Chapel Park Elementary
Ability Grouping Within the Classroom
Primary Researchers
Elizabeth Ashworth, Intern, Baylor University
Kristin Kegley, EL Ed, Mentor Teacher, Chapel Park Elementary, Midway ISD
Sheri Sowder MS. Ed., Professor, Baylor University
Rationale/Introduction
My action research project was conducted within a first-grade classroom at Chapel Park Elementary. The class I was placed in is made up of 21 first graders whose needs differ greatly. Within the school, there are multiple first-grade classes with mixed abilities throughout. One of the greatest struggles between the first-grade teachers was finding time to meet with every student in their classes to address phonics, fluency, and reading needs because of the vast ability levels. The solution that the school and the first-grade teachers came up with was called “power hour.” Power hour is an hour of the day when first grade students split between three classrooms based on their ability levels and needs. It takes place one hour a day, four days a week. Three classes of first graders participate in power hour leaving about 20 students in each classroom. The classroom where I am student teaching is the location for students with the lowest ability levels. I chose 5 random students to conduct my research with to gauge if this ability-grouping classroom time is effective based on student performance and engagement.
Question/Wondering
Are leveled-ability groups within the classroom effective in meeting students’ academic needs? (Is ‘Power Hour’ effective in meeting students’ academic needs?)
Methodology/Results
To gauge if these class size groups based on ability levels are effective, I used a multitude of methods and assessments to test my hypothesis. I started by getting students baseline data that determined what spelling pattern they were on. Throughout the semester, students were re-tested and tested on these spelling patterns to hopefully see improvement and mastery as they move on to harder patterns. I also conducted student surveys to see what students thought about power hour. For example, in the survey, I asked students if they liked this time, if they felt like they could get work done during this time, if they felt like they could stay focused, and if they felt they could get more work done in their power hour class than in their homeroom. Lastly, I completed multiple engagement forms on the 5 random students that I chose, to see their productivity during power hour. Within my findings, I found that all 5 students I chose to conduct my research over moved up at least one spelling pattern, liked power hour, found that it was easy to get work done, and stayed engaged during power hour 80% of the time while completing work. Overall, I found that power hour was an effective change in helping students grow within phonics, fluency, and reading needs.
Implications/Recommendations
Overall, ability-grouped classrooms, in this case, were found to be beneficial towards students’ academic progress. Students progressed through spelling patterns at an expected or accelerated rate, they were engaged during learning 80% of the time, and they expressed their love for this hour of the day and found that this was a time where they could get ample learning done while enjoying it. A strength within my study was the different types of assessments and data that I collected. I not only looked at students spelling patterns and phonics; but also their engagement during power hour and considered how they viewed and felt about this time. Out of the five students I chose to base my research on, one gets pulled out of class for speech, hearing, and tier 3 intervention in reading, so her data might be skewed. Although this student gets pulled out of class, she seemed to be a good candidate because of her willingness, excitement, and love for learning. In the future, I will take what I have learned from my research and apply it in a classroom made up of mixed-ability students by grouping them by abilities when giving instruction in phonics, fluency, and reading.
Reference(s).
Should you use ability grouping in your classroom?. Instructional Strategies List. (2023, January 21). https://instructionalstrategies.org/ability-grouping/#:~:text=and%20advanced%20students.-
,There%20are%20many%20advantages%20to%20ability%20grouping%20in%20schools.,academic%20 achievement%20for%20all%20students
The Effects of Self-Monitoring on Focus and Productivity
Primary Researchers
Alexandra (Lexie) Brissenden, Intern, Baylor University
Amber Brown, Elem Ed, Mentor Teacher, South Bosque, Midway ISD
Jina Clemons, M.Ed., Intern Supervisor, Baylor University
Rationale/Introduction:
As a student teacher in a fourth-grade classroom this school year, I have had the privilege to work with a diverse class. I have observed and taught students who have a wide range of ability levels, accommodations, and specific identifications. Throughout the year, I have noticed one student in particular who struggles to stay focused and productive when working independently. This student works at particularly slow pace, and I often notice this student’s attention is elsewhere during independent work time. This lack of focus sometimes causes the student to fall behind on her assignments, therefore cutting into valuable learning time. However, the work this student produces often demonstrates mastery of the learning concepts, proving her ability. My goal is to teach this student a self-monitoring strategy that will ultimately increase the student’s focus and productivity during independent work time. This strategy, if successful, would continue to be used throughout the year and hopefully into future schooling as needed.
Question/Wondering:
How will the use of a focus-oriented self-monitoring strategy during independent work time affect the focus and productivity levels of my student with ADD?
Methodology/Results:
Over the course of three weeks, during the independent work period of each morning class (English Language Arts and Social Studies), the student monitored her focus levels every 7 minutes on a small recording sheet. I set my watch and, when the student heard it beep, she recorded her focus level over the past 7 minutes. The recording sheet was a small t-chart with a frog on one side and a fly on the other. (This student has a particular affinity for frogs.) If the student was focused, she put a mark on the frog side; if not, she marked the fly side. The goal was she would have more marks on the frog/focused side at the end of each independent work time. I collected the recording sheet at the end of each independent work time. The goal for this student was to show steady growth in focus levels over the course of the three weeks.
Before beginning the use of this strategy, I held an individual conference with the student to teach her how to use the self-monitoring system. Along with explaining how to use the self-monitoring system, the student and I discussed what ‘being focused’ looks like. We came up with three ideas: (1) I am paying attention to my work, (2) I am talking with Mrs. Brown, and (3) I am talking with Ms. B. These ideas were written on a sticky note that was placed on the students’ desk during each period of self-monitoring for the student to have a visual reminder of what ‘being focused’ looks like.
During the implementation of this self-monitoring strategy, the student steadily grew in focus levels. Before this intervention, the student would frequently be looking around the room, watching other students, or fiddling with something at their desk. During the use of this intervention, the student was consistently more focused during independent work time. Before the intervention, it would take as long as 20 minutes for this student to answer two questions or write one sentence. With the use of the self-monitoring system, the student worked at a moderate pace and was not falling behind in their work as much as they had been previously. The self-monitoring system motivated the student to stay focused and enabled her to check in with herself frequently and reflect on her focus levels.
At the conclusion of this intervention, I held another individual conference with this student to discuss how the student felt the self-monitoring system worked. The student was sad that we had reached the end of the intervention. When I expressed to the student that we could continue using the system, she was visibly excited and eager to continue.
Implications/Recommendations:
Through this study, I found the self-monitoring strategy to be successful. Self-monitoring is an excellent strategy for this student, and I would recommend the student continue to use this system or something similar going forward. In analyzing the results, I wonder how much more growth the student might demonstrate if she self-monitored for focus levels during the independent work time of the afternoon class as well. Due to Spring break, days off, and the RLA STAAR practice test, the implementation of this self-monitoring system was not as consistent as it could have been. Despite the inconsistency, the student still displayed growth. I wonder if the student would display more growth in focus levels if we had been able to implement the system over a more-consistent time period.
References:
Rafferty, L. A. (2010). Step-by-Step: Teaching Students to Self-Monitor. Teaching Exceptional Children, 43(2), 50–58. https://doi-org.ezproxy.baylor.edu/10.1177/004005991004300205
Shimabukuro, S. M., Prater, M. A., Jenkins, A., & Edelen-Smith, P. (1999). The Effects of Self-Monitoring of Academic Performance on Students with Learning Disabilities and ADD/ADHD. Education & Treatment of Children, 22(4), 397. https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.baylor.edu/apps/doc/A79855742/AONE?u=txshracd2488&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=1f9d9a33
Encorporating Movement in a Kindergarten Class to Improve Engagement
Primary Researchers
Jacelyn Jamison, Intern, Baylor University
Stephanie Barrera, MS Ed, Mentor Teacher, Chapel Park Elementary, Midway ISD
Sheri Sowder, MS Ed., Intern Supervisor, Baylor University
Rationale/Introduction
As an intern in kindergarten, I noticed a lack of engagement from the students when they were asked to sit still and quietly for prolonged periods of time as instruction was given. Their engagement was lost when they looked around the room, daydreamed, or talked to another classmate. I don’t believe it is developmentally appropriate to expect five and six-year-old students to sit still and listen to an instructor talking to them for more than ten minutes. After playing a yoga video for the students to follow in the movements and unwind after specials, I noticed all twenty-two of my students could stay quiet and have their attention on the video as they moved along to the yoga prompts. There are various types of engagement a student can have in a classroom. Behavioral engagement involves students' attention and memory. Cognitive engagement involves a student's interest in the instruction being given and whether it is aligned with their instructional level (Stefansson, K. K.,Gestsdottir, S., Geldhof, G. J., Skulason, S., & Lerner, R. M., 2016). A higher academic achievement of students who had movement integrated into their classrooms could have been the result of heightened academic and behavioral engagement that led to the students having an increased performance (Shoval, E., Sharir, T., Arnon, M., & Tenenbaum, G., 2018, pg. 355). Movement has direct and indirect effects on learning and is beneficial for a student's learning. The students were able to retain information better when there was the presence of movement in the classroom. This is an increase in academic engagement because the student is having improved memory of material (Martin, H., 2020).
Question/Wondering
How does implementing kinesthetic movements into lessons in a Kindergarten classroom affect the cognitive and behavioral engagement of students during instruction? Does kinesthetic movement affect academic performance?
Methodology/Results
In this study, I selected 5 students in my classroom that I noticed had trouble remaining engaged during instruction. Within the 5 students, three were Hispanic males, one was a Caucasian female, and one was a Caucasian and African American female. Over the course of three weeks, I implemented movement during instruction for the students to respond to the content being taught. Some movements included responding to questions by sitting down or standing up, moving to areas of the classroom to respond to a question, and using their movements to act out science concepts. Movement was implemented into science and social studies lessons near the middle of the school day. The data I collected from the students when movement was implemented was their participation in the movements, their engagement with the lesson when movement was implemented, and the accuracy on their assignments from the instruction taught with movements. While the students were moving during the lesson, I took note of whether they were participating in the movement instruction. I also kept an engagement chart for each of the five students. On this chart I recorded whether the students were engaged in the lesson every 10 seconds for a total of 10 minutes for each of the science and social studies lessons during the three weeks. Lastly, I collected the students’ worksheets they completed during independent practice and graded their accuracy on the worksheet on a scale of 1-5 in order to measure their cognitive engagement. From this combined data, I found an overall effectiveness of implementing movement while students are learning to improve their engagement. Results of the engagement data collection revealed a 30% increase in the students’ engagement from week 1 to week 3 when movement was added to the lesson.
From week 2 to week 3, the students’ participation in movements during the lesson increased by 25%. The accuracy of the students’ independent work was not affected by the additional movement during the lesson. Overall, the results support the previous research findings that movement has a direct effect on an individual’s behavioral engagement.
Implications/Recommendation
Through this study, I was able to see how implementing movement while teaching a lesson aids the students’ behavioral engagement. Each student displayed improvement in their behavioral engagement and participation in the movements during the study. Although the movements did not have an effect on the students’ cognitive engagement in these findings, I believe other factors outside of the classroom environment affected the students’ ability to retain information taught with movement during the three weeks. However, an additional wondering I have is how implementing music relating to the instruction would affect the students’ cognitive engagement. I will use the information collected in this study to continue implementing movement into classroom lessons to benefit the engagement levels of all students.
Reference(s)
Martin, H. (2020). Fostering Children’s Academic Development Through Movement-Based Learning Environments (Thesis, Concordia University, St. Paul). Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/teacher- education_masters/36
Shoval, E., Sharir, T., Arnon, M., & Tenenbaum, G. (2018). The Effect of Integrating Movement into the Learning Environment of Kindergarten Children on their Academic Achievements. Early Childhood Education Journal, 46(3), 355–364. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0870-x
Stefansson, K. K., Gestsdottir, S., Geldhof, G. J., Skulason, S., & Lerner, R. M. (2016). A Bifactor Model of School Engagement: Assessing General and Specific Aspects of Behavioral, Emotional and Cognitive Engagement among Adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 40(5), 471–480. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025415604056
Influencing ESL Reading Comprehension Through Pre-teaching Vocabulary
Primary Researchers
Marnin Rhodes, Intern, Baylor University
Blythe Guerra, B.S. Ed, Mentor Teacher, Chapel Park, Midway ISD
Sheri Sowder, M.S. Ed, Intern Supervisor, Baylor University
Rationale/Introduction
After spending a few days in my 3rd-grade classroom with my Spanish-speaking ESL student, I discovered he could read English passages phonetically with decent fluency: however, he lacked comprehension. This piqued my interest, leading me to wonder how I could target this student's reading comprehension. Through research and observation, I found that a major factor in students' reading comprehension was their knowledge of vocabulary. In the article “Effects of Pre-Reading Strategies on EFL/ESL Reading Comprehension” by Kei Mihara, she explains that ELL students have three major problems that disrupt their reading comprehension: “lack of vocabulary knowledge; difficulty in using language cues to make meaning; and lack of conceptual knowledge.” I decided to focus my research on the first issue, lack of vocabulary knowledge. Geri McClymont explains in their article “How to Pre-Teach Vocabulary to English Language Learners” that, “When students already have a solid understanding of keywords in a reading passage or in any printed text they're reading, they're able to read the text with increased fluency. With higher reading fluency, English learners' comprehension of the text improves.” Through these findings, I decided to see if implementing pre-teaching vocabulary could influence the comprehension of my 3rd-grade ESL student.
Question/Wondering
In what ways does pre-teaching vocabulary using pictures and a student's native language influence a third- grade, male, ESL student's reading comprehension?
Methodology/Results
In this study, I focused my research on a Hispanic male in third grade who is a Spanish-speaking English Language Learner. I met with this student during reading WIN time Monday-Wednesday for four weeks. Each week, the student and I performed the guided reading process on a level K passage. During the first week, the student read the passage without any pre-taught vocabulary, completed a plot graphic organizer, answered discussion questions, and completed a four-question quiz. Over the next three weeks, the student completed this same process but before each reading, I pre-taught and reviewed vocabulary within the passage. I did this by using a graphic organizer that included a photo of the word, the word in English, and the word in Spanish. I chose this format to give my student the best chance to make meaning of the words and further be able to comprehend them within a passage.
When collecting baseline data, I found that my student could recall minimal details of the passage. He was successful in recalling the beginning of the passage and some of the setting but was inaccurate in naming the characters as well as the middle and end. His answers to the discussion questions were mostly inaccurate, and he lacked details within his answers. After the third day of reading, he took a four-question quiz where he scored a 50%. This proved that he was able to grasp some elements of the story but overall did not have full comprehension.
Over the next three weeks, I implemented pre-teaching vocabulary and found that my student's reading comprehension greatly benefitted from this strategy. After week one, his plot graphic organizer answers went from 28% accurate to 72% accurate, his discussion questions went from 50% to 66%, and his multiple-choice scores increased from 50% to 63%. Over the final two weeks of collecting data, my student's scores improved to 100% accuracy on all three of the activities. He also began to add more details to his responses and used quotes from the text to explain his answers. Through this process, the student not only improved in his accuracy but also demonstrated increased confidence in his reading comprehension.
Implications/Recommendations
Based on my findings, I have discovered that pre-teaching vocabulary to ESL students positively influences reading comprehension. Throughout my data collection, I saw growth not only in my student’s reading comprehension but in his fluency and confidence as well. For English Language Learners to grow as readers and speakers of English, they must be exposed to vocabulary in ways that allow them to make meaning of it. By intentionally teaching the vocabulary that my student was going to see, I allowed him to create a deeper meaning which furthered his ability to apply its meaning within a passage. He was also able to further comprehend what it was saying. I performed my data-collection in a one-on-one format which I feel greatly benefitted the student’s ability to apply the strategy. Although this was highly beneficial for my student, it is not very practical in a single-teacher classroom. As I further implement this, I would like to see how the results change when performed in a small group or whole group setting. Using this strategy could benefit not only ESL students but also students with learning differences. This study impacts my instructional practices by showing how valuable it is for ESL students to have opportunities to make meaning of unknown English words, and I plan to continue implementing this strategy throughout my time as an educator.
Reference(s)
Geri McClymont. (2023). How to Pre-Teach Vocabulary to English Language Learners. https://owlcation.com/academia/How-to-Pre-teach-Vocabulary-to-English-Language-Learners
Hesham Suleiman Alyousef & Albaya Intermediate School, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (2006). Teaching Reading Comprehension to ESL/EFL Learners. 5, 11.
Kei Mihara. (2011). Effects of Pre-Reading Strategies on EFL/ESL Reading Comprehension. 23.
Suzanne Irujo. (2023). What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners? https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/about-reading/articles/what-does-research-tell-us-about-teaching-reading-english-language
Typing and its Effects on Student’s Writing
Primary Researchers
Cecilia Vinh, Baylor University
Haylee Boast, Mentor Teacher, Chapel Park Elementary, Midway ISD
Nancy Markum, Mentor Teacher, Chapel Park Elementary, Midway ISD
Jina Clemons, Intern Supervisor, Baylor University
Rationale/Introduction
Research has shown that there are many benefits related to students typing their writing instead of writing it out by hand. For many students who struggle with writing neatly and legibly, typing is an efficient way to share information. Some factors that encourage typed writing include “legibility… neatness, spatial considerations, uniformity in slant and in size and alignment of letters and words, intensity of print, and type of script” (Klein & Taub, 2005). For students whose handwriting abilities were not as developed, having typed words can help them to better express what they are trying to convey to the reader in a more legible way. Furthermore, additional studies “have demonstrated both that the text composed using a word processor is subject to more revisions than text composed on paper…” which can result in more grammatically and concise written works ( Mogey, Paterson, Burk & Purcell, 2010).
It is also important to consider the factor of students’ familiarity with typing and technology, and how it affects a student’s writing performance. Horkay et al. (2006) found while studying students “that hands-on IT experience was significantly related to online writing assessment performance’ and that “computer familiarity added about 10% to the score achieved” (Mogey, Paterson, Burk & Purcell, 2010). If students are not as familiar with using a keyboard, this will affect their ability to write, and students will spend more time attempting to locate the correct letter on the keyboard. This will result in students looking for individual letters rather than considering entire words or phrases.
Although there are many benefits to typing, those benefits rely on students being able to write by hand. The ability to handwrite, especially with young children, “may be a crucial component of emerging letter recognition and understanding” (James & Engelhardt, 2012). However, handwriting is not just beneficial for children, but for adults as well. Longcamp M, Boucard C, Gilhodes JC, and Velay JL (2006) as well as James KH, Atwood TP (2009) conducted several behavioral studies using adults which “[showed] that letter recognition benefits from having handwriting practice more than from typing practice…” (James & Englehardt, 2012). In the context of increasing opportunities for students to practice typing, it is then important to make sure that students are well-versed in the different types of writing skills that are developed by handwriting.
Question(s)/Wondering(s)
How will students’ overall writing performance be affected if they are practicing writing skills by typing instead of writing by hand?
Methodology/Results
I created three different writing exercises that I had five students complete independently.
The first exercise was a Short Constructed Response (SCR) to the book Beauty and the Beast retold and illustrated by Jan Brett. I gave the students the prompt “What caused Beauty to want to return to the Beast’s palace? Prove your answer with evidence from the text.” The students’ responses were scored out of five points, and were then compared to their previous responses to other SCR answers which they had completed on paper. Overall, the students did very well on the exercise, but did struggle with making sure spelling and grammar were consistently correct.
The second exercise was completed on a Google Form, and had students combining seven sentences on a Google form, using conjunctions and proper punctuation. Their results were scored out of a total of seven points. I then had the students compare their results to previous exercises that they had completed on paper.
The third exercise for students was to type out an Extended Constructed Response (ECR), which they typed out during their WIN time (12:30pm – 1:05pm). The prompt given was based on the prompt that the students were given on the practice ELA STAAR they had taken. The students had a total of three sessions to type their ECR, where after each session, I tracked their progress of how far they had gotten into their response. Once students had finished typing their response, I then conferenced with the students independently, asking them the following questions:
- “ How do you feel about typing this assignment?”
- “Would you feel more comfortable with typing or handwriting this assignment? Why?”
- “Do you think you would improve with more practice?”
- “When I was learning how to type in school, we had a specific time where the teacher would instruct us on how to type. Would having more time to practice typing help you? Why or why not?”
Most of the students felt that they preferred the look of their responses based on the typing, but found that it took more time due to their lack of familiarity with the keyboard. Many of the students voiced that they felt they would benefit from having more opportunities to practice typing. However, while some felt that having a dedicated time for guided typing practice would be beneficial, other students preferred having assignments being typed instead of being handwritten.
Implications/Recommendations
By providing students with opportunities to use their typing skills, it has shown me that their writing can be either negatively or positively affected, based on their typing proficiency. I observed that as they continued to type their responses, over time their confidence and their ability to to locate the correct keys increased. My research has supported the benefits of students having increased typing experiences to support their writing abilities. By having increased amounts of time typing, their typing accuracy and automaticity increases. This allows students to then focus on other factors which affect their writing, such as grammar and punctuation.
While many of my students felt that they preferred typing over writing by hand, all of my students shared with me that they desired to have opportunities to practice typing in class. Some students felt that they would benefit from having guided instruction with a teacher, while others felt that having assignments needing to be typed would work instead.
My research has helped me to conclude that a students’ overall writing performance is not necessarily affected solely by the modality that is being used, but rather instead the amount of experience they have with that modality. When examining how my students completed the three different exercises, I observed that my students’ writing was mostly impacted by the lack of exposure to completing writing assignments by typing. Based on these findings, I will continue to explore the modality of typed writing, and how students respond to increased practice. I will also like to explore the difference of typing on different types of electronic devices, i.e. comparing laptops and Chromebooks to iPads and other tablets. In the future, I would also like to explore the effects of implementing forms of guided typing instruction and skill practice within the school day so that students will be able to feel more experienced and comfortable with typing.
References
Horkay N., R.E. Bennett, N. Allen, B. Kaplan, and F. Yan. 2006. Does it matter if I take my writing test on computer? An empirical study of mode effects in NAEP. Journal of Technology Learning and Assessment 5, no. 2: 4–49.
James KH, Atwood TP. The role of sensorimotor learning in the perception of letter-like forms: tracking the causes of neural specialization for letters. Cognitive Neuropsychology. 2009;26:91–110.
James, Karin H., and Laura Engelhardt. “The effects of handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate children.” Trends in Neuroscience and Education, vol. 1, no. 1, Dec. 2012, pp. 32–42, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2012.08.001.
Joseph Klein, et al. “The Effect of Variations in Handwriting and Print on Evaluation of Student Essays.” Assessing Writing, JAI, 27 June 2005, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1075293505000309.
Longcamp M, Boucard C, Gilhodes JC, Velay JL. Remembering the orientation of newly learned characters depends on the associated writing knowledge: a comparison between handwriting and typing. Human Movement Science. 2006;25:646–56.
Mogey, Nora, et al. “Typing compared with handwriting for essay examinations at university: Letting the students choose.” ALT-J, vol. 18, no. 1, Mar. 2010, pp. 29–47, https://doi.org/10.1080/09687761003657580.