And the Action Research Project has come to an end….

What a crazy few months it has been! Between my school’s renovation, resignation of our Principal and Administrative Dean, monthly schedule and student changes, AND an action research project…. I am worn out! All chaos aside, I am satisfied with the outcome of this project. Granted, there were plenty of times I felt the complete opposite, but I am glad I stuck with it! My students have been so wonderful through this rollercoaster and I owe all my success to them – I have some pretty special 4^th graders :) 

Now, let’s reflect….

At the beginning of this project, I wasn’t quite sure how this would all turn out. And honestly, I am still not super excited about the end result (like I said, satisfied) but it was quite the learning experience. I can proudly say that I have completed my first Action Research project – not quite sure if there will be another in the future! If I have learned anything from this process, I’ve learned to appreciate planning and organization a lot more than when I started. This project forced me to sit down and strategically plan every minute of my Small Group instruction. Through this, I was constantly incorporating before, during, and after reading strategies that I know helped my students and myself tremendously. This project also forced me to think outside of the box when planning these activities. I was constantly thinking of, and researching new methods of introducing a text, or incorporating science content into reading.

I am definitely pleased with the implementation of my dialogue journals and the narrow reading strategy. Both were new to me, and I am so happy they have been a strong component of my reading instruction. Being new to (and incredibly intimidated of) Science content, the narrow reading strategy helped me get a better grasp of what it is I am supposed to be teaching. Through this strategy, my students were exposed to a large assortment of text, while allowing me to slip in essential reading instruction. My students were so excited when I would introduce new books that correlated with our Science lessons, and this was probably the best part of this project. Seeing them rush to the bookshelf to read a book about reptiles, or hiding the Hide and Seek camouflage book in their desk was amazing!

The dialogue journals have also been incredibly fun. It is so important for teachers to take the time out of their instruction-packed days to truly get to know their students. And I feel like these journals have allowed me to do just that! I would like to get journals for the rest of my class started, and if not, I will definitely incorporate this activity next year with my entire class. I think I will have to split the class up into assigned days, because it was challenging to keep up with. The students enjoy learning about and questioning me as much as I do them.

Through this project, I have learned about two wonderful teaching techniques that I will definitely incorporate in the future. I have become more organized and intentional in my planning and instruction. My students’ attitudes toward reading and learning have improved, making teaching so much more enjoyable. Don’t get me wrong – this process was anything but rainbows and butterflies. It had its unforeseen twists and turns, and just when I thought I was on the right track, I was thrown for another loop. But I survived. And I learned a few things along the way :)

Narrow Reading: My Favorite So Far

An activity students completed this week incorporating the narrow reading strategy has been my favorite so far. In Science, we began studying ecosystems and food chains. To build on this in small group, I separated students into two groups and assigned them either the rainforest ecosystem or the taiga. The reading required for this activity was a short passage about each, describing what the ecosystem looks like, the organisms that live there, the climate, etc. After students read the passage, they answered five, short comprehension questions. Next, each group created a summary, highlighting key details about their ecosystem. Then, I worked with each group to brainstorm a list of 20 words related to the ecosystem – this was the fun part. The brainstorming allowed me to determine how well students understood what their ecosystem looked like, and identified the information students remembered from their passage. Once our list was created, I explained the creative component of this lesson. Students were given large sheets of construction paper. The 20 words we brainstormed became the border. Inside the border, students created an illustration of their ecosystem, which again let me know how well they were able to comprehend what they read. When evaluating the students’ drawings, I noted that they were all very similar looking – meaning all students were on the same page and demonstrated a strong understanding of the passage and their ecosystem!

If I Could Start All Over....

My first attempt at an action research project would best be described as a rollercoaster. I know. Not very creative, but its true! I looked at this project as a big scary rollercoaster, with flips and turns, passing through dark spots in a tunnel, going upside down, not being able to see what’s in front of you, and wondering when it’s going to end.

Now that I am in the middle of my project, I am kicking myself for not doing a few things “right.” There are quite a few changes I would have made if I could start all over. First, I would have also administered the Garfield Writing Attitude Survey. I gave my students the Reading survey, but since we have incorporated the Dialogue Journals, I am interested to see if students still maintain the same views on writing. Its no surprise that reading and writing are despised among intermediate students and getting them to write a paragraph can be like pulling teeth. However, my three girls can easily cover a whole page in their journal in fifteen minutes. Granted, they have complete control over what they are writing, and I am not critiquing every sentence written. Regardless, I want them to understand that they are WRITING! Now my boys aren’t as eager as my girls are, but again, that’s to be expected. However, all students produce enough writing to contribute to the conversation. I would have liked to compare their perspectives toward writing from the beginning and end of this project. I can almost guarantee their attitudes would have improved.

Next – student work. During my student teaching semester, I practically held onto all copies of student work for evidence. And if I didn’t keep the original, I made a copy. Somewhere in the chaos, I didn’t think so store my students’ work. Bummer. I do have quite a few work samples and pictures to refer to, but I am not satisfied with the amount that I have. If I could start over, I would have saved it all. Okay, maybe not all of it, but more than I have now!

My last change is not a big one, and would probably not make any difference at all, but I still would have liked to do it. I would have liked to provide my students with their journals, explain the role and purpose of their journals, then given them time to personalize them. Again, this would probably not affect the work inside the journal, but it might instill a sense of ownership and encouragement for my kiddos.

Overcoming Writer's Block

Now that my action research is well underway, it would only make sense that I hit a wall. The two activities I have focused on, narrow reading and dialogue journals, have been successful components of my small group reading instruction. The feedback from my students remains positive – they are still very excited to write in their journals, and they love learning science content in our reading block. However, I felt I have hit a roadblock. I thought I did not have any new information or data to report on. I did not want to blog for the purpose of blogging, and I felt I had not uncovered any monumental data. Things in my classroom, and the process of my action research project have been moving along steadily, amidst the recent transformation of small group reading.

I have finally established a routine during small group, and this is a huge feat in itself. My students are familiar with our routine as well, which helps them know what to expect so they can prepare for this hour of instruction. Dialogue journals are still completed by students on Mondays and Wednesdays, and I respond on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, some of my students have asked to have their journal on off days to share personal information with me. The fact that these students have felt so comfortable talking to me and sharing private stories with me is the exact reason I chose to incorporate this activity into our reading. Although my dialogue journals do not focus on any reading or writing skills, the role they play in the classroom is significant. Through these journals, I have developed very strong, genuine relationships with my students and I have learned more about them than I anticipated. My girls’ journals are more detailed and personal than the boys’, but that is to be expected. One thing I have found is my girls love talking to me about what I have written in their journals during recess, and any other “down time” we may have. The dialogue journals have helped create meaningful relationships with my students, which, in my opinion, is more important than anything else.

The Impact of Narrow Reading

Last year, my small group reading block was ran completely different than this year, and because of the drastic changes, I have struggled to implement my research project. During small group last year, I was able to dedicate 90 minutes to instruction; this year, I only have 60 minutes. As we all know, time is precious and every minute counts, so the loss of thirty minutes has really affected me and my plans for small group reading. I also had three reading groups, because I was lucky enough to have a reading interventionist and a special education teacher working with groups at this time. With three teachers working on small group instruction, I was able to separate my students into three ability groups with no more than eight students in each group. This year, however, I am not collaborating with a special education teacher, so my students have been divided into two groups of twelve students, and they work with a reading interventionist or myself.

Amidst the chaos in my professional and personal life, I have been able to squeeze in some informal interviews with my kiddos about small group reading. I am continuing to incorporate the narrow reading strategy into my small group instruction, but wanted to get some feedback from my students about this method. Here is a transcribed version of our discussion:

LK: Let’s talk about the reading we are doing during our small group time. What do you all notice about the texts we are reading?

Brian: They are like what we are learning about in science.

LK: You’re exactly right, Brian. What do you all think about that?

Anthony: I think its cool. I like reading about animals.

Jessica: I like reading more about the stuff we are learning in Science because it helps us remember more.

LK: Ok, great. I know what we read during small group is related to what we are studying in Science, but are you all getting bored with what we are reading? Is it too much Science for you?

Michelle: No, I don’t think so. I like learning about the different animals.

Karen: It helps me because we get to learn about it twice. And some of the stuff we learn in small group with you is different than what we learn in Science.

LK: Did you all notice that yesterday we read about sharks and their unique characteristics, but we focused on main idea, which is a reading skill? Have you ever studied Science content during reading time?

Kevin: I don’t think so. But in Science we don’t have time to learn all about each animal, and I like that we can with you in small group.

LK: That’s exactly the purpose of reading these Science related stories. I want you all to be able to make the connection between a Science text and reading skills, just like we did yesterday.

As illustrated in the interview, my students have been very receptive to the narrow reading strategy. I was worried they would eventually become bored with the emphasis on Science content, but I have yet to hear any complaints. In fact, they all seem very excited to learn more about our Science content. They are able to make stronger connections between texts and really love applying what they are learning. Through this activity, I hope these students realize that any text, whether it is related to science, social studies, or even math, requires application of reading skills. So far, the incorporation of Science content into our small group time has provided positive feedback. The incorporation of Science based text encourages greater student participation and more meaningful conversation. Finally, based on discussions with my students, they would much rather read about topics they are already interested and invested in, rather than random texts that do not mean anything to them.

Thick Descriptions #2 - Small Group Activity

For the past few weeks during whole group reading, my students and I read the book Because of Winn Dixie. Students enjoyed reading about a young girl and her relationship with her dog. After this unit, we spent one week learning about text features. I wanted students to combine the chapter book with their understanding of text features, which led me to this activity implemented in small group. I sat at the kidney table in the back of the room with Jessica, Kevin, Michelle, Anthony, and Karen (Brian was out sick). After reviewing text features and their purposes, I explained that students were to assume the role of Opal (the young girl in Because of Winn Dixie), and pretend their dog, Winn Dixie, had just run away from home. They were to create a “Missing Poster” using five text features. Smiles grew across the eager faces of Jessica and Karen. Since feedback was minimal from Michelle, Kevin, and Anthony, I asked if they knew what a “Missing Poster” was. When the response was “No,” I explained what I was talking about. After my explanation, Anthony commented, “Oh, like how the police have those ‘Wanted’ posters?” I explained that students may color their posters if they included five text features, and if time allowed. Twenty minutes was dedicated to this activity. Once students understood the assignment, all went to work. Michelle drew a small box in the top right corner and listed the five text features she wanted to include on her poster. After seeing this, Karen and Kevin did the same. Meanwhile, Jessica was hard at work adding pictures, captions, and a bulleted list to her poster. Ten minutes into creating his poster, Anthony asked, “Are we going to be able to color this?” From this, I determined he was most excited about coloring than creating the actual poster since he was lacking key information. While working, I observed Kevin looking off Karen’s paper. When he was redirected, he began humming and talking to himself. Jessica obviously knew exactly what she wanted her poster to look like because she worked for ten minutes straight and did not speak to anyone. When she was finished, her poster looked great, included key information from the book, and incorporated five text features. She eagerly asked if she could color her poster, which she did for the remaining ten minutes. Michelle gave great effort on her poster and even included a map, illustrating the location of Opal’s home. During the twenty-minute block, Kevin was redirected three times, and was able to create a poster with three text features. Anthony spent his twenty minutes perfecting the drawing of the dog and did not add any text to his poster. Although they were not colored, Karen and Michelle completed their posters, meeting my expectations. The purpose of this activity was to determine how well students could apply their knowledge of text features to their comprehension of the chapter book. Overall, three of the five were able to complete this assignment as expected.  

Jessica's Poster

Karen's poster

Anthony's poster

Thick Descriptions #1 - Dialogue Journals

My small group reading block began the same as every Monday – students responding to my writing in their dialogue journals. I sat with Karen, Jessica, Michelle, Anthony and Kevin at the kidney table in the back of the classroom. Each student came to the table prepared with a pencil and ready to work in their journals. I set the timer for fifteen minutes and watched as they anxiously and excitedly read my response to their previous writing. By now, dialogue journal writing has become routine for students and they understand expectations. There was no initial conversation, and no questions asked. After reading what I had written, Jessica, Michelle, and Karen did not miss a beat; they immediately went to writing their response back. Anthony sat for three minutes, with pencil in hand, staring from his notebook to the ceiling. I interpreted this behavior to mean he did not know how he wanted to begin his response back to me. Kevin showed little interest to what I had written in his journal, and sat for the first four minutes tapping his pencil to his cheek, saying, “Hmmmm….” In the first eight minutes, the three girls were on they way to writing half page responses, while Anthony had filled two lines on his notebook page. This did not totally surprise me, since he works hard, but very slow, although he is a very bright student, and came make great contributions to class discussions. At this time, Michelle looked at me and said, “I’m done.” I reminded her of our timer and encouraged her to continue writing for the remaining seven minutes. After a thirty second (or so) pause, Michelle went right to work. Through her journaling, Michelle does not usually engage in the conversation aspect of this activity, but tends to stick to simply answering my questions. However, my most authentic writers, the two students that I have felt have had the greatest success with this activity, are Jessica and Karen, and they never seem to struggle with what to say next. Ten minutes into the writing time, I observed that Kevin had simply restated one of the questions I had asked him. Up to this point, I had redirected him five times to stay focused and work on his response. From this observation, I can infer three things: Kevin is not interested in our current conversation, he is uninterested in maintaining a dialogue journal with me, and/ or Kevin does not like to write.

When our fifteen minutes were up, I interviewed the students on their thoughts and opinions about our journaling activity. I first asked them, “What do you think about how we write to each other in the journals?” Jessica, Karen, and Michelle immediately responded, “It’s fun!” When asked why, Jessica responded, “I like how we are talking to each other without actually talking.” Karen thought it was fun because we were able to talk to each other freely. At this question, Kevin and Anthony say quietly and avoided eye contact with me. So I directed a question to Anthony. I asked, “Anthony, why do you think we write back and forth to each other? Why do I have you all do this?” His response was perfect, “To learn from each other and to get to know each other.” While discussing the students’ likes and dislikes for this activity, Kevin was pretty quiet; he didn’t seem to have much of an opinion on this activity. When I asked him if writing to me was hard, he replied, “Yes because you expect us to think and I don’t like to write.” I further explained how this activity was not chosen to be too demanding or require intense thinking, however, it provides us the opportunity to talk with each other, learn about each other, and share a special conversation we might not have otherwise. At this, Kevin nodded his head in agreement and the dialogue journal activity concluded. Based on my conversations with the other four students, this is a fun activity that they enjoy doing, and it strengthens our relationship.