Action Research Intervention Final ReportBy: Ashleigh Dralle

Theoretical GroundingStudents used a researched based strategies that came from the article “Get All Jazzed Up for Vocabulary: Strategies That Engage” (2016 Gallagher, Anderson). The strategy in this particular intervention was to show how important it is for students to notice new words as they read because learning new words can help them understand what they have read. My intervention is based on the theory of using graphic organizers and visuals to model how students can figure out unknown words in any text.

Research QuestionDoes the use of visuals help students determine struggled vocabulary words?

MethodMy action research intervention was completed with four students from a fourth grade classroom. The four students were selected from their cooperating teacher. All four students receive reading interventions according to their title 1 plans. This intervention assisted and supported an extension to their short stories that they are reading in class for their reading segment. I met with each student for thirty minutes each day for fourteen consecutive days.

DescriptionFor this intervention, students were shown step by step on how to use and fill out each of the columns in the graphic organizer. After they were familiar with the graphic organizer they were gradually released to the concept and each student began to read their text and were able to stop at a word that is unknown to them and fill out each column of the organizer.

TimelineDay 1 Pre-Assessment

- Each of the four students were assessed o Each student is given a pre-assessment in which there are ten

questions. Each question has a sentence and a highlighted word. The students are to read each sentence and determine the meaning of the highlighted word based on their prior and current knowledge of using context clues. The students write what they think the word means on the given line.

Day 2 Graphic Organizer (Word)- Introduce visual and Graphic Organizer

o During the first day of the intervention I had students open up to the story in which they were reading that day in class. I will model how to one column of the graphic organizer.

Discussed what we should do when we come to an unknown word.

I modeled how marked the unknown word and write it in the “word” column on the graphic organizer.

I continued stopping at each unknown word, marking it, and writing that word in the “word” column.

After I had my list, I had the students return to the text and read on their own. I gradually released the students to recognize words that were unknown to them and finish filling out the word column.

After each student completed the column they were done for that session.

Day 3 Graphic Organizer (Inferred Meaning)- Introduce the “Inferred Meaning” column

o I went back to my marked words that were unknown. I modeled to the students what it means to infer something. I showed the students with each word that I had marked. I mentioned that this means to write down what “I” “You” think the word means based on the sentence it is used in.

o I asked the students “What can you guess about the word based on the text? This is called “Reading between the lines”.

o After I modeled this column to each student I gradually released then to infer what each unknown word was and the meaning of the word.

Day 4 Graphic Organizer (Clue)- Introduce “Clue” column

o Using the same words from the word column, I introduced how to fill in the “Clue” column on the graphic organizer.

o Using the unknown words in my word column, I modeled each word by going back to the text in which the word was used. I asked myself out loud “What clues am I given about the text and about the word that makes me conclude the meaning of the word.

o After I modeled this with each word. The students were then able to fill out each clue section for every unknown word based on the clues from the text.

Day 5 Graphic Organizer (Sentence from the passage) and (Meaning)- Using the unknown words, I modeled for each student how to use the

“Sentence from the passage” column.o Returning to each marked word, I modeled how to locate the

unknown word and rewrite the sentence that the word was used in.

o I asked the students “What is the sentence used in the passage where the unknown word was found.

o After I showed each student how to do this step, I aloud them to go back to the text and write the sentence for each word in which the unknown word was found.

o The students continued this until the column is completed.- Meaning column

o I introduced and modeled the meaning column by using a dictionary. I showed each student how to look up a word in a dictionary using the words from my unknown word list.

o After the students had mastered finding a word in a dictionary they then looked up each of their unknown words.

o Once they found the word in the dictionary, they wrote the definition in the meaning column.

o This column was a great way to show the students how to use a dictionary and also to have immediate feedback on if their predictions were correct or not.

Day 6 Graffiti Wall- I gave each student a graphic organizer where they were then able to

draw a word of their choice in graffiti style. This word was chosen from the word list that they had learned throughout the week’s session.

o After the students drew and colored their word, they were asked to use the new word in their own sentence and write it under his or hers drawing.

o After each Graffiti Wall was completed, the students were able to share with our group the graffiti art they had created and share the sentence they came up with using the word they drew.

Day 7-13 Graphic Organizer- Each week the students brought a new short story to work on. At this

time, the students know how to fill out each of the columns in the graphic organizer independently. They receive a new graphic organizer each week to place new unknown words from the given story.

- The students are given another graphic organizer to remind them what each column means. They can go back to this at anytime.

- The students complete each comuln with each struggled word.o Wordo Inferred Meaningo Clueo Sentence from the Passageo Meaning

o Graffiti Wall

Day 14 Post-Assesment - Individually asses students

o Each student is given a post-assessment in which is the same assessment given for the pre-assessment. Each question has a sentence and a highlighted word. The students are to read each sentence and determine the meaning of the highlighted word based on their prior and current knowledge of using context clues. The students write what they think the word means on the given line.

DataEach week data was collected from each student. Once the students had completed their graphic organizer from the chapter I aloud the students to grade themselves. They were able to use a student friendly rubric that broke down each column starting with:

- Inferred Meaning- Clue- Sentence from the passage- Meaning

The students looked back at his or hers work from the week. They are asked to mark from the following:

- Exceeds- Meets- Needs work

After the students grade themselves I use my own rubric to compare scores with what each student thought their work was. The rubric was broken down to each column. The students were graded on a 1-3 scale.

Results

Student A Student B Student C Student D0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Week 1Week 2Week 3

The graph represents the scores based on the rubric I used above. Each student in my intervention was graded using that rubric each week. This shows each students growth during weeks 1-3. According to this graph, each student that participated in my intervention showed positive growth each week.

Student A Student B Student C Student D0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Pre-TestPost-Test

This graph represents the scores from the pre-assessment and post-assessment from each student. Each score is based on a 0-10 scale. If the students recorded the correct answer on the assessment they received a point. There are ten questions on each assessment. Each student had a positive growth from the pre-assessment to

the post-assessment. This shows that the graphic organizer used in the intervention helped each of the students determine the meaning of unknown words using context clues.

ConclusionThe growth in each student’s weekly scores and in their pre/post-assessments proves that my reading interventions strategy was a success. Each student’s growth showed me that using a visual and graphic organizer to determine unknown words helps students. Another positive that I noticed during this reading intervention was listening to students read; at the beginning of the interventions students would read over unknown words. By the end of week three all of the students stopped when they came across an unknown word and used their context clues to figure out the unknown word. As the weeks went on, the students were able to determine the words quicker and without a dictionary.

ReflectionMy overall experience with my selected intervention strategy was positive. The cooperating teacher and myself scheduled a time each day to pull the students where they would not be missing any instruction in other subjects. I enjoyed witnessing the student’s growth throughout each week and seeing their confidence grow each day. The students became more confident in their reading skill and understanding of struggled words; they now know what to do if they come across an unknown word in other areas such as their science and social studies books. Introducing visuals and graphic organizers for a new or struggled skill is something I believe all teachers need to be doing in order to really dig deep into the skill and visual show the students what it looks like to break down that skill step by step. By modeling each column for the students and gradually releasing them to work independently shows me their confidence and understanding of the task was at an all time high. The scores above show that each and every student in my intervention was able to grow in this task. They are now able to use this new strategy in any type of text they read.

This research intervention showed me that teachers should always be researching different strategies for their students. They need to get to know each student and understand their needs. Once the teacher has that information they are then able to research and pick the best-researched base strategy for a particular student or group of students. This will make our help teachers and students successful inside and outside of the classroom.

References

Gallagher, Melissa. “Get All Jazzed Up for Vocabulary Instruction: Strategies That Engage”. The Reading Teacher 70(3) (2016): 273-82.

Pearson, PH., & Gallagher G. (1983). The gradual release of responsibility model of instruction. Contemporary Educational Phycology, 8(3), 112-123.