Restating my inquiry question

We are now at the beginning of term 3 which means that we are halfway through the year. In our CoL meeting this week we have been asked to think about our inquiry question and make sure that we have not lost sight of the main goal that we set out at the beginning of this inquiry. We have been asked to restate our questions. This is something that I have been thinking a lot about in my planning for learning this term as well as looking at my data collected at the end of last term from running records and annotations from guided reading sessions. My questions still remains however I am still continuing to look at those other students of mine who are currently sitting at where they need to be for reading. These students are almost a extra target group of mine to focus on to make sure that even though they are where they need to be now they are still getting that push to the next bracket to make sure they wont begin the year next year below where they need to be. 

Inquiry Question: How can I change my teaching to support my students who are reading between the ages of 8 - 9 years in order to make the shift required in reading. 

My hypothesis is around vocabulary being an important aspect of reading acceleration for not only my target group of learners but also all of my learners in the classroom. 

Updated data

This is the data that I have collected from our mid year reports and running record data that was completed at the end of term 2. The first graph shows reading ages from the PM running records from Feb 2021 and then again in June 2021. You can see there is a slight increase for some of the target learners with some still sitting at the same reading age. I have also looked at the PM reading level data from Feb 2021 and June 2021 which can be seen below. 

Again this data show that there are some improvements in reading levels from the beginning of the year to now and there are some that have still stayed the same. 

Where to next?
From looking at this data and the running record notes that I have taken there are some areas that need further development and learning. I did notice that some of my students were more equiped in the running records to answer the vocabulary questions and are trying hard to read in new vocabulary. This is something that we will continue to work on during this term. Along with other aspects of comprehension. The majority of my students passed the reading and decoding part of the text but it was the comprehension that showed there were some gaps in the learning which is what we will focus on this term. 

Implementation of a new tool into my practice

From looking at the data I have collected so far I can see that vocabulary knowledge is an area that needs development. My students are able to read the words in the text however quite often will not understand what the word means or how it fits into the sentence. So this has made me think and question what can I do as a teacher to make sure that we are working on this area and strengthening this for my students. So what have i changed?

1. Word Wall:
   This term our topic is "Healthy Me, Healthy You" and we will be looking at the upcoming Olympics and Paralympics along with what we can do to keep ourselves fit and healthy. I have started off this team with a word wall where as we come across new words I will add this to the word wall which can be seen and accessed in the classroom at all time for my students. We will discuss each of the new words that we come across and talk about what they mean. These words will then be added to the word wall which will hopefully allow the students to constantly see these words, understand the meaning and be able to use them in their daily learning. 
   
   
2. Topic specific reading:
   This is something that I started to implement last term and will continue to implement this term. My weekly reading learning will have a specific topic for that week. This week is looking at the history of the Olympics. At the beginning of the week we have a class discussion around things that we already know about the Olympics and the history of how it began. Then there will be tasks and activities that are related to that specific topic for the week. In the initial whole class lesson we will discuss new and topical words that come out from our research and add these words to the word wall. I will then have journal articles that are related as closely as possible to the overall weekly topic that will also include some of the new words we have already discussed. This will mean that the students have access to these new words in a range of different ways throughout the week. 
   
   
   
   This is the introduction section for my reading that I use with my whole class when introducing the new topic each week. The is 4 facts and a research task for all of the students to complete each week which opens up a range of new vocabulary that is related to the topic. 
   
   

   

   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   Then for each of my reading groups I try and link the texts that we use for guided reading each week to the particular topic that we are learning about. This can also provide new and topical vocabulary related to the topic. 
   
   
3. Spelling:
   This term for spelling I create a spelling list that is related to all of the new vocabulary we will be learning about the topic. Spelling is a daily activity that the students need to complete so they are getting continued access to the new vocabulary for this topic. I was initially using the essential spelling list for reading however will use this more in my writing program so that the students are learning new topical vocabulary each week. This allows the students to think about the topic they are learning and can try and read in vocabulary for meaning rather than just words on the page. 
   
   
4. Guided reading:
   For my target group the focus for the beginning of this term will be on reading in new and unfamiliar vocabulary to try and make sense of the words as we are reading. Previous years I have also looked into having the students record themselves reading the article or story aloud and recoding this on their chromebook. This has been effective in the students being able to listen to themselves reread the story and also try and make sense of some of those new and unfamiliar ideas. 

These are some of the key things I will be implementing in term 3 which will hopefully allow the students more access to vocabulary as well as some tools and skills to try and understand new and unfamiliar words. 

Causal Chain

In order to identify the causal chain I need to look at the direct acts of teaching that I am going to change in order help vocabulary with my learners that will in turn help with reading comprehension and therefore overall reading progress. 

Changes in my teaching:

• Weekly spelling related to what the students are learning. What I have been doing is gifting a range of spelling words each week that are related to the part of space or earth we are looking at that week. Students are then exposed to that throughout the week in class and I am working on sending these home too in order for students to learn these in more depth. 
• This then allows the students access to more complex vocabulary 
• They can then make connections with these words in their class work and texts related to that this week.
• Expands vocabulary for this topic and works on applied knowledge of the learner.
• Which overall will hopefully lead to greater comprehension strategies which will then help with reading age and ability. 
  
  
  
• Read-Aloud's. This is sometimes a picture book related to the topic that we are learning about or a journal article again related to the topic. I sometimes do this as an introduction to the topic or along the week.
• This then allows the students access to more complex vocabulary 
• Expands vocabulary for this topic and works on applied knowledge of the learner.
• Which overall will hopefully lead to greater comprehension strategies which will then help with reading age and ability.
  
  
• Guided reading sessions focusing on vocabulary development. Focusing on reading in vocabulary in order to make sense or meaning of the words in the context that they are read. 
• This then allows the students access to more complex vocabulary.
• They can then make connections with these words in their class work and texts related to that this week. 
• Expands vocabulary for this topic and works on applied knowledge of the learner.
• Which overall will hopefully lead to greater comprehension strategies which will then help with reading age and ability. 

Some other things that I have been trying to use as an intervention with vocabulary building is having a word wall in my classroom. My students are also currently enjoying the new J. K. Rowling novel. I have really only started pushing some of these ideas towards the end of this term so will continue to make sure these are part of our everyday class instruction and see if this intervention will indeed create a causal chain. 

Relevant Parts of Current Teaching

What parts of my own teaching am I going to look at changing and adapting?

• Guided reading: I would like to critically analyse what I am doing in my guided reading sessions that are successful and what I need to work on as a teacher. Thankfully this year I am also doing ClassOn Air which has allowed me to record and review some of my guided reading sessions.
  
  One thing that I would like to record and analyse would be teacher talk vs student talk. For this I will audio record one of my guided reading sessions and work out how much time I spend talking and then compare this to how much my learners are talking.  I think this will give a good understanding of the changes I would need to make. I would also like to view this recording in order to see the behaviours of my learners and what they are finding with their reading and area that I can work on. In order to have baseline data on this I will complete this without any changes to my current practice then review and complete the necessary changes. 
  
  
• Vocabulary: This is something that I have incorporated more in my teaching this term. With looking explicitly at the vocabulary I use and how this can be read into the text for meaning. This is an area that does need development. From my research last month I have tried to incorporate this more into my teaching. We are reading more as a class and my students are loving it. 
  
  
• Giving learners ownership of their own reading: This is something that I would like to work on more next term. Giving my students the opportunity to access the school library every few weeks and allowing them to choose that they would like to read in order to have reading milage. This will become part of a daily silent reading routine in our class next term. 

Overall I am going to look at taking some anecdotal notes of my teaching from observations I make through recording audio and visual. Time permitting I will also source an outside observation from someone in my team or from another team to see what they pick up from my teaching too. 

Forming my hypothesis: Academic and Professional Readings

Share three pieces of academic or professional reading and explain how they and other sources helped you form hypotheses about aspects of teaching that might contribute to current patterns of learning. 

In order to form a hypothesis I have looked at some research papers that have looked at reading achievement and how progress can be made at an accelerated rate in reading. The first piece of research I looked at was:

1. "Sustained Acceleration in Reading Comprehension: The New Zealand Experience" by Mei Kuin Lai, Stuart McNaughton, Mealoa Amituanai-Toloa, Rolf Turner and Selena Hsiao. This piece of researched looked at how to lift reading achievement through comprehension. From looking at my own data and my own individual learners I can see that comprehension is an area that some of my students are struggling with which is keeping their reading age below standard. I do also however have some students who need work on decoding in order to make the progress in reading they need. This research looked at the summer effects of reading and how that can effect students with their reading each year. This is something that we have also seen with our learners over the years, the summer drop off. This research showed that the quasi-experimental design not only saw increased rates of reading achievement but this was also sustained over a three year period. From reading this is has given me a better understanding of my hypothesis of reading comprehension needing to be improved in order to accelerate my learning reading progress. 
   
   This has strengthened my hypothesis around this. The research used baseline data of PAT star and reading comprehension which is also something I will be using as baseline data. This has deepened my understanding of important baseline data and also given me some other areas that I could incorporate in my teaching of reading. 
   
   
2. "Vocabulary Development During Read-Alouds: Primary Practices" by Karen J. Kindle was another piece of research that I have looked at. Another hunch I had about my readers from what I have seen in guided reading sessions across my class is the ability to read in and understand new vocabulary as an area that needs development.
   
   "Reading aloud to children provides a powerful context for word learning" (Biemiller & Boote, 2006; Bravo, Hiebert, & Pearson, 2007) 
   
   This is something that we have been looking at widely as a school and how we can increase vocabulary with read aloud's. Previously I have read novels to m y learners due to being in year 5 & 6 but in the last few years have also discovered that picture books are a timeless classic and all of my learners love being able to see the pictures. This is something that almost seems common sense in a classroom but is also something that is greatly over looked. Reading this paper and seeing the importance of this in the classroom has made me make sure this is part of my daily reading program - whether is be a picture book or a novel. 
   
   This research has strengthened my hypothesis of vocabulary being an important aspect of reading acceleration. It has also highlighted why it is important. The biggest part of this research was making sure that these read aloud's are planned like any other lesson. This is something that I would like to develop not only in my guided reading sessions but in my read aloud's too. Being prepared brings out richer vocabulary and important key parts of what is being read. 
   
   
3. Finally I have looked at "Utilising Nonfiction Texts to Enhance Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary in Primary Grades" by Karen E Kuhn, Casey M. Rausch, Tiffany G. McCarty, Sarah E. Montgomery and Audrey C. Rule. This research looks at how important nonfiction texts are for learners and reading achievement. This linked how non fiction texts are not only enjoyable for learners but they lend greater vocabulary and wider reading making the students think about connections as they are reading. 
   
   This was another important piece of research to read especially with those students reading below 8 years as it is often easy to access fiction texts at their levels but it is important to extend readers and give them non fiction options. This also links well with the previous reading and how to improve vocabulary development. 

This research that I have looked at has given me the hypothesis of reading comprehension specifically vocabulary development could be needed to make accelerated progress. This is something that I will continue to look into and strengthen in my classroom as I have also need this in my running record and PAT data. 

References

        Biemiller, A., & Boote, C. (2006). An effective method for building meaning vocabulary in primary grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(1), 44–62.

        Bravo, M. A., Hiebert, E. H., & Pearson, P. D. (2007). Tapping the linguistic resources of Spanish-English bilinguals: The role of cognates in science. In R. K. Wagner, A. E. Muse, & K. R. Tannenbaum (Eds.), Vocabulary acquisition: Implications for reading comprehension (pp. 140–156). New York: Guildford Press.

        Kindle, K.J. (2009, November). Vocabulary Development During Read-Alouds: Primary Practices. The Reading Teacher, 63(3), 202-211.

        Kuhn, K.E., Rausch, C.M., McCarty, T.G. et al. Utilizing Nonfiction Texts to Enhance Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary in Primary Grades. Early Childhood Educ J 45, 285–296 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-015-0763-9

        Lai, M., McNaughton, S., Amituanai-Toloa, M., Turner, R., & Hsiao, S. (2009). Sustained Acceleration of Achievement in Reading Comprehension: The New Zealand Experience. Reading Research Quarterly, 44(1), 30-56. Retrieved May 18, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20304572

 

 

Repeated Measure: Baseline data and end of data comparison

What are the repeated measures that I will use to understand student learning? 

These measures that I will use as baseline data and then will use the same measures at the end of the year to see if what has implemented has made a difference to student learning outcomes. 

• Running records: this is a continued measure that I will use. From looking at last years running record data, mid year running records and end of year running records. I am also in the process of analysing previous years running records to see if there is a trend in the data and progress for my students. 
• PAT Reading: I will look at these results from the beginning of the year and compare these at the end of the year. 
• STAR test: I will also look at these results from the beginning of the year and the end of the year to compare. 
• ARBS: I will use these throughout the year to access my target group of learners. 
• Student voice: Reading habits and feeling, again I will compare these reading habits and how they are feeling with their reading at the beginning and the end of the year to see if there is a difference. 
• Teacher observations: These will be from guided reading sessions, I will take notes throughout guided reading sessions at different parts of the term and throughout the year to see if there is any changes needed to this. 

These are some of the tools that I will be using as repeated measures in order to see if the tailored intervention improves student learning. I will use these repeated measures as a pre and post intervention measure to see if there is improvement.