Action Research

The Holy Grail: In Search of Reading Comprehension in the Second Grade
"How does teaching second graders to question the text impact their reading comprehension?"

Strategy: Questioning techniques during instruction using modeling.

Much of the evidence given is from researchers, but the teacher also used the support of the state standards. In order to record data, the teacher chose a student from each of the levels in her class: advanced, average and below readers to follow and check up on. Data will be in the form of post-its used to write questions and individual reading conference notes.

The teacher organized her data into categories entitled: THE GOOD THE BAD and THE UGLY, the teacher realized that some may know how to write efficient questions but were unsure on WHAT to ask, the teacher revamped the study to deepen the experience.

These results showed that the reading program is not what changes students comprehension, as long as the program covers the process and the content, the teacher needs to focus time on the students, getting feedback and changing methods to fit thier needs. Her concluding statement: There is NO holy grail when it comes to reading comprehension.


Action Research Proposal:
Students struggle with recognizing rhyme and word families. This is recognized in the strategic plan for teachers. Games focusing on rhyming and word families.

“How can I use a variety of rhyming games to help my students recognize rhyme and word families in text?” A supporting question is, “Will the rhyming strategies change student attitudes about reading instruction?"

This question is based on the research from Allen in 1998 that says the implementing a wide range of games that focus on rhyming will improves students recognition. Data will be collected through student work samples, observing student performance, and checklists will accompany.
5. What evidence is presented that the strategy will work?

6. How will data be collected?