Using Action Research

To Empower North Carolina Educators

A Race to the Top Initiative

NC Department of Public Instruction

Educator Effectiveness Division

Title of Presentation: Responding to Text:Written Comprehension

Presenter: Amanda Boleratz

District: Orange County Schools

School: Central Elementary

What is Action Research?

Systematic inquiry conducted by teachers andother educators to find solutions for critical,challenging, relevant issues in their classrooms andschools.

Mills, Geoffrey E, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher,2014

What is Action Research?

Main Goals Include:

•Positively impact student outcomes

•Identify and promote effective instructionalpractices

•Create opportunities for teachers to becomereflective practitioners

•Share research results with other educators

Mills, Geoffrey E, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher,2014

What is Action Research?

A systematic research process to:

●Identify an area of focus (critical, challengingissue)

●Develop an action research plan

●Implement action research plan inclassroom/school

●Collect, analyze, and interpret data

●Share findings to inform practice

Mills, Geoffrey E, Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 2014

Responding to Text: WrittenComprehension

•Using writing as part of the reading process helpsstudents connect with the text and strengthentheir comprehension whether they are readingfiction, nonfiction, or a content area textbook.

•Reading response journals require students tointeract with the text and engage in deeperreading in order to create responses to the text.

Problems of Practice

•Think about the barriers your students have withwriting comprehension.

•What hinders them from proficiently respondingto a text?

•Make a list of the barriers you have seen in yourclassroom.

•After two minutes share your list with a partner.

•What factors do you have in common?

What Does Peer-Reviewed Researchsay about my focus area?

Reference (APA format): Peery, Rebecca. (1996). The Effects of the Shared WritingProcess on Reading Comprehension of Second and Third Grade Students.What this study was about: This study determined the effect of shared writing activities on readingcomprehension. The experimental group, who engaged as the same literature as thecontrol group, but received instruction on a wide range of writing activities, scoredsignificantly higher on multiple-choice comprehension questions. The writing activitiesincluded writing prompts where each student was encouraged to expand on his/herideas. Newspaper articles, letter writing, cause and effect webs, journal writing, andcharacter assimilation were some examples of the creative writing activities. Thestudents were essentially working on higher-level thinking while engaged in activetasks in contrast to passive modes of participation.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Focus Statement

The focus of this study is todetermine if readingcomprehension will improveas a result of explicitinstruction on writtenresponse to text.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Purpose of the Study

Based on TRC data, at least half of ourstudents are below grade level. Themajority of these students are fluent andaccurate readers, and can answerquestions orally, but are unable toanswer written comprehensionquestions. Based on instructionalobservations, teachers have not beenmodeling what a written response totext should look like. Teachers have notbeen teaching the academic vocabularynecessary to understand the questions.Through my action research, I hoped toshow teachers that readingcomprehension will improve, if writtenresponse to text is explicitly taught.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Study Participants

•A small group of five 3rdgrade students.

•Student data showed highaccuracy and oralcomprehension, but lowwritten comprehensionbased on the TRCassessment.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Research Questions

•Does writingcomprehension increasereading comprehension?

•Does explicit instruction onresponding to text increasewriting comprehension?

•Does explicit modeling ofresponding to text improvestudent responses?

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Innovation/Intervention

•Reading response journals

•R.A.C.E. model of response

•Explicit modeling

•Gradual release ofresponsibility

•R.A.C.E. Format

•Sample Gradual Release Schedule

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Implementation in theClassroom

Question Stems:

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Implementation in theClassroom

2nd Grade Fiction:

Sample Planning Guide

3rd Grade Nonfiction:

Sample Planning Guide

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Implementation in theClassroom

Explicit Modeling

•Thinking aloud for each stepof the writing process

•Teacher creates an exemplarmodel response that thestudents copy in theirnotebook to use as a guide.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Implementation in theClassroom

•Teacher gradually releasesresponsibility to thestudents, by providingsupport while theyrespond independently,until they are able torespond on their own.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Implementation in the Classroom

Sample of student using the teacher’s modelresponse to guide their response independently.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Implementation in the Classroom

Student #2: Toward the beginning of ourgroup, he does not restate the question orcite evidence. He is using backgroundknowledge.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Implementation in the Classroom

Student #2: Is now restating the question,he still needs to work on citing evidence.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Implementation in the Classroom

Student #2: He is using the same book for adifferent question.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Implementation in the Classroom

Student #2: A few weeks later, he is restatingthe question and cites evidence. He also usesthe same prompt with another book.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Implementation in the Classroom

Student #5: At the beginning of our group, shedid not even address the prompt.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Implementation in the Classroom

Student #5: After a few weeks in the group,there is still no progress.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Implementation in the Classroom

Student #5: After several weeks, she is finallyrestating the question, and addressing theprompt.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Collect Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Implementation in the Classroom

Student #5: She is now able to apply thequestion to another text.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Data Collected

TRC Assessment

BOY

MOY

Student 1

Student 2

Student 3

Student 4

Student 5

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Data Collected

Listening Comprehension

BOY

MOY

Student 1

Student 2

0.25

Student 3

Student 4

Student 5

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Collect Data

Findings

Make Knowledge Public

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Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Collect Data

Findings

•2 students grew 4 readinglevels from BOY to MOY

•1 student grew 3 readinglevels from BOY to MOY

•1 student grew 2 readinglevels from BOY to MOY

•1 student did not make anygrowth.

•This student was diagnosedwith ADD right after MOY,and is now on medication.

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Collect Data

Recommendations

1.Carefully plan lessons

2.Explicitly model

3.Gradual release ofresponsibility

4.Included guided writing inguided reading

5.Repetition

Make Knowledge Public

Analyze/Interpret Data

Innovation/Intervention

Action Research Plan

Collect Data

Recommendations

Model, Support, Expect!

Model

(Whole-group)

•Explicitly model responding tothe text through writing, takingstudents through the entireprocess, while thinking aloud.Create an anchor chart forstudents to refer to.

Support

(Small-group)

•Support students by includingguided writing in your smallgroup reading instruction.

Expect

(Independent)

•Expect students to respond totext through writingindependently, using books ontheir independent reading level.

References

•Yildiz, Ali (2012). Prospective teachers’ comprehension levels of special relativitytheory and the effect of writing for learning on achievement. Australian Journal ofTeacher Education, 37(12), 14-28.

•Yates, Joanne M., (1987). Research Implications for Writing in the Content Areas.National Education AssociationCollins, Carmen. (1981). The Use of Writing to Improve Reading Comprehension.

• Barackman, Linda. (1995). Improving Reading Through Writing.

•Peery, Rebecca. (1996). The Effects of the Shared Writing Process on ReadingComprehension of Second and Third Grade Students.