AN OUTLINE FOR AN ACTION RESEARCH REPORT By Andrea Schwalm

Area of Focus Statement EDU671: Fundamentals of Educational Research The purpose of this study is to research possible interventions to support student growth in the area of reading fluency, while utilizing technology as a support. “How can I engage my 4th grade students in activities that will improve their literacy abilities, specifically in the area of fluency, utilizing strategies that implement technology?”

Related Literature EDU671: Fundamentals of Educational Research  Guzel-Ozmen, R. (2011). Evaluating the effectiveness of combined reading interventions on improving oral reading fluency of students with reading disabilities. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 9(3), Guzel-Ozmen, R. (2011). Evaluating the effectiveness of combined reading interventions on improving oral reading fluency of students with reading disabilities. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 9(3),  Begeny, J C., Krouse, H. E., Ross, S. G., & Mitchell, R. C. (2009). Increasing elementary-aged students' reading fluency with small- group interventions: A comparison of repeated reading, listening passage preview, and listening only strategies. Journal of Behavioral Education, 18,

Defining the Variables EDU671: Fundamentals of Educational Research  My interest with this group of fourth grade students is their reading fluency ability.  Out of my 30 students. I have 22 that read approximately between a second and third grade level.  For this AR project I will have6 students of focus.  Through small group instruction I will narrow it down to two emerging students who are on the verge of being ready to move to the next grade level, two students who are stuck in this level and are struggling to further their abilities, and two students who have barely achieved being in this reading group.

Research Questions EDU671: Fundamentals of Educational Research  1. How I can best serve my students in supporting their progression of reading fluency?  2. How I can utilize technology to engage and support my students in increasing their reading fluency?  3. What instruction strategy would best support the advancement of my student’s reading fluency skills?

Description of Intervention EDU671: Fundamentals of Educational Research  My intervention will consist of two components. The first will be “Listening Passage Preview”. Here students will listen to a teacher read a passage at their instructional level while they track silently with their finger. Then the roles will reverse to then allow the student the opportunity read the passage. The teacher will correct if a student says a word incorrectly or pauses for more than three seconds. This can also have a technology adaptation by utilizing passages found at their instructional level and allowing them to read them on their tablet.  The second intervention will be “Repeated Reading” and will include an adaptation using technology. Students will practice difficult words in isolation, read a passage that is slightly above their level several times to boost fluency, and try to beat their previous fluency score in both sight words and reading of the passage. The adaptation for this to include technology will be to create the word and passages into games in BrainRush to engage them in trying to beat their previous times.

Data Collection EDU671: Fundamentals of Educational Research  Standardized Test  Focus Group Interview  Anecdotal Notes of Intervention Sessions

Data Considerations EDU671: Fundamentals of Educational Research  When considering my data collection options I want to make sure I take into account: 1. that the collection method is providing the best feedback for me 2. the data collection in no way violates any of the participants rights 3. collection data methods do not in any way interfere with the intervention itself

Data Analysis and Interpretation EDU671: Fundamentals of Educational Research  After collecting all data I will Sort it into relevant categories based on correlation of feedback Determine themes that are present for each sorted group From the themes I will determine what my next steps of the action plan will be for future implementation

Action Plan EDU671: Fundamentals of Educational Research  Based on the themes that have emerged from this study, I plan to make the following changes in the further offering of my reading fluency intervention using technology: 1.To 2.Be 3.Determined