Project Journal

I pilot-tested the instructional materials on the four (4) learners to see how I could further improve the materials based on their response and the overall flow of the reading class.

Here is the initial program flow I sent in advance to the project gatekeeper:

During the pilot testing, I have observed the following:

1. One (1) of the four children, the only boy of the group, has behavior problems and caused disruptions in the class. The three (3) girls were having a hard time following through the lesson due to him.

2. Two (2) of the four children, ages 12 and 10, were able to follow the lesson quickly and are more advanced compared to the other two. For instance, they already have phonemic awareness and can read three-letter CVC words. 

3. The learners particularly loved the Read & Color worksheets, which gave me an idea that I can incorporate more of these materials for them. 

4. The positive reinforcements were beneficial in helping the kids learn and do well during the class. For instance, I offered ukulele lessons to those who are willing to learn how to play the instrument, and this encouraged them to perform well.

5. Singing musical mnemonics were effective in helping the kids remember the different phoneme sounds. Here is an example of the musical mnemonic that we used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKsIi1MH4lw.
   
   As of now, the most challenging phoneme for the kids to remember were the vowel sounds. They are still confused and often mix them up. 

Today was the start of the implementation phase. In light of the learning problems I listed from the pilot testing, which is that one of them had behavior problems, and two out of the children are more advanced than the others, I consulted with my content expert and here were the solutions we proposed:

1. About the boy with behavior problems, it is best to ask assistance from their social worker or house parent, since they are the ones who know how to discipline the child.

2. Second, divide the class into two groups. Group A would consist of the two kids who are more advanced, and Group B would consist of the two kids who are struggling to read. 

And so this was incorporated in the session today, the very first day of the implementation phase. It did work, however one of the challenges I encountered this time is when other kids of the orphanage would join in.

They would purposively cause chaos to distract the four (4) target learners. Later on, I discovered that it was because they wanted to join in our classes, too. I realized through this that maybe I should give the other kids some activities or materials too–anything that would keep them busy to avoid distracting the target learners and at the same time, helping them be productive with learning.

The following are the instructional materials or learning tools utilized today:
– Singing phoneme sounds as an exercise
– Reading the alphabet and CVC flashcards
– Answering the Read & Color worksheets

As you could probably see on the pictures, I decided to bring coloring books and crayons for all eleven (11) children of the orphanage, for them to be occupied during our class with the four (4) target learners, while at the same time doing something that they enjoy. This is due to my observations I have noted during the implementation on June 1st, where the other kids who are not included in the learning intervention (simply put, those can already read) have been wanting to join in and are distracting the target learners on purpose.

My mother, the woman dressed in pink, came in to help today, in terms of disciplining the kids and also in teaching the younger group using the instructional materials.

The following are the instructional materials or learning tools utilized today:
– Singing phoneme sounds as an exercise
– Reading the alphabet and CVC flashcards

Today, the only boy of the group did not join the class because he wasn’t feeling well. Hence, only the three (3) girls were able to participate.

I started incorporating the A-Z worksheets I created during the weeks that led to this session. For our first two meetings (June 1 and 15), we were more focused on helping them familiarize the different phoneme sounds. One session was not enough so it took us two meetings for them to be more comfortable with phonemics.

When they finally got the hang of it, I started designing the worksheets (as can be seen in the picture above), incorporating the following to its overall content and layout:

I was delighted to observe how the kids really enjoyed these worksheets. The challenge during this session was time constraint–the kids had an event prior to my visit, so we started quite late in the afternoon (around 5 PM). It started to get dark at 6:30 PM, so we decided that we would resume on another day.

The following are the instructional materials or learning tools utilized today:
– Singing phoneme sounds as an exercise
– Worksheets as seen on the pictures (A to E only)

“Ate, meron pa po nito [worksheets]? Gusto ko rin po sumagot,” one of the kids, who was not included in our class, said.

“Sorry bebe, para lang ito sa mga di pa marunong mag-basa. Para matuto sila. Gusto mo rin ba?” I responded.

“Opo.” the child said.

And thus, the learning program that was meant to be for the four (4) target learners was also something that the other kids of the orphanage wanted to be a part of.

At first, I took it on a negative way, thinking that these kids have been nothing but a disruption to our classes. However today, I realized that they are children after all–young, innocent, always curious and hungry for new adventures, particularly since they probably did not have that much access to quality education and proper guidance from their parents. Although I am here to fulfill a specific task or mission for college, why must it cause me to deprive these children from learning, one thing that they heavily lack yet are very much willing to have?

And so on this very day, I gladly welcomed the other kids to our class, allowing them to sit-in, answer the worksheets I designed. To my surprise, the class was peaceful and productive as ever. I am deeply grateful for this new perspective, for although I am here to help the kids learn, I too, am learning.

The following are the instructional materials or learning tools utilized today:
– Singing phoneme sounds as an exercise
– Worksheets as seen on the pictures (Letters F to Z)

Today was the last day of our Implementation phase, and also the day where the Evaluation will take place. I expected the other kids to join the class again, so I printed more copies of the worksheets than usual. Aside from the A-Z worksheets which the learners have already completed in the previous session, I also designed worksheets that will provide an overall assessment of the kids’ reading capability.

The learners’ assessment was divided into two parts or activities:

First, we have the Read & Color worksheets (consisting of 10 CVC words), which will determine if the learners can read three-letter CVC words. As can be seen on the pictures below, the words are placed on the left column, while three (3) different pictures are on the right. The learners have to color the correct object that matches the given CVC word.

How does this determine the students’ mastery of CVC-combination words, you ask? Well, if the child fails to read the word on the left, he/she will not be able to know the picture he/she should color. As you may notice, I still designed this Assessment worksheet based on the learners’ interests–coloring, and a ‘star-system’ scoring.

The second assessment activity is what I called the Read & Tell or story time worksheets. It is comprised of a short story, using only CVC or three-letter words. At the bottom of the story, there are two questions that test the learner’s reading comprehension. This activity was designed to challenge the learner’s reading skills by providing not just individual words for them to read, but a group of CVC words forming an entire storyline, which they have to read and understand carefully.

Before our last session ended, I asked the kids to play the ukulele one-by-one. If I haven’t mentioned yet, every end of our classes, I would allot time to teach the kids ukulele individually. Throughout the duration of this project, they were all able to perform one song: You Are My Sunshine, on the ukulele.