1. Jess Petty Third Grade ACTION RESEARCH

2.  Student E  Good comprehension skills  Moderately strong reader  Ready to move to a new skill level  Student J  Strong reader  Good comprehension skills  Ready to move to a new skill level  Goals:  Higher order thinking  Comparing and Contrasting BACKGROUND INFORMATION

3.  How can students develop higher order thinking through comparing and contrasting similar texts?  How do students become readers? THE INITIAL QUESTION

4. AssessmentStudent EStudent J Garfield Attitude SurveyDoes not like readingLoves to read Reading Interest InventoryDoes not read often but enjoys: science fiction, horror, action, humorous and true stories Reads often: Plays, comics, action, series. Reads lots of Diary of a Wimpy Kid “Magician of the Sea” (non-fiction) Comprehension 14.5/15- could talk about his answers better than writing it 13/15- could talk about his answers better than writing it “Raccoon Rex” (Poem) Comprehension 6/6- benefitted from the poem being read aloud together 4/6- benefitted from the poem being read aloud together BASELINE DATA

5.  Making Connections  Connecting what they know and a web of concepts helps develop more clarity (Thomas, 2009)  We connected books we read, to books they already knew  Compare and contrasted similar books  Providing Visuals  Visuals can helps students connect and internalize their reading (Goldman, 2014).  We used picture books, we wrote down our ideas on the text and sorted them  Proper Vocabulary Knowledge  Academic vocabulary is necessary to understand text and require explicit instruction (Rutledge-Bell, 2014)  Taught compare, contrast, setting and plot to enhance conversation and knowledge STRATEGIES

6.  Providing the right conditions for reading  Students need many hours of reading and freedom to choose their own book (Miller 2009)  Choosing a book boosts motivation, and it is more likely the student will be matched to a book he/she will be able to read well (Arlington 2012)  I made recommendations for my students and they each chose a book to read STRATEGIES

7. FIRST EXPERIENCE

8. SECOND EXPERIENCE

9. FINAL ASSESSMENT

10. STUDENT PROGRESS

11.  Allington, R., & Gabriel, R. (2012). Every Child, Every Day. Reading: The Core Skill, 69(6), 10-15.  Goldman, R. (Director) (2014, November 13). Reading in Special Education Classrooms: Strategies that Work. Teaching for Tomorrow: Informed by Theory, Research, Policy & Practice. Lecture conducted from Alabama Reading Association, Birmingham, AL.  Miller, D., & Anderson, J. (2009). Everybody is a Reader. In The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass.  Rutledge-Bell, K. (Director) (2014, November 13). What's the Big Deal about Academic Vocabulary?. Teaching for Tomorrow: Informed by Theory, Research, Policy & Practicea. Lecture conducted from Alabama Reading Association, Birmingham, AL.  Thomas, A., & Thorne, G. (2009, December 7). How to Increase Higher Order Thinking. Retrieved November 15, 2014, from http:// www.readingrockets.org/article/how-increase-higher-order- thinking REFERENCES