This research was important in my classroom because my students struggled to comprehend text in the beginning of the year. They struggled to independently read and answer questions on their own because they were not practicing real reading. They were becoming frustrated, easily giving up, and telling themselves they were bad at reading.
Throughout my research, I saw the effects of explicit teaching of reading strategies in small groups for students' overall understanding of text. I saw growth in students confidence while reading because they were asking more questions, students' grasp of the text increased with purposeful planning following a gradual release model, and more engaged, active readers emerged at my back table by use of exit tickets. My small groups lesson plans were structured and organized every day so students knew what to expect and it held them accountable for their learning targets each day. I think this structure increased their overall reading scores and ability to use the reading strategies correctly because they had a target to meet each day. I noticed weekly that students wanted to share more personal connections that they had to the text, their success with the reading strategy after reading their leveled reader, and how they used the strategy during the weekly tests. I think the explicit teaching of each strategy was a key component to success with my research because students got a real grasp on the strategy within day one of reading small groups. Not every strategy clicked with each student, and that was okay. Each student found one that worked well for them and they were able to use it successfully every week to increase their overall reading scores.
Due to the implementation of my action research, not only did this impact my students' understanding of text but it strengthened my reading instruction. What I was teaching in small groups helped me better prepare for my instruction during whole group lessons in my literacy block. I was able to meet with groups and work on individual needs and this prepared my lesson for the next day to meet the needs of all of my students for reading. I use to just open up the leveled readers with each group and we would read the book together and answer the questions in the back of the book. I was not using that time to be intentional with my small group lesson plans and it was taking instruction minutes away from my thriving readers. My associate this year encouraged me to see small group time as an extended focus on the reading strategy we are focusing in on during whole group. By using that time with a small group to explicitly teach the reading strategy, one can gain a better understanding at where their students are at and how to better support them. Not only did my students gain six new reading strategies that they can utilize from now on, I did as well. I am now able to teach these strategies to a wide range of learners to successfully meet their needs as a student. During week three of my study, I had students who struggled to read before make progress and it was rewarding as their teacher to finally be able to understand the text. As a class, we were able to use what we were learning in small groups and apply it to other subjects. We were learning these strategies together and making huge steps in our reading conversations to make us more of a collaborative classroom.
Throughout my time in CADRE and completing this action research, I will forever be changed as an educator. I will continue to change and implement new research into my professional growth as a teacher so I can keep adapting each year. What I have used this year and learned are skills that I can forever use to support the group of students for years to come. I look at how I plan for whole/small group lesson plans differently now by being more intentional with the time I have with students. I also became comfortable with collecting and interpreting data each week with an end goal in mind to help my students achieve better academically. After this data research, I see the importance of taking accurate data each week to continue to be a reflective practitioner, to adjust lesson plans to meet students needs, and to utilize the gradual release model for more of a successful outcome in student understanding of text.
I plan to use the knowledge and skills I have gained to explicitly teach reading strategies during my literacy block. Because of this research, it has allowed me to be better prepared for explicit instruction to improve reading comprehension next year.
Future goals:
I plan to continue using the same lesson plan structure and instruction during my literacy block. I will teach reading whole group the same way while focusing on one skill/strategy that week.
Another practice I plan to continue is to set weekly goals with students with the strategy we are focusing in on that week to ensure I am creating a positive classroom environment.
In addition, I plan to use the data I receive from their weekly test to make better data driven decision making for intentional groups. This will serve as a purpose to be intentional with my close reading lessons. I want to create close reading packets for students to track their growth and goals they will set for themselves to maintain consistency.