Action Research Posting

Action Research Summary by Janet Caluris

1. What is the title of the project?
Using Readers Theater to Show Off Good Reading

2. What is the Question?
What does Readers Theater look like in my classroom?
What is the impact of Readers Theater on my students’ levels of fluency?
What is the impact of Readers Theater on my students’ levels of comprehension?
What changes in students’ level of interest in reading and reading behaviors are noted following the use of Readers Theater?

3. What strategy is being used to address?
Readers Theater to impact levels of fluency, comprehension, interest in reading and reading behaviors.

4. What evidence is presented that the strategy will work?
National Reading Panel in 2000 identified fluency as a key ingredient to successful reading instruction because of its effect on students’ reading efficiency and comprehension. Evaluating the impact of Readers Theater and noting the patterns in performance will help effectively implement an instructional program to meet students’ individual needs.

5. How will data be collected to determine if the strategy will work?
Surveys, observations, and fluency assessment.

6. How was the data analyzed?
Fluency assessments were used as an informal reading inventory to assess and monitor overall improvement of reading. Surveys were used to assess changes in the reading habits and interests of the students. A rubric was used for students to self assess their own progress on performances in readers theater throughout the study. The data was broken down into 4 major groups: academically talented, general education, bilingual and special needs.

7. What were the results?
Confirmed that utilizing Readers Theater does lead to improved levels of fluency and reading comprehension.

8. How do the results inform teacher practice?
They can use the results to guide future reading instruction activities for improvement. The author made a few recommendations for implementation of Reader Theater in the classroom. Readers Theater provides struggling students with an enjoyable way to reread that information. Readers Theater could be utilized across the curriculum. Fluency assessments should be done quarterly.

Action Research Proposal by a former Fairmont State student.

1. What is the problem?
Rhyme and word families are a critical literacy skill that can help beginning readers develop recognition of phonemes and decode difficult words.

2. What is the rational for the project?
Research shows that implementing a range of rhyming games can help students improve their recognition of rhyme and word families in text (Allen, 1998)

3. What strategy will be use to address the problem?
A variety of rhyming games will be introduced during reading instruction in the kindergarten classroom. The selected games will require students to use basic elements of phonetic analysis.

4. What is the question?
How can I use a variety of rhyming games to help my students recognize rhyme and word families in text? Will the rhyming strategies change student attitudes about reading instruction?

5. What evidence is presented that the strategy will work?
A study by Bradley and Bryant in 1983 used the rhyming activity “Odd Word Out” to help students build on the concept of rhyme and word families.

6. How will data be collected?
Pre-test (highlighting rhyming words in a passage)
Observations of student performance will be documented.
Post test (highlighting rhyming words in a passage)