Research Brief Allan Hendershot EDE 4942 April 22, 2015

Wondering / Inquiry Question ▪ After spending a few days observing my focus student in class and reviewing her DRA, running record, writing samples, spelling inventory, and interview notes with her kindergarten teacher, I noticed an interesting pattern. Her reading comprehension is quite high but she struggles with fluency. I wonder what strategies could be employed to increase Allison’s fluency while maintaining or improving her comprehension.

Reason/Rationale for Selecting the Question I analyzed the following items while considering my wondering: ▪ Running records, conducted by her teacher and myself. ▪ Her DRA, administered at the beginning of the year. ▪ The ERAS assessment. ▪ A spelling inventory administered by myself. ▪ Field notes and observations made during class time. ▪ Notes collected during an interview with her previous teacher.

Reason/Rationale for Selecting the Question Observations: ▪ The running record indicates that she is reading at level 14. ▪ Her current teacher states that Allison reads haltingly and stumbles on common sight words. ▪ She has issues with single syllable long vowel patterns. ▪ Oral fluency is classified as developing. ▪ Her comprehension is at or above grade level. ▪ Her ERAS shows a positive attitude toward academic reading. ▪ Field notes indicate that she is a careful and deliberate reader.

Summary of Outside Research A Focus on Fluency: How One Teacher Incorporated Fluency with Her Reading Curriculum This article begins by defining fluency and why it is important, focusing on the idea that reading requires the student to decode and comprehend what they are reading simultaneously. The effort of decoding creates a cognitive load which in turn reduces comprehension. The authors describe how one teacher, over the course of three school years, incorporated fluency into her daily routines. The following strategies were introduced: Readers’ Theatre, writer's craft passages, strategic partner reading, and use of timed readings for data collection. Data gathered during this three year period was compared to that of previous years. The results indicate that these strategies created more student engagement with reading and increased their reading ability in various areas. The article gives concise details on how I could incorporate Readers’ Theatre into my daily instruction.

Summary of Outside Research Scaffolded Silent Reading: A Complement to Guided Repeated Oral Reading That Works! This article challenges the notion that traditional sustained silent reading is without benefit; however, the implementation and underlying pedagogy of this technique must be modified in order effectively increase fluency and reading skills. As an alternative to sustained silent reading, scaffolded silent reading was implemented and modeled in a 3 rd grade classroom using strategies such as teacher guided instruction on student book selection, individual reading conferences during independent reading, student monitored and directed goal setting, explicitly teaching higher order questioning and thinking, read alouds, and book talks. Formative and summative evidence was gathered through the implementation and shows that scaffolded silent reading is an effective method for incorporating fluency into the curriculum and improving silent reading skills. I plan on teaching my students how to select the appropriate text for their developmental level.

Summary of Outside Research Two Essential Ingredients: Phonics and Fluency Getting to Know Each Other This article describes how phonics and fluency, often taught separately as disparate elements of literacy, can be merged through the use of rhymes and word patterns. By explicitly teaching word families in context with rhyming poetry, students can use their existing knowledge to effortlessly decode and spell hundreds of unfamiliar words. The following strategies are described in detail. First, identify the target word family. Next, have students brainstorm and add new words over several days. Follow this up with teacher guided class and group discussion about the words. Next, create or select poetry containing numerous examples from the word family being taught. Then have students reread the poem utilizing different techniques to practice fluency such as echo reading, choral reading, partner reading etc… Complete the word family exercise with follow up activities such as word sorts and discussions about new or interesting words. These techniques, supported by research, demonstrate how phonics and fluency can be combined to increase accuracy, automaticity, and prosody in student reading.

Action Plan Outline: Week One ▪ Introduction to Word Sorts ▪ Short / Long e ▪ A few oddball words ▪ Follow-up Activity: Brainstorm additional words that fit the word study criteria

Action Plan Outline: Week Two ▪ Teacher guided Word Sort: Fluency through knowledge of word families ▪ Short / Long e ▪ Follow-up Activity: Read poems exhibiting short / long e

Action Plan Outline: Week Three ▪ Teacher guided Word Sort: Fluency through knowledge of word families ▪ Short / Long i ▪ Follow-up Activity: Brainstorm for new words following the same pattern

Action Plan Outline: Week Four ▪ Teacher guided Word Sort: Fluency through knowledge of word families ▪ Short / Long i ▪ Follow-up Activity: – Brainstorm for new words – Review previous word sorts – Introduce the concept of Word Hunts

Action Plan Outline: Assessment & Individual Readers Conference ▪ Each week includes an appropriate assessment and an Individual Readers Conference focusing on activities related to fluency and comprehension.

Data Collection Methods ▪ Pictures of completed Word Sorts ▪ Field notes ▪ Informal Running Records ▪ Peer reviewed observation ▪ DRA results ▪ Spelling inventory ▪ Interviews with current and previous teachers ▪ ERAS assessment

Main Claims from Inquiry 1.I believe that Allison’s fluency and prosody have increased. 2.I believe she has gained greater phonological awareness through word study.

Conclusion This experience has been invaluable. I learned that things do not always go according to plan. For instance, I was unable to spend as much time working on comprehension as I would have liked. Allison was fascinated with the word study and seemed very focused, so most of allotted time was spent working on that rather than discussing just right books, or explicitly teaching appropriate book selection. I have also learned that teaching is more than just a string of lesson plans. One can survive in a classroom that way, just working day to day and meeting the requirements of the curriculum. I’ve seen it done, but it looks pretty unfulfilling from my perspective. I’ve learned that you actually have to talk to these kids, not just analyze the data, place them in a category and hope they succeed.