Woodway Elementary
The Power of Interactive Games in 4th Grade Math to Enhance a Students’ Growth
Primary Researchers
Madison Bell, Intern, Baylor University
Jordan Taylor B.S, Mentor Teacher, Woodway Elementary, Midway ISD
Blaire Thornton M.S Ed, Intern Supervisor, Baylor University
Rationale/Introduction
In a fourth-grade classroom, it was observed that the students had a lack of engagement and most students were not understanding the material. This was shown by, putting their heads down, giving blank stares, and they were uninterested in doing math. Kirkland (2010) purported that games act as a medium for students to explore and interrogate information in a fun and interactive way. As a result, my mentor teacher and I decided to incorporate interactive math games within the new unit we were starting that focused on the area and perimeter unit. Research was conducted on 20 fourth grade students of varying abilities within math.
Question/Wondering
How does incorporating math games affect 20 fourth grade students' overall progress in math?
Methodology/Results
The baseline data was collected from the pre-assessment before the math unit, area and perimeter began. The results of the baseline indicated that the average was 64%. I decided with this data, the students needed math games to help them get up and move, but also ingrained the math material we needed to cover within the unit.
The following day we began with input and output in which we were in stations. Within the time span of two days, all 20 students got to go to the teacher table where they had a deeper dive regarding input and output tables. To help the students become more engaged and actively participating at the teacher table, we played “Connect 4,” and it had a twist. The students were divided into a team of two. They had to answer a variety of questions regarding input and output tables that ranged from easy to hard questions. Whichever team correctly answered the question first, got to put a chip in the “Connect 4” slot. However, each team had a chip that was a bomb that could be used at any time which cleared the game board. Whichever team got four in a row, was the winner. Along with playing a game in stations, they also got to play a Nearpod game called “Time to Climb,” in which they got more practice in game form with input and output tables. The following week, we moved into area and perimeter. Throughout this week we played games like “Trashketball,” in which the students had to answer a word problem as a team. They all had to write on their desks with expo markers before they could raise their hand to share their answers. Whichever team raised their hand first would get a chance to throw a crumpled-up piece of paper in the trash can for either a free throw or a three pointer. This was over a course of two days. During their station time, they got to do a Quizizz that aligned with the area and perimeter TEKS. This portion of the station was allowing them to test their knowledge. On Thursday, they took a quiz. The next week, we were preparing for their test and we played jeopardy which had a multitude of questions that were either easy or hard. By Thursday, they took their test which was considered a post-test.
Over a course of three weeks, we had 2 quizzes, a pre-test, and a post-test. Within the first quiz in “Area and Perimeter,” the average was 89%. The second quiz the average was 87%. The post-test which covered all of the Unit, average was 75%. In addition, anecdotal records were taken as well and student engagement increased and when answering the questions in game form, the majority of the students were getting it right.
Implications/Recommendations
I would recommend specific math games as an interactive piece for your students as they are having fun while also learning the content at hand. All of my students were disengaged, and their grades showed that at the beginning. However, by adding the sense of having fun while still learning the content by playing games like, “Connect Four,” with a twist, “Trashketball,” “Jeopardy,” “Time to Climb” and other hands-on activities in the form of a game, my 20 fourth graders all showed growth in different ways. I believe that by playing interactive math games as a warm up, or just as part of your lesson once or twice a week after teaching the content, it will help your students grow and be more engaged within math. I plan to integrate and differentiate these strategies that I have learned within this study in my future classroom by allocating time within my lessons. This would be shown through creative games, critical thinking, and movement to facilitate a nurturing environment where all students can participate and succeed within the TEKS that need to be mastered.
Reference(s)
Kirkland, D. (2010). Games as an engaging teaching and learning technique: Learning ... Irish Conference on Engaging Pedagogy. http://icep.ie/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Kirkland_et_al.pdf
The Power of Morning Routine
Primary Researchers
Lizzie Smith, Intern, Baylor University
Pamela Blair, Mentor Teacher, Woodway Elementary, Midway ISD
Hannah Parks, Mentor Teacher, Woodway Elementary, Midway ISD
Suzanne Kelley, Mentor Teacher, Woodway Elementary, Midway ISD
Lea Kee M.Ed., Intern Supervisor, Baylor University
Rationale/Introduction
My Action Research was focused on finding the most effective morning routine to set students up for a successful day. I focused my research on how different morning routines impacted student behavior. While working with my fifth grade class, I have noticed that behavior is directly linked to academic success. Each morning, the students have free time to talk amongst themselves. This led me to wonder what would happen if I were to introduce some different morning routines. This research took place with the whole class, and was not tied to one specific subject area. One week, I led students in discussion-based morning activities. The next week, students participated in silent, independent activities. Lastly, I read aloud to students from a chapter book. Each week, I took data on their behavior. In The Morning Meeting by Roxann Kriete and Carol Davis, they discuss how crucial the morning is to a classroom culture. They say “The Morning Meeting gives teachers concrete ways to make academics engaging, manage classrooms effectively, and create a positive classroom climate,” (Kriete and Brechtel, 2002). Clearly, what you do with your morning matters. This research supports not only my research project as a whole, but the first week of my research which involved culture-building questions. Ros Ollins, the author of “Silent pedagogy and rethinking classroom practice” from The Cambridge Journal of Education: Volume 38, writes about a study that researched the benefits of silence in the classroom. One benefit found was the increase of discipline and focus in students (Ollins, 2008). This confirmed my decision to make silent writing time one of my morning routines. Additionally, research states that read-alouds can be beneficial for student behavior as well. In the Psychology Today article by Sarah Rayner, she speaks to peers about the benefits of read alouds (or audiobooks) in their daily lives. This article speaks on the reduction of stress and negativity that comes from listening to stories (Rayner, 2018). So, one week I chose to read aloud to the students in hopes that it would create a calm environment for the rest of the day.
Question/Wondering
How does altering morning routines influence student behavior throughout the day?
Methodology/Results
This research took place at Woodway Elementary, a PreK-5th grade school in the Midway Independent School District. It’s located in the city of Woodway, a suburban, family-centered area. Woodway serves a fairly wealthy population. However, 32% of students receive free and reduced lunch. More specifically, I conducted my action research project on a 5th grade class of 22 students. It is made up of 9 males and 13 females between the ages of 10 and 11. All students are English proficient, 6 students are in the GT program, and 4 students have a learning disability. Additionally, this class is 9% African American, 27% Hispanic, and 64% White. This class travels to three different classrooms throughout the day: Ms. Parks’ room for math, Mrs. Kelley’s room for science, and Mrs. Blair’s room for ELAR and Social Studies. The main action of my study takes place daily in Ms. Parks’ room between 7:25 and 7:45am. This is when students are picked up from the gym, greeted at the door, and walked through the morning routine. Before beginning my research, I took base level data. I wanted to know what their engagement and behavior looked like before testing out different morning routines.
Each week, I attempted a different morning routine to see which is the most effective for behavior management. From 7:25 to 7:30, I picked the students up from the gym, and greeted them at the door with a high-five. Afterwards, students had three minutes to put their stuff down and chat with their friends. Then, from 7:33-7:45am I would try something different each week. Week 1, I tried a discussion-based morning meeting. This involved sharing what would be happening that day and updates from the week. Then, I would pose a discussion question for students. These were questions such as “What did you do this weekend?” or “How are you feeling this morning?” We did turn-and-talks, and full class discussions. During Week 2, students wrote on a variety of prompts silently. For example, “What is one thing you want Ms. Smith to know about you?” The third week, I read aloud from the book Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan. The students sat and quietly listened.
I took my data each week to record how these morning routines influenced the class’s behavior. Two days out of each week, I tallied the amount of times that a teacher had to correct behavior. I only counted verbal behavior corrections to the whole class, such as “We need to quiet down,” or “You’re talking right now. Fix it.” Additionally, I did one engagement form a week in order to get data for each morning routine. I did each of these engagement forms in math class to make sure that I wasn’t changing too many variables. Lastly, I discussed the behavior of the class with my mentor teachers for qualitative data.
According to my quantitative data on the amount of redirections needed, reading aloud (Week 3) was the most successful. The average amount of redirections in a 7 hour school day during Week 1 (morning meeting discussions) was 32. For week 2 (quiet written work), the average was 28. Lastly, week 3 (reading aloud) had an average of 20 redirections per day. This data reveals that read alouds were the most beneficial for appropriate behavior throughout the day. When looking at the engagement forms, the class was 87% engaged during week 1, 82% engaged during week 2, and 96% engaged during week 3. Therefore, reading aloud was once again the most effective morning routine for student engagement. Lastly, my qualitative data was inconclusive. Across the many conversations that I had with my mentors about behavior, there was a large variety of descriptions. For example, on March 22nd, Mrs. Blair and I discussed the behavior of students and concluded that they were focused and on task. However, Mrs. Kelley and I noticed talkative behavior in science. Therefore, there was no conclusive qualitative data. From my own personal observations, I have noticed a more focused and calm class on days when I read aloud in the mornings.
Implications/Recommendations
I hypothesize that read alouds were the most effective morning routine because it put students in a listening mindset. While I believe that classrooms should value the voice of the students, listening is also an important skill for students to develop. This research will influence the way that I conduct my future classroom. I will provide a quiet environment for my students at the beginning of the day to allow their brains to adjust to focusing. I may implement read alouds or breathing exercises as well. I will also incorporate listening skills in the content that I teach. For example, instead of having students popcorn read a Studies Weekly article, I will consider reading it myself and discussing the topic with students. One strength of this study was the diversity of morning routines. Each week focused on a different skill (speaking, writing, and listening). However, there were some weaknesses with this study. For instance, during Week 2, students rarely had enough time to get settled and write before it was time to switch to specials. This reduced the effectiveness of Week 2 in my opinion. Additionally, my qualitative data was inconclusive because the students were switching to different environments throughout the day. However, I feel that my quantitative data was very telling of which morning routine was the most effective. This research makes me wonder if there are other morning activities similar to read alouds that could be effective. For example I wonder if mindfulness exercises or music could be helpful in morning routines. This is something I will continue to experiment with in my own classroom.
Reference(s)
How Can Audio Books Boost Mental Health? We’re All Ears! | Psychology Today United Kingdom. (n.d.). Www.psychologytoday.com. https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/worry-and-panic/201804/how-can-audio-books-boost-mental-health-were-all-ears
Kriete, R., & Davis, C. (2017). The morning meeting book : K-8 (3rd ed.). Center For Responsive Schools.
Ollin, R. (2008). Silent pedagogy and rethinking classroom practice: structuring teaching through silence rather than talk. Cambridge Journal of Education, 38(2), 265–280. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057640802063528
Effects of Handwriting Instruction on Dyslexic Students’ Engagement
Primary Researchers
Mary Claire Steele, Intern, Baylor University
Kathleen Cotie, B.S. Ed, Mentor Teacher, Woodway Elementary, Midway ISD
Charra Burns, B.S. Ed, Mentor Teacher, Woodway Elementary, Midway ISD
Lea Kee, M.Ed., Professor, Baylor University
Rationale/Introduction
Almost immediately upon arriving at Woodway Elementary School, I noticed how my dyslexic students seemed to become frustrated when they were completing handwritten activities in all subjects in the classroom. Many studies prove that students with dyslexia often have trouble with handwriting. In an
article titled Do Children with Dyslexia Present a Handwriting Deficit? Impact of Work Orthographic and Graphic Complexity on Handwriting and Spelling Performance by Claire Goose and Marie Van Reybroeck, they state that “it is not clear whether these difficulties are a consequence of their spelling deficit or if they arise from graphomotor difficulties (2021).” Researchers collected data on spelling accuracy, handwriting quality, and handwriting speed. They found out that dyslexic students were more impacted by the graphic complexity than non-dyslexic children. That supports their hypothesis that dyslexic students struggle with handwriting more than non-dyslexics. A study titled Why Children with Dyslexia Struggle with Writing and How to Help Them by the Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools agrees that dyslexic children have difficulties writing. The article states that “the presence of reading difficulties complicates this task [writing], especially if students have poor handwriting skills that make it even more difficult for them to read their own writing (2018).” Researchers included spelling, transcription, executive function, and working memory instruction to help these students improve. They concluded that many dyslexics have writing challenges in many of these areas. As a dyslexic myself, I understand how they are feeling; handwriting causes a barrier to their performance in the classroom. It is difficult for dyslexics to overcome this challenge. I began to wonder what I could do to help them. Through questioning, I noticed that the students often were able to comprehend the material but could not express their understanding through handwritten activities very well. Additionally, these types of assessments were not truly showcasing their comprehension of the material. Many times, they would “shut down” and complete the assignment with the bare minimum. I was curious about the effect of handwriting instruction on students’ engagement levels. If they are frustrated and feel their work is too hard, they will not be engaged. Would improving their handwriting help them enjoy academic activities more?
Question/Wondering
How does explicit handwriting instruction for dyslexic students impact their engagement during handwritten activities?
Methodology/Results
For this study, I worked with three dyslexic male students in my classroom. They come from middle class families, are Caucasian, and are in third grade. Their performance on tests, assignments, and writing is below average. During the first week of my study, I collected handwriting samples from each student. I asked them to tell me what they did that weekend and then write it down. All three told me much more than they were able to write down; the handwriting frustrated them. I also collected data on how they hold their pencils. I used a guide called Picking Up My Pencil Letter for Families from Handwriting Without Tears to determine if the students were holding their pencils the suggested way. I determined that two of them do not hold their pencils properly. During the same week, I completed a series of engagement forms during handwritten assignments in all subjects. Each form required me to monitor the students’ engagement every thirty seconds. If they were working and were on task, they were engaged. If they were off task or distracted, I marked them down as disengaged. Over the next four weeks, I pulled these students daily for ten minutes. I worked with them on their handwriting skills. As they were writing, I made sure they were holding their pencils correctly. I provided them with a sheet where they traced uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and numbers up to twenty. Every day for ten minutes they worked with me on proper letter formation and holding a pencil correctly. During the fifth week, I took more handwriting samples and asked them the same question about their weekends. I also completed another series of engagement forms for each student during all subjects. For one student, he started with an engagement average of 83.33% and finished with an average of 73.13%. The second student averaged 83.33% before and 100% after. My final student started with 53.33% and finished with 96.88%. After analyzing their writing samples, they did not make dramatic improvements on their handwriting. Two of my students’ engagement levels increased. One of their averages decreased. The two that did not hold their pencil correctly still hold it incorrectly. Their letter formation accuracy did not make much improvement, and their frustration levels seem to be about the same.
Implications/Recommendations
Upon reviewing my data, I declare the results of this study to be inconclusive. I think handwriting instruction could help dyslexic students’ engagement and frustration levels, but the instruction period would have to be much longer than four weeks. It would also be beneficial to start these interventions before third grade. I think starting this as early as possible would help the students be more prepared for their future. I would like to teach my dyslexic students handwriting every day for a semester and see if the results are more conclusive. I would recommend consistent instruction for these students in the future, but over a lengthy period of time. If I were to do that, I would have a more accurate answer to my research question. I will use the results of this study in the future to identify which students need explicit handwriting instruction. Then I will find a way to make the handwriting instruction more meaningful and effective. This research study has been a valuable experience in assisting my current dyslexic students and planning for my future classroom.
Reference(s)
Handwriting Without Tears. (n.d.). Picking Up My Pencil Letter for Families. Handwriting Without Tears.
Hebert, M., Kearns, D. M., Hayes, J. B., Bazis, P., & Cooper, S. (2018, October 24). Why
children with dyslexia struggle with writing and how to help them. Language, speech, and
hearing services in schools. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6430506/
M;, G. C. R. (n.d.). Do children with dyslexia present a handwriting deficit? impact of word
orthographic and graphic complexity on handwriting and spelling performance.
Research in developmental disabilities.
Incorporation of Additional Small Group Support in a Kindergarten Class to Improve Independence, Accuracy and Engagement
Primary Researchers
Madison Trout, Intern, Baylor University
Lori Johnston, MS Ed, Mentor Teacher, Woodway Elementary, Midway ISD
Blaire Thornton, MS Ed, Intern Supervisor, Baylor University
Rationale/Introduction
I am interning in a Kindergarten classroom which includes students of various abilities and areas of excellence. After carefully observing and working in this classroom, I noticed interesting habits of a group of students. These students seem to know what to do but want a lot of reassurance while doing their assignments. They liked having a teacher helping them and encouraging them individually while completing assignments. If this was not taking place, I found that the students would sit and stare off into space, rather than doing their work. I wanted to see if giving additional instruction to this group of 4 girls would help increase their independence while keeping their grades and engagement high. Benders and Craft (2016) concluded that while incorporating small group assistance would benefit some students, not all students would be affected by this addition. Each day, extra small group instruction was provided for four girls before completing various math activities in 15 minute stations. Data was collected through careful and direct observation and individual student work.
Question/Wondering
Does providing additional small group support to four kindergarteners improve their independence, accuracy, and engagement on math assignments?
Methodology/Results
Kindergarten offers essential knowledge and skills which students will carry with them for not only the rest of their schooling, but also the rest of their lives. The mathematical skills taught in kindergarten provide foundational knowledge which students will use in their futures and for other content areas. Because of this, it is important to keep an eye out for students who may be struggling or refusing to complete assignments. It is equally important to pay attention to the confidence and independence of students while completing these activities and work. Students who are discouraged in their abilities are subject to low work ethic and willingness to learn new skills. We know that every student is different. They come from different places, have different backgrounds, and learn in different ways. These factors affect the students in any learning environment, especially school. I collected baseline data through assessments and very careful observation. I monitored the students at 15-minute math stations and marked down each time a student would ask for guidance. I also marked each time I had to remind a student to stay on task. I collected and scored the students’ work before they turned it in, then recorded their scores.
I first focused on the scores the 4 students were getting. Before the students turned their work in, I checked over it and marked incorrect answers. The baseline data showed the selected students had an average score of 85.25%. Over the following 3 weeks, I gave an additional, two to three minute lesson to the selected students before releasing them to complete their assigned activity. At the end of the 3 weeks, the students’ scores had improved by 7.5% with the average score of 92.75%. I also gathered data on the engagement of these students. The starting data showed that the students were off task 35.5% of the time during the 15-minute station. At the end of the month after adding the extra lesson, I observed that students stayed on task for almost the entire station. Their average engagement was up 9.75%. Lastly, I collected data on the independence of students. The 4 students observed, tend to have a hard time working on their own. They always want a teacher with them, checking each of the problems they do. The difference between the original data and the data collected after the short lesson was given before stations, showed that after receiving the additional help, student independence went up by 15%.
Implications/Recommendations
Looking at the data, it is evident that adding small group instruction for the struggling students is beneficial for them in multiple ways. While all the students learn differently, I am confident that the extra help benefits students' growth in multiple areas. With that being said, I will definitely make it a priority to incorporate additional small group instruction to students who need that extra support in my future classroom. I can be sure to specifically differentiate learning this way and meet students where they are at. This study describes four female students from the same school district. To make results more accurate and expand on the data, more students could be tested. These students could be from different school districts and be of different genders. To expand on this study, it would be interesting to see how adding this extra bit of instruction affects the time in which students complete their activities or assignments.
Reference(s)
Benders, David and Craft, Tracy (2016) "The Effect of Flexible Small Groups on Math Achievement in First Grade," Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research: Vol. 18: Iss. 1. https://dx.doi.org/10.4148/2470-6353.1022
Robin Jacob, Anna Erickson & Shira Mattera (2020): Evaluating the Impact of Small Group Supplemental Math Enrichment in Kindergarten, Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, DOI: 10.1080/19345747.2020.1726539
Robin Jacob, Brian Jacob (2018) “New Evidence on the Benefits of Small Group Math Instruction for Young Children” Evidence Speaks Reports, Vol 2, #55