BY: KATELYN MIELKE Action Research Project

Starting Out and The Initial Question Although there were multiple areas my teacher and I discussed that Student J needed help with, i.e. vowels, consonants, and attitude towards reading, we came to the conclusion that vowels were the priority. She selected this particular student for me to work with because there are many areas of reading that he struggles with and if we improved one area she had hope that it would scaffold to improving other areas of reading as well. Before I even began working on vowels with Student J, I got to know him. Although he does have many behavior problems, he is truly a great kid. Student J loves playing football and going to the beach. When I asked him if he liked reading, his response was, “Eh. I want to, but I’m not good at it. I don’t like hard books..” After deciding to focus on vowels, we came up with the following question: What are some effective strategies for teaching vowels to a student?

Research Through my research, I have developed a list of some of the strategies I came across to help students learn vowels. The list includes: teach hand signs for vowels, use vowel flash cards, a vowel handbook, play a vowel video, use vowel sticks, sorting word cards, repetition, alliteration, reading/re-reading. In the Reading Manipulative article on short/long vowel patterns, it goes through steps on how to teach vowels to help with decoding words. One step stated, “Introducing phonemes in isolation with sounds students have made or heard vastly improves chances that they will remember the sounds.” The article then goes on to the next step, teaching vowel patterns. It states, “Flip strips are ideal to demonstrate and teach this. Students read the short vowel word. When the second vowel is flipped over, the word is then read with a long vowel sound.”

Research Continued When researching a vowel video isolation the short vowel sounds, I found and used the following:   I also learned in my research to start with the short vowels first, then move to the long vowels. When teaching the short vowels, it is important to start small and with words that have the short vowel songs and to avoid diphthongs and other challenges to words when beginning to teach vowels.

Data

Data Continued I had Student J do a self evaluation after each strategy I used so that I could see how he was feeling about knowing and using vowels. Having him do a self evaluation also gave him the opportunity to think about how well he thought he knew/didn’t know the vowels. A self evaluation by Student J also provided me with feedback about the effectiveness of the strategies, depending on his rating. I did also included an evaluation from myself so that I could rate how well I think he knew the vowels just by working with him using the different strategies. I also used an evaluation from myself to rate how effective I thought the strategies were, depending on Student J’s knowledge and use of vowels, correctly.

Initial Assessment When I initially assessed Student J, used the Spelling Inventory by Bear and Templeton. I used words 1-15, Student J scored 1 out of 15 correctly. His assessment is pictured to the right. Assessments

Final Assessment I gave Student J the same assessment that I used for the initial assessment, using the same 15 words. Student J scored 8 out of 15 correct in the final assessment. Assessments Continued

Reflection In the beginning, I was unsure of how well Student J would cooperate( he is a little stubborn at times ). I was also unsure of how well he would grasp and hold onto the concept of vowels. However, as I got going with my research, I found multiple fun ways to teach vowels that I found Student J to really enjoy and learn from, his favorite being the vowel song video and the Vowel Handbook. Throughout the process, I saw Student J progress in knowing and using vowels, correctly, and his teacher constantly saw this as well in the classroom. Knowing now that Student J knows how to use vowels and read words with vowels in them, correctly, means that I did something right. In the future, I would start with the Vowel Handbook at the beginning since it seemed to be one of the most useful strategies I used. In terms of the most effective strategies to help student(s) learn vowels, I would say that videos, handbooks, reading, and repetition were the most effective.

Then  Me: “J, what are your vowels?”  J:“What is a vowel..?”

And Now

Resources Long/Short Vowel Patterns. (n.d.). Tips for Teachers. Retrieved November 28, 2013, from Long/Short Vowel Patterns. (n.d.). Tips for Teachers. Retrieved November 28, 2013, from Making Friends With Phonemes. (n.d.). Reading Rockets. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from Making Friends With Phonemes. (n.d.). Reading Rockets. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from Phonics Strategy. (n.d.). Calhoun Intermediate School District. Retrieved December 3, 2013, from Phonics Strategy. (n.d.). Calhoun Intermediate School District. Retrieved December 3, 2013, from Teaching Short Vowel Sounds: Perfect Practice Makes Perfect!. (n.d.). Make Take Teach RSS. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from makes-perfect/ Teaching Short Vowel Sounds: Perfect Practice Makes Perfect!. (n.d.). Make Take Teach RSS. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from makes-perfect/ The AEIOU Vowel song. (2011, September 26). YouTube. Retrieved September 22, 2013, from The AEIOU Vowel song. (2011, September 26). YouTube. Retrieved September 22, 2013, from The Vowel Song (a e i o u). (2012, May 9). YouTube. Retrieved September 22, 2013, from The Vowel Song (a e i o u). (2012, May 9). YouTube. Retrieved September 22, 2013, from BLFZyAWs