Download the PDF version of this lessonBest Practices of Technology Integration
Title: Action Research for Students
Submitted by:
Name: Deborah Madeja
School Building: Parkview Elementary
School District: Novi Community Schools
School Address: 45825 Eleven Mile Road / Novi, MI 48374
E-mail address: dmadeja@fc.novi.k12.mi.us
Subject Area: Thematic Lesson-Language Arts, Social Studies, Math
Intended Grade Level(s): Third and Fourth Grade
Description:
Facilitating students in conducting an Action Research project of their own to help them become better readers of informational text, learn about the regions of the United States and analyze reading skills by utilizing spreadsheets.
Narrative:
One of the challenges faced in education is how to help students read informational articles for understanding. As Reading for Information is a major section in the MEAP test given to fourth grade students, it is important that students have this skill. Asking the students to conduct their own Action Research project enabled me to assume the role of the facilitator and empowered the students to develop their own expertise as active learners. By charting their own progress, on ClarisWorks Spreadsheets, the students were able to see patterns and devise their own strategies for improvement.
* What made this lesson a success in your classroom?
The students were very enthusiastic about charting their own progress. They were actively involved in making decisions about how they could improve and they were responsible for their own progress. The ownership helped to create intrinsic motivation.
* How did this lesson meet curricular goals?
The students were active learners, learning about the various regions of the United States and devising strategies to comprehend the information they were reading.
* What did you observe in student response to this lesson that
validated the success of students with this lesson?
By asking the students to be responsible for their own learning, they were vigorously involved in analyzing their reading patterns in order to plan and practice strategies to improve comprehension of expository test. They enthusiastically embraced this task and were proud to share it with their families.
* How does the lesson encourage Standards of Authentic
Instruction; higher-order thinking skills, deep knowledge,
substantive conversation, connections to the world beyond
the classroom?
The students kept track of their individual progress and utilized metacognition to improve their skills by devising their own strategies for improvement. When they were given the challenge to improve their own abilities, it empowered them to analyze the information and make their own choices about how to improve. They discussed every step of the project with me, other students, and members of their families. They wrote their own evaluations. This process opened up opportunities to learn about the different regions of the United States in a whole new way.
* How does the addition of technology improve this lesson?
The use of technology allowed the students to create visual proof of their progress. By entering the data on spreadsheets and creating charts, the students could track their own progress.
Curriculum Benchmarks:
MI.ELA.3. LE.5
Employ multiple strategies to construct meaning while reading, listening to, viewing, or creating texts. Examples include summarizing, predicting, generating questions, mapping, examining picture cues, analyzing word structure and sentence structure, discussing with peers, and using context and text structure.MI.SOC.II.4.LE.2
Describe places, cultures, and communities in the United States and compare them with those in other regions and countries.MI.MAT.III.1.E.1
Collect and explore data through counting, measuring and conducting surveys and experiments.Total amount of time for lesson:
Two weeks, approximately one hour per day.
Materials/Hardware/Software:
A pre and post test for reading informational Text (we used the Weekly Reader Tests)
A Lickert Scale Survey about reading (included)
Strategies for Literacy Articles, Virg. Inc
MacIntosh Computers
colored printer
ClarisWorks
Teacher Preparation:
A Lickert Scale survey about reading needs to be created before this unit begins. We used the Standards and Benchmarks to help us create this survey. There needs to be a pre and post evaluation to measure expository text reading skills.
It was useful to create a spreadsheet template for the students to use. This served as a model for the students when they were ready to create their own spreadsheets.
Examples of Action Research were used as an introduction to the process.
Prerequisite Student Skills:
Knowledge of ClarisWorks and simple computer skills.
Self-analysis awareness
Student Activities/Procedures:
Day One:
1.) The students document a starting point by taking a Weekly Reader pretest. Students chart their scores on a ClarisWorks Spreadsheet, in areas such as vocabulary reading and inferential comprehension.
2.) Students fill out a Lickert Scale Survey, we created, utilizing the State of Michigan’s Standards and Benchmarks. and enter those results on a ClarisWorks Spreadsheet chart.
Days two through nine:
3.) Students document the third method of data collection by filling out another ClarisWorks Spreadsheet chart, analyzing their skills as they read each Virg. Inc. article.
4.) After reading a Virg. Inc. article, each student analyzed areas of strength and areas needing improvement. The student devised a plan of action in order to work on areas needing improvement. Some examples are:
*work with a cooperative group and go over the article
*create a list of strategies that help improve comprehension
*create a list of strategies for reading and answering questions
*do a practice article with a partner and use the "Think Aloud" strategy together
Days nine and ten:
5.) The students take the Weekly Reader post test. Students chart their scores on a ClarisWorks Spreadsheet.
6.) Students fill out the Lickert Scale survey and enter those results on a ClarisWorks Spreadsheet chart.
7.) Students compare the beginning charts with the ending charts. They write an analysis of what worked for them and what they can do to continue to improve.
Assessment/Evaluation:
Students compare the beginning charts with the ending charts. They identify their strengths and areas they need to improve. They write an analysis of strategies that worked for them and what they can do to continue to improve.
Students share these results and analysis with their families. They write a plan of action, listing strategies they demonstrated that worked for them and explain how they plan to employ them when they are reading informational text.