen because of their reading level.
O The teacher wanted them to increase their fluency skills.
O Both students were two of the top fluent readers in the class.
O The teacher wanted them to be able to participate in an extra project. The students eventually would repot their findings to the class.
O Higher end studentsO Area of focus: Fluency
Best Practice Strategies
O Choral Reading: When the teacher and student read together.
- Chose age appropriate books- Both students got the chance to read with me. - Many types of choral reading as well. ( Paige 2014).
- Partner Reading:- Done by allowing struggling readers to read with another student.
- Students K &M took turn reading pages in the books chosen.
- Allowed the students to practice good expression and smoothness.
Best Practice Strategies
O Repeated Readings: When working with the student's, we read the same book more than once. This allowed the students to increase their pace and word recognition ( Manning 2014).
- This strategy also helped improve the students comprehension and oral performance while reading.
Baseline Data O Reading Interest Inventories: This assessment showed me what the students enjoyed reading. I found out that both students really enjoyed reading.
O Words Correct Per Minute(WCPM)- Student K: 81 at the beginning and at the end 82 WCPM.
- Student M: 78 at the beginning and at the end 81 WCPM.
Baseline Data Continued
O Multidimensional Fluency ScaleStudent K: At the beginning Student K scored a 13/20 on the Scale. On the Expression section of the scale she scored a 2. For smoothness section, this student scored a 3. Student M: At the beginning Student M scored a 12/20. On the expression part of the scale she scored a 1. For the smoothness section, the student scored a 3.
What We DidO Choral Readings- The students and I did choral readings of Caterpillar to Butterfly and Butterfly.
O Repeated Readings- The students and I did many readings of Caterpillar to Butterfly and Butterfly.
O Partner Readings- Students K and M took turns reading the books about butterflies.
Final Assessment Data
O Student M Final Assessment:- WCPM- 81- Multidimensional Fluency Scale- 17/20
O Student K Final Assessment: - WCPM- 82- Multidimensional Fluency Scale- 16/20.
Successes and Failures
O Engaging activitiesO Good modeling O Consistent
instructionO Best practice
strategies to increase fluency.
O Met with the students more frequently
O When teaching expression, I should have used sentence strips to model good expression.
Reflection O Both students increased on their expression
and smoothness while reading.O After looking at the data, it was clear to
see that both students increased their fluency skills.
O After finishing this project, both students should continue to practice their expression while reading.
O When the students work with their teacher, they should show her how they can read with good expression and smoothness.
O I also noticed that both students confidence increased as well.
References OManning, M., Lewis, M., & Lewis, M. (2010). Revisiting silent
sustained reading; An update of the research. In E.H. Hiebert & D.R. Reutzal (Eds.)., Silent reading revisited New directions for teachers and researchers (pp. 112-128). Newark, D.E:International Reading Association.
OPaige, D.D (2011). “That sounded good!” Using whole-class choral reading to improve fluency. The Reading Teacher, 64(6), 435-438
ORasinski, T.V. (2009). Essential readings on fluency. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
OReutzel, D., & Cooter, R. (2008). Teaching children to read: The teacher makes the difference (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.