1. AMANDA BROWN RED 420 Action Research Project

2. Introduction Three 3 rd grade underachieving students struggling with literature comprehension with retell at Gibbs Elementary School Standardized test scores and reading levels  Student 1:  Literature Comprehension-56%  Winter NWEA score-181 (grade level mean is 194)  Lexile Level-159-309  Student 2:  Literature Comprehension-63%  Winter NWEA score-186  Lexile Level-249-399  Student 3:  Literature Comprehension-63%  Winter NWEA score-181  Lexile Level-159-309

3. Introduction Continued Theoretical Grounding:  E.S. Ellis in Makes Sense Strategies: Connecting Teaching Learning and Assessment in 2001 identifies three benefits of using graphic organizers.  First, graphic organizers make content easier to understand and learn. Graphic organizers also help students separate important information from what might be interesting but not essential information.  Second, according to Ellis (2001), graphic organizers decrease the necessary semantic information processing skills required to learn the material. By making the organization of content information easier to understand, graphic organizers allow material to be addressed at more sophisticated levels.  Finally, students who use graphic organizers may become more strategic learners. An individual’s approach to a task is called a strategy (Bulgren & Lenz, 1996).

4. Introduction Continued Theoretical Grounding continued:  “Studies have linked the use of graphic organizers with advanced student achievement and recall in reading comprehension”  “Graphic organizers provide concrete representations for structuring abstract ideas and help students see the hierarchy or sequences of concepts”

5. Method Intervention: Comprehension with Retell Focus Question: How does thinking aloud with a graphic organizer impact retelling a fiction story? Measurement tools:  Pre/post assessments  Student work samples

6. Method Continued  Day 1  Pre-Assessment: High level graphic organizer and on level book (Caribbean Dream Lexile 230)  Day 2  Book 2 (Cat Traps Lexile 110), modeling basic graphic organizer  Day 3  Book 2 (Cat Traps Lexile 110), independent practice with basic graphic organizer  Day 4  Book 3 (Sammy the Seal Lexile 120), guided practice with basic graphic organizer  Day 5  Book 3 (Sammy the Seal Lexile 120), modeling and guided practice with intermediate graphic organizer  Day 6  Book 4 (Young Cam Jansen and the Baseball Mystery Lexile 260), guided practice and independent practice with intermediate graphic organizer  Day 7  Book 3 (Sammy the Seal Lexile 120) modeling and guided practice with complex graphic organizer  Day 8  Book 4 (Young Cam Jansen and the Baseball Mystery Lexile 260) independent practice with complex graphic organizer  Day 9  Book 5 (Click Clack Moo Lexile 160), guided practice with complex graphic organizer  Day 10  Post assessment with book 1 (Caribbean Dream Lexile 230) and complex graphic organizer

7. Basic Graphic Organizer

8. Intermediate Graphic Organizer

9. Complex Graphic Organizer

10. Results Complex Graphic Organizer Book: Caribbean Dream by Rachel Isadora