Yet another snow day is upon us! Although I am not collecting data in the classroom today, I will take this time to explain the reasoning behind the research and the context of my classroom. First, I will note that all names (school and students) used in this blog will be pseudonyms. I will be looking at using different methods of fluency with my first grade students to see which is most beneficial to use in the classroom. I am trying to build fluency within my classroom as many of my students are reading below grade level. They are still looking at words and sounding out the individual sounds in the word. It is my goal that all of my students leave the first grade reading fluently. I believe that it is important that students are feeling accomplished so they are more likely to have a positive attitude towards reading. This is why I am also looking at the reading attitudes of my first grade readers. I am still in the process of receiving consent forms back from parents signed (snow days have really delayed this process). I had my students sign a letter of assent and they all agreed to participate. I will be splitting the participating students into three groups. This will be a random assignment. I will not be grouping the students based on ability level. One group will receive the HELPS Program, one group repeated reading, and the other group will receive extra instruction of our Houghton Mifflin Reading Series. I will be working with each group a total of thirty minutes a week. Below you will see a short explanation of each group.
Group 1 (HELPS Program)- HELPS consists of easy-to-use instructional strategies that are specifically designed to improve students' reading fluency (Begeny, 2009-2013). This program is available online and is free of cost. The program includes: structured, repeated reading, model reading, error-correction procedures, verbal cues, goal-setting, performance feedback, and systematic praise. You can find more information about HELPS at the link listed below:
The HELPS Program
Group 2 (Repeated Reading)- This is a simple intervention that helps students with reading fluency. The reading passage selected should only be about 100 to 200 words in length. The students read the passage all the way though one time. If the student is having trouble with a word, read the word aloud and have the student repeat the word correctly. After the student reads the passage though once, have him or her read the passage again. The students should read the passage a total of three to four times (Dowhower and Herman, 1985-1987).
Group 3 (Houghton Mifflin)- This is the reading series that I use in my first grade classroom. This group will be receiving an extra 30 minutes of instruction each week.
I will be tracking their progress each week. With all of this said, I can't wait to return to school and dive into the research!
I am very interested in hearing about how HELPS works in your classroom. I know the 1st grade teachers at our school are always looking for new ideas. We also have a low reading group this year and I would love to be able to offer this idea to them. I can't wait to hear more...when you finally get back to school. :)
ReplyDeleteDevon,
ReplyDeleteI am so eager to see where your research goes since I too teach first grade. We have been looking heavily at our MAP data at my school and how to improve our instruction to improve their scores. I am interested to see which off these three methods you find to yield the best results.
How are you deciding how to assign kids to a group--remember that is a part of the research design process, and, as such, has a specific name. It's not random assignment since they are all in your class. So try to find out and put that in your methods section.
ReplyDelete