What data collection methods were selected?

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For my data collection, I decided to do a pre and post test on phonics skills. The test was given orally to hear if phonics skills are being applied. This test was chosen as a way to see growth over time with my students before and after receiving directed phonics instruction through word study and sight words. I also decided to do weekly sight word spelling and reading checks to see if the skills were reciprocated in both their ability to read the words and write the words. On Day 2 of guided reading, we would do running records. This is where I would take anecdotal notes of what I was seeing/hearing in their reading to help guide my instruction as we continue Their guided reading level was another form of data to see where they were at from the beginning of the study to the end of the study. Anecdotal notes were taken on running records throughout the study to keep track and guide instruction based on what I was seeing and hearing in their reading and writing.

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Why were these data collection methods selected?

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These data points were selected because they showed potential growth over time. I was able to see from beginning to end and weekly  progress of my students throughout the study. The purpose of my study was to see if the word study strategies would increase reading achievement, which is why I chose to use guided reading levels as a data point. The pre and post test was used to determine if students have internalized phonemic awareness from small group instruction. The weekly sight words in guided writing told me if students are applying the skills on sight words as well. 

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What did the data show?

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Pre Test:

The pre test given had eight categories of various phonemic skills. These categories were: onset and rhyme, CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant pattern) words, blends, digraphs, blends and digraphs, r-controlled vowels (i.e: -er, -ir, -ur), CVCe (consonant, vowel, consonant, silent e pattern) words, and vowel digraphs. I initially tested all four of my students over all eight categories. The students were shown a word on a flashcard and were asked to read the word out loud. Altogether, students read a total of 60 words with various phonics skills imbedded in the words. After giving the pre test, all four students were proficient or above, meaning 80% or higher, in the skills of onset and rhyme, CVC words, blends, digraphs, and blends and digraphs together. Students showed significant struggle with r-controlled vowels, CVCe words, and vowel digraphs. I then decided to really focus on those three skills, while still touching base on the other five skills. By taking out five of the categories for the pre test to reassess in the post test, there were then a total of 15 words using the phonemic skills of r-controlled vowels, CVCe words, and vowel digraphs. These words were the same for both the pre test and post test. 

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Post Test:

The post test was given at the end of the study, after six weeks of direct and intentional instruction on phonemic awareness through word study and sight words. For the post test, the four students were only given the 15 words using the r-controlled vowels, CVCe words, and vowel digraphs skills. They were asked to read the words out loud where I could hear the correct pronunciation and reading of the words. The results showed that each student showed growth from the pre to post test.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Growth:

The pre and post test gave great information about where students started and ended during their journey, and it served as a strong indicator of their learning. While not all students met the goal of proficiency of 80%, they all showed growth from pre to post test. 

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Sight Words:

During the study, I also incorporated the use of sight words. Sight words are a list of words that students are required to know how to both read and write by the end of first grade. These words are chosen based on common words seen in texts they read and used within writing for the age group. Some sight words do break rules of phonics and require memorization, but not all words on the list follow this pattern. On the third day of guided reading, the students would do guided writing about the reading. In the guided writing, we incorporated 1-2 sight words in the sentences to work on reading and writing them. At the end of the study, students were assessed on both reading and writing all 100 first grade sight words. 

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What did I notice throughout the study?:

Throughout the study, I rotated through the four students and did running records on day two of their guided reading rotations. A running record measures different accuracies while a student reads. When listening to the student read, I followed along and listened for words read correctly or incorrectly. Typically, a teacher wants to listen to a student read approximately 100 words, give or take, and listen for words read both correctly and incorrectly. The more words read correctly, the higher percent accuracy they receive. This is found by taking the amount of words they read during the running record and then dividing the amount of errors. The running record also determines if the book is easy, instructional, or hard, based on the accuracy percentage.

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Over the course of the study, all four students were reading with a 92% or higher accuracy rate at guided reading levels F, G, and H. This means they were all reading at least 92% of the words correctly in the guided reading text. This told me that they were able to correctly identify sounds and patterns to read the words. This was a huge jump in percent accuracy scores prior to the study, as two of the four students were reading with percent accuracies of 85% or lower. By adding intentional word work practice, students were able to apply their learning to increase their accuracies.

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Another component that is measured through running records is fluency. Fluency is the pace and smoothness that the student reads at during the record. Prior to the study, I took various anecdotal notes on the pace this group of students was reading. The group as a whole had a hard time reading through a 10-page guided reading book in the 15-20 minute rotation. They were taking a lot of time to sound out words into parts. This was a great strategy at the time, but they often were not correlating the correct sounds to the letter or pattern. As the study progressed, I noticed a change in their fluency. In notes taken, they were able to complete a whole book in the 15-20 minute rotation. They were not taking as much time to sound out words. They reciprocity between intentional teaching and phonics was being shown while they read their book. The students were reading much smoother and in longer phrases or sentences, which increased all four students' fluency scores. Each student at least received one fluency score of three during this study, which means they were reading in sentences with correct pauses and expression. 

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T-Test:

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A paired-samples t-test was conducted to determine the effect building phonemic awareness through word work will increase student achievement in guided reading levels. There was a significant difference in the scores prior to implementing word work (M= 3, SD= 2.16) and after implementing the word work (M= 11.75, SD= 2.62); t(4)= 3.888889, p = 0.0150719. The observed standardized effect size is large (1.94). That indicates that the magnitude of the difference between the average and μ0 is large. These results suggest that building phonemic awareness had a positive effect on increasing student achievement in guided reading. Specifically, the results suggest that the use of word work increased guided reading level achievement.

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What was the goal with the study?

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If we refer back to the purpose statement, I stated that the purpose of my study was to determine if building phonemic awareness through word work would increase student achievement in guided reading levels. From the beginning of the year, this particular group of students was not at grade level for guided reading. At the end of the third quarter, which was on March 6th, first grade students needed to be at a guided reading level H. At the start of the study, this group was reading at a level F. By the end of the study, after 6 weeks of intentional teaching on phonics through word study, students met grade level guided reading and were all at a level H. 

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