Chelsea Treadway Action Research December 8, 2013

Meeting with Teacher and Essential Question Ms. Underwood and I met a few different times to discuss the students I should work with for my action research. Initially she wanted me to work with six students on their letter recognition. I took on this challenge and began assessing the students knowledge. I noticed that half of the students already knew most of their letters, so I met with Ms. Underwood for a second time to discuss what should be done. We decided that I would work with three students on their letter-sound knowledge. Although these students knew most of their letters, they could not identify a number of sounds that correspond with the letters. Therefore, they were starting to fall behind the flow of the general classroom learning, and they were also falling behind in their course of learning to read. When students start to fall behind, they tend to become disengaged and discouraged, so my purpose was to help these three students increase their letter-sound knowledge so that they would learn better in the general classroom setting, and ultimately become better readers.

Formulated question: What does research say about improving a students letter-sound recognition?

Initial and Baseline Data Interest Survey: I first met with my students individually to get to know them through an interest survey. Part one of the survey asked about the students feelings towards reading. Then there were questions about their favorite things and places to go. Part two included what they like to do at home, what they like to do with their friends, and things theyre good at. It also included questions about a person they would like to meet, what they would do if they had a million dollars, and what they would like to do when they grow up. This was a great introduction for me to learn about my students and to start building relationships with them. Student data: o AS o AD He doesnt like to read by himself, but he likes being read to by others. He likes happy and make-believe stories. He likes Spongebob Squarepants and Ironman, and he likes to play on the playground. When he is at home he likes to play games, watch T.V., and eat pancakes. He likes reading by himself as well as being read to by others. He likes funny and make-believe stories. He likes dinosaurs and playing Disney Infinity. He likes to play with his dad when he is at home. He is good at back flips. He would like to be Spiderman when he grows up.

If he had a million dollars he would buy a game and T.V. and he would paint his room.

o BR

When he grows up he wants to be a guy.

He likes reading by himself as well as being read to by others. He likes happy and real stories. He likes cartoons and Ironman, and he likes going to Chuck E. Cheese. He likes playing his Xbox when he is at home. He is good at soccer. He wants to be a policeman when he grows up.

Initial AssessmentLetter/Sound Recognition Assessment: I chose to give the students a very simple and straight-forward initial assessment. They were given a paper with all of the capital letters in a random order and they had to identify each letter by name. They were given a separate paper with all of the lowercase letters, and they repeated the process of naming them. Finally, I asked them to say the letter-sounds for each letter. For all three of these identifications, I recorded their answers on a separate document. Student data:

Letter/Sound Recognition Initial Assessment

Number of Students

3 2 1 0 C E G I J K L MN OQ R U VWX
Incorrect Letter Sound

BR AD AS

BRo 25/26 correct uppercase letters o 25/26 correct lowercase letters o 19/26 correct letter sounds ADo 26/26 correct uppercase letters o 26/26 correct lowercase letters o 20/26 correct letter sounds ASo 23/26 correct uppercase letters o 23/26 correct lowercase letters o 15/26 correct letter sounds

Reflection of initial assessment: Through the initial assessment I found that the students can recognize most of the upper and lowercase letters. However, their letter-sound knowledge is lacking. I noticed that they tended to make the actual sound of the letter name for the letter-sound, so through my instruction I wanted to teach the students that the letter-sound is not always the sound that the letter makes. My goal was for my students to be able to recognize at least 24 letter-sounds if not all of them. I decided to then consult the research to see what the best strategies were for teaching letter-sound recognition.

Observation logbehavior notes: I created a chart at the beginning of this process to keep track of student work and their behavior. The students were all very different and responded differently to the activities. I chose to record their behavior so I could have a better understanding of why they performed certain ways on different tasks. This helped me to know the students better and how to approach their learning needs. The logs for each student are displayed later on, but they show how each student acted and responded during each meeting.

Teaching the Alphabetic Principle through Phonics Instruction Chelsea Treadway Samford University

Teaching the Alphabetic Principle through Phonics Instruction All children have the ability to learn and achieve great things; however, learning rates are different and are unique to each child. In an elementary classroom there are many levels of knowledge represented by the different students. Some students come from homes that support their learning, and other students come from homes that do not care about their childs learning. Therefore, some children will be behind in their academic skills. More specifically, alphabet recognition and their corresponding sounds, also known as the alphabetic principle, usually lag behind in students that come from homes where reading is not encouraged. It is very important for students to grasp the alphabetic principle because that is what builds a foundation for reading. Therefore, students who are behind should receive additional instruction that is effective and research based. The alphabetic principle can be defined as the idea that letters and letter patterns represent the sounds of spoken language, and an ability should be formed to apply these relationships to words. Phonics instruction provides a way for students to apply relationships strategies in order to decode words. There are two important factors when teaching the alphabetic principle, which are the plan of instruction and the rate of instruction. When thinking of a plan of instruction, a teacher should initially focus on teaching the letter-sound relationships explicitly and in isolation. The teacher should give the students opportunities to practice the letter-sound relationships in daily lessons, provide practice that includes new letter-sounds relationships and previously learned letter-sound relationships, and give the students opportunities to apply their letter-sound knowledge to the reading of familiar words. There is no specific order in which to introduce the letter-sound relationships, but they should be chosen based on their high-frequency in speech and reading (Texas Education Agency, 2002).

The alphabetic principle can be practiced through explicit phonics instruction. Explicit phonics instruction focuses on identifying the sounds of letters in isolation and then blending those sounds together to form words. Once a student has learned key letter sounds, they can apply their knowledge to start decoding words (Chard & Osborn, 1999). There are many strategies and activities to use when teaching students the alphabetic principle. Scholastic has developed a research-based program called Sound and Letter Time and it focuses on phonemic awareness and the alphabetic principle. Their research has shown that young children learn best when they are actively participating in the learning process through play. As they engage in activities relevant to their interests they build knowledge and are more likely to understand and remember relationships and concepts (Rosenberg, 2006). Reading Rockets, a trusted online source, provides many ideas and resources for phonics implementation in the classroom. A few of the strategies and activities they suggest are matching games, letter formation with sand or play dough, letter bingo, letter stamps, letter books, and flash cards. They also recommend many different books that can be paired with phonics instruction (Reading Rockets, 2013). Its always important to relate phonics instruction back to print so the students can physically see the importance and relationship of letters and sounds in words. Another strategy that is a part of effective phonics instruction is the use of Elkonin boxes or sound boxes. This tool helps students build phonological awareness by segmenting words into sounds or syllables. They also teach students how to count the number of phonemes in a word instead of the number of letters. Overall, Elkonin boxes help the students better understand the alphabetic principle in decoding and spelling (Reading Rockets, 2013).

Instruction of the alphabetic principle through phonics instruction is a very important component for young children learning how to read. It should be taught explicitly and systematically through research-based strategies. It should be engaging for the student and provide lifelong benefits in reading. All children have the ability to learn and read, and through intentional instruction, all students can achieve.

References Chard, D. J., & Osborn, J. (1999). Phonics and word recognition instruction in early reading programs: guidelines for accessibility. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 14(2), 107-117. Reading Rockets. (2013). Alphabet matching. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/alphabet_matching/

Reading Rockets. (2013). Elkonin boxes. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/elkonin_boxes/ Rosenberg, M. (2006). Sound & letter time: Building phonemic awareness and alphabet recognition through purposeful play sound & letter time. Scholastic Research and Results, 1-33. Retrieved from teacher.scholastic.com/products/soundandlettertime/pdf/sound_letter_fin_single.pdf Texas Education Agency. (2002). The alphabetic principle. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/3408/

Action ResearchAlphabetic Principle Timeline

Day One: Interest Survey
Get to know students and record behavior. Have student help fill in progress chart.

Day Two: Initial Assessment

Assess students on their letter/sound knowledge. Record student behavior and have them help fill in chart.

Day Three: Practice

Flashcards, game (bingo or matching), read book if time allows. Record behavior and have students help fill in chart.

Day Four: Practice

Flashcards, game (bingo or matching), read book if time allows. Record behavior and have students fill in chart.

Day Five: Practice

Flashcards, fall letter recognition game. Record behavior and have students fill help fill in chart.

Day Six: Practice

Flashcards, introduce new type of game. Record behavior and have students help fill in chart.

Day Seven: Final Assessment

Assess students on their letter/sound knowledge with same initial assessment.

Check Out My Progress!

Name: Date What I did How I did

Documentation

Progress Chart
Name:
Date Data/Work completed Reflection/observations

Progress Chart
Name: BR
Date October 3, 2013 October 9, 2013 Data/Work completed Interest survey Initial assessment o 19/26 correct letter-sounds Letter/sound flashcards Letter/sound bingo Read bookThe Z Was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburgfor each letter we said the sound Final assessment o 25/26 correct letter-sounds Reflection/observations Quiet Friendly Smiles a lot Didnt try on some letter sounds Very good behavior Good participation Loved the book Very good behavior Very sharp and quick recall with letter sounds

October 10, 2013

December 5, 2013

BRs Overall Comparison 3

Number

2 1 0 C I J O Q U X
Incorrect Letter Sounds Final Assessment Initial Assessment

Reflection on BR: BR was a very bright student. He was well behaved and more reserved. He was a great listener and always did his best. On the initial assessment he did not try on some of the letter-sounds simply because he just did not know anything about them. However, he did phenomenal on his final assessment. He was very sharp and knew his sounds well. He missed only one which was a huge improvement from the initial assessment when he missed seven sounds. During instruction BR responded well to games and books. He loved looking at the pictures in the books and hearing them read to him. I am so excited that his knowledge of letter-sounds is almost perfect, and it makes me happy that I was a part of his growth.

Progress Chart
Name: AD
Date October 3, 2013 October 9, 2013 November 14, 2013 December 5, 2013 Data/Work completed Interest Survey Initial assessment o 20/26 correct lettersounds Letter/sound flashcards Letter/sound bingo Read bookThe Z Was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburgfor each letter we said the sound Letter/sound gameteacher says word, student has to find the beginning letter on alphabet board Final assessment o 23/26 correct lettersounds Reflection/observations Pretty talkative Sometimes hard to understand Stayed on task

October 10, 2013

Sometimes distracted by AS Good participation Very good participation Good awareness of letter sounds Well behaved Knew most sounds

ADs Overall Comparison

2
Number

1 0 C E G I Q X Y
Incorrect Letter Sounds

Final Assessment Initial Assessment

Reflection on AD: AD was a very happy student. He was always in a good mood and he usually had a smile on his face. He was pretty good at staying on task, except he would sometimes get distracted by AS. He scored the highest out of the three boys on the initial assessment. He could not recognize six of the letter sounds. However, on the final assessment he was unable to recognize only three letter-sounds, which was an improvement. During instruction he responded best to games. He had a lot of fun identifying letters and their sounds and he enjoyed the challenge.

Progress Chart
Name: AS
Date September 26, 2013 October 9, 2013 Data/Work completed Interest survey Initial assessment o 15/26 correct letter-sounds Letter/sound flashcards Letter/sound bingo Read bookThe Z Was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburgfor each letter we said the sound Letter/sound bingo Letter/sound matching Letter/sound gameteacher says word, student has to find the beginning letter on alphabet board Final assessment o 22/26 correct letter-sounds Reflection/observations Happy A little distracted Gets bored Distracted easily Couldnt sit still Sometimes distracted Participated Did very well! Distracted Couldnt sit still Very distracted Didnt always try

October 10, 2013

November 12, 2013 November 14, 2013 December 5, 2013

ASs Overall Comparison 2

Number

1 0 C G I K L MN O Q R U VWX Y
Incorrect Letter Sounds

Final Assessment Initial Assessment

Reflection on AS: AS was very energetic and he was easily distracted. It was really difficult for him to sit longer than a couple of minutes. On his initial assessment he could not identify eleven of the lettersounds, so I knew I really had to work hard with him. During the final assessment he was very distracted and did want to be there. He would not focus and he did not want to even look at the letters most of the time. Therefore, his final data may be a little misleading. However, he still improved in his letter-sound recognition considering the circumstances, so that was a positive outcome. During instruction AS responded well to games mostly because it was active participation and it kept him engaged. Im so happy that he has improved, and I know with a little more individualized help he will be able to master his letter-sounds.

Reflection This process was very beneficial in my professional growth as a future teacher. I have learned the importance of building relationships with my students to know their interests so I can better engage them in learning. I have learned the importance of using initial assessments and other data to drive instruction. One of the most important ideas Ive learned is that every student responds to instruction differently. Some methods may engage a student while that same method may make another student bored. However, when students interests are taken into consideration along with their personalities, instruction can be created to benefit their learning. Through my research I have learned many strategies to use when teaching letter sounds to young children. Its important to teach the sounds explicitly and in isolation, and the letter sounds should be based off of high frequency in the students texts. This instruction should also have active participation through games or other activities. Activities such as bingo, matching, letter stamps, or flashcards are effective ways to keep students engaged in learning. Its also important to relate back to literature, so reading books are an effective way to show students how letter sounds work to create meaningful words. The data I collected was positive overall. There were many essential letter sounds that the students didnt know at the beginning that they knew at the end. I feel like I implemented a lot of good strategies to help the students learn, and I did my best to keep them engaged through high participation activities. I believe that my instruction was a beneficial additive to the general classroom instruction. I helped provide these students with more individualized practice in addition to daily classroom practice. Although the students havent mastered every letter sound, the data shows that they have grown in their letter sound knowledge, and Im so proud that I had the privilege of playing a role in that.