Professional Documents
Culture Documents
161 Guided Reading Strategies
161 Guided Reading Strategies
AND
LEARNING
RESEARCH EXCHANGE
Project #161
July 2007
This research was partially funded through a grant from the McDowell Foundation. However, the points of view
and opinions expressed in project documents are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views
of the Foundation.
The purpose of the Dr. Stirling McDowell Foundation for Research into Teaching is to fund research, inquiry and
dissemination of information focusing on instruction (both teaching and learning) in the context of the public
elementary and secondary education system. Specifically, it will:
1) contribute to knowledge about teaching and learning;
2) encourage educational inquiry through a wide range of methodologies;
3) support the involvement of practising teachers in active research projects;
4) encourage organizations as well as individuals to determine and act in areas of research and inquiry; and
5) encourage experimentation with innovative ideas and methodologies related to teaching and learning.
The Foundation is an independent charitable organization formed by the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation
in 1991. It is governed by a Board of Directors with the assistance of an Advisory Committee of representatives
from the educational and business communities. The selection and evaluation of projects funded by the
Foundation is carried out by a teacher-led Project Review Committee. Inquiries concerning research supported
by the McDowell Foundation may be directed to the following address:
Research Coordinator
Dr. Stirling McDowell Foundation
2317 Arlington Avenue
Saskatoon SK S7J 2H8
Telephone: 1-800-667-7762 or (306) 373-1660
2007 by the Dr. Stirling McDowell Foundation for Research into Teaching Inc. Permission is given to use this
work for educational purposes, except that authorization from the original source must be obtained for the use
of any material that appears in the work with credit to another source.
Acknowledgments
First of all, the researchers would like to thank the following individuals for
their support: Shelley Rowein, Director of Holy Family RCSSD #140 for totally
endorsing the project; Darrell Perras, Principal of St. Olivier School for creating an
atmosphere in which teachers have an opportunity to try new ideas and both coteaching and cooperative learning are encouraged; Starla Strebinsky, Principal of
Sacred Heart School in Regina for providing the researchers with the opportunity
to see Guided Reading in action within the setting of multi-grade groupings; Lisa
Kuntz, Superintendent of Education for the Holy Family RCSSD for recommending
that the researchers visit Sacred Heart School in the first place, and for teaching
the researchers how to use the computerized Vocabulary and Literacy quizzes from
Renaissance Learning to measure student outcomes; and last but not least,
Lana Bourassa, Educational Assistant at St. Olivier School, for the many
additional hours she spent keyboarding Guided Reading activities and the final
report, as well as downloading books, and compiling and organizing them for
students to read.
Second, thanks also goes to the staff at the Stewart Resource Centre, STF
Building, Saskatoon for lending not only professional training videos, but also many
books on Guided Reading so the researchers could grow professionally.
Third, thank you to the parents of students in Grades Three, Four, and Five at St.
Olivier School for their permission to publish examples of their childrens work and
take photographs of students involved in Guided Reading activities.
Fourth, thank you to all the students who inspired us with their thinking,
discussions, questions and learning.
Last, thank you to the Dr. Stirling McDowell Foundation for Research into
Teaching for providing the grant to make this kind of action research project
possible.
The support for this project is very much appreciated.
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
Executive Summary
Four teachers at St. Olivier School in Radville, Saskatchewan, collaborated in order
to identify the best Guided Reading strategies available to improve student
learning out-comes in a variety of subject areas. The objective of this action
research project was to help fill in some of the gaps identified in the Spring 2005
Grade Five provincial reading assessment by developing students critical thinking
skills in Grades Three, Four and Five through the teaching of Guided Reading
strategies. The project was both data-driven and student-centered and was
designed to inform teaching practices and improve students reading
comprehension.
As part of the researcher training for this project, Guided Reading strategies were
studied in the professional literature, a training video on using Guided Reading
strategies was viewed and discussed, and teachers who successfully use Guided
Reading to enhance critical thinking skills in their classrooms were visited.
Specific strategies to teach students how to answer higher-level kinds of questions,
and also to infer or read between the lines, were identified. After students
reading levels were measured using both informal reading inventories and the Star
test, students were grouped, where appropriate, and received direct instruction
according to their needs and interests. A variety of texts, both fictional and
informational, were used to help improve students literacy skills.
Throughout the project, data collection methods, including interviews, surveys,
informal reading inventories, the Star test, graphic organizers, and student work
samples, were used to measure growth in students critical thinking skills. The
researchers also reflected on their experiences by maintaining journals about the
project.
When the researchers compiled and evaluated the data, the results demonstrated
not only a marked growth in reading comprehension skills but also a greater ability
to infer in most students.
The researchers reflections on the project were also very favorable. The opportunity
to collaborate and learn from each other was a positive experience for the
researchers. They saw the project as a valuable learning opportunity for themselves
and their students, and they plan to apply their new knowledge by continuing to
teach Guided Reading strategies in the future.
ii
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Research Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Research Methodology
Parental Consent . . . . . . . .
Researcher Training . . . . .
Benchmarks . . . . . . . . . . .
Strategy Instruction . . . . . .
School Visit . . . . . . . . . . . .
Assessment and Evaluation
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Summary of Data
Student Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Informal Reading Inventory Results . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Student Survey Results from Grade Five Fantasy Unit
Computerized Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Literary Skills Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
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iv
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
Introduction
THE RESEARCHERS
Four teachers from St. Olivier School collaborated on this project. Lori, the
Grade Three teacher, had seventeen years of teaching experience; Jocelyn, the
Student Services teacher and Resource Based Learning Consultant, had eight years
of teaching experience along with eight years of experience as a librarian; Lorrie,
the Grade Five teacher, had eight years of teaching experience; and Sherrill, the
Grade Four teacher, had five years of teaching experience. The total number of
years of teaching experience was 38 years. This was their first action research
project.
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
Background
WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION AND CONTEXT FOR
THIS PROJECT?
The idea for this research project came about as a result of other research that was
being conducted both provincially and division-wide. At the provincial level in
Saskatchewan, results of the 2005 AFL Reading Assessment: Holy Family RCSSD
140 Grade Five Report indicated that students inferencing skills were lower than
other reading skills.
According to page 1 of the report,
Procedural
Informative
Narrative
Reading Skill
Student Success
Rate in Percent
drawing inferences
63
drawing inferences
69
drawing inferences, interpreting
31
recognizing the overall message
69
interpreting vocabulary from context
50
interpreting figurative language
56
using background information
50
using background knowledge
44
using background knowledge
69
synthesizing information
13
interpreting figurative language
6
drawing inferences
63
drawing inferences about a character
50
making predictions
25
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
Research Question
How can Guided Reading strategies be used to improve students
critical thinking skills in Grades Three, Four and Five?
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
Literature Review
WHAT IS GUIDED READING?
Guided Reading is a direct method of teaching employed with a small group of
students to explicitly teach a variety of reading strategies through teacher
modeling and student practice using materials at the independent level.
The researchers identified the following questions about Guided Reading:
What did the literature say about using Guided Reading strategies to
teach higher level thinking skills at these specific grade levels?
A review of the literature began with an online search, during Easter break of 2006.
Thanks to a National Library Week Trial, whole ranges of educational databases
from Thomson Gale were available to search. A huge body of literature was
available. Several attempts to redefine the search terms, and narrow the search led
to some valuable hits.
Specifically, a bibliography entitled, Reading Comprehension Instructional Strategies
Elementary Level, compiled by Kyong-Jee Kim, a Reference Specialist with the
ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English and Communication, proved an excellent
starting point. Of particular interest from this bibliography were the results of two
Masters action research projects that helped us to answer the question about what
had been done already.
The first project, Improving students inferential and literal reading comprehension
(1999), involved third, fourth, and fifth grade students from the mid-western United
States. The projects literature review emphasized:
allowing students a choice of reading materials to increase motivation,
the use of teacher read-alouds,
the use of a K-W-L chart to help students activate prior knowledge and
connect to new knowledge,
the use of self-monitoring questions before, during, and after reading, and
the use of Literary Circles and story maps.
The researchers, Fabrikant, Siekierski and Williams (1999), also identified some
probable causes as to why students had low literal and low inferencing skills,
including:
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
They collected data from teacher observations and results from the Star
standardized test. A 16-week intervention program that built on previously
taught skills was created. Direct teaching of specific strategies included teaching
Reading five days a week in 60 to 90 minute blocks. Strategies included:
The Accelerated Reader program was also implemented along with the incentive
of eating dessert with the teacher, after reading goals had been met.
In their literature review the researchers quoted Dole, Duffy, Pearson and Roehler
(1990) from Technical Report No. 143, Developing expertise in reading
comprehension: what should be taught? How should it be taught? from the Center
for the Study of Reading at the University of Illinois, as saying,
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
Students were taught how to use graphic organizers to record the main character,
the setting, the problem, the solution, and the resolution of a story. Afterwards,
students were given end of selection (story) tests and their reading comprehension
skills were measured with the Qualitative Reading Inventory (1995) in second and
third grade. Anderson, OLeary, Schuler, and Wright concluded that consistent use
of graphic organizers, and an effective Guided Reading program increased
students comprehension skills.
Several journal articles also shed some light on other ways to improve reading
comprehension using higher level thinking skills. Ketch (2005) argued that
conversation can be a vehicle to practice and learn comprehension skills. In
research conducted on proficient readers, seven common strategies that good
readers use to comprehend text were identified:
The researchers called for an assessment revolution in reading, with a need for the
assessment and teaching of thoughtful responses to text in classrooms, rather than
literal ones. Approaches such as Literature Circles and response journals with
modeling were recommended to promote thoughtful literacy. They concluded that,
setting a purpose,
building on what you know,
wondering silently, and
putting it all together.
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
10
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
a poem, on one side what the words mean, on the other side Im
inferring. . ., below, as well as
questions we have answers to these questions.
Many student writing and drawing samples were used effectively to demonstrate
how primary students could be taught to infer.
According to Bird (1989), who was concerned about the ability of university and
community college students to think critically, In the area of critical thinking and
comprehension, there exists no single approach to student mastery (p. 745).
However, a lot of common themes were evident in this literature review. Many of
the approaches involved the use of before reading, during reading, and after reading
activities. Instruction was explicit. The teacher modeled the strategy. Students were
taught when and how to use the strategy, and were also given opportunities to
practice and reflect on their use of the strategy. Instruction was also studentcentered. Reading materials were at the students reading levels and based on
students interests. Critical thinking skills were used to engage students in
reading, writing, listening, and discussions about their ideas.
As far as the teaching of specific strategies is concerned, several strategies came
up repeatedly in the literature. The most effective ones that improved students
reading comprehension and critical thinking skills appeared to be:
retelling, and
teaching inferring.
From a practical point of view, the frequency and duration of the instruction varied
considerably. The length of instruction varied from 30 minutes at a time up to a
76 minute block, from two to five days a week, and from four months to all year.
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
11
Research Methodology
PARENTAL CONSENT
The researchers wrote a letter to inform parents of students in Grades Three, Four
and Five about their intent to conduct an action research project on Guided
Reading (see Appendix 1). The letter also reassured parents that the results for
individual students would be kept confidential. The information was shared
with parents at an Open House, early in September 2006. Parents were also asked
to sign a permission form to release student work and to allow photographs of their
child(ren) to be taken (see Appendix 2). The letter and permission form were sent
home to any parents who were unable to attend the Open House. Parental
support was unanimous. Interestingly enough, one high school teacher commented
that if the researchers were able to teach students to infer, she would like us to
share that information since she was trying to teach the same skills to middle years
students. Her comment raised the question:
If students are taught how to infer now, will they be able to later on,
when the material is more difficult?
RESEARCHER TRAINING
As researchers, how did we begin the process of learning about Guided Reading
strategies? The researcher-training portion of the project had five main components:
1) studying specific strategies used to teach Guided Reading in the professional
literature,
2) viewing and discussing a training video on using Guided Reading strategies,
3) visiting other teachers who successfully use Guided Reading in their
classrooms to enhance critical thinking,
4) keeping reflective journals to document insights about Guided Reading, and
5) sharing key findings with the other researchers during regular meetings
throughout the project.
After the Student Services teacher gathered resources and previewed professional
videos, the researchers met for training in late September of 2006. The purposes
of the training were to learn more about what Guided Reading is, identify some of
the key strategies available, and determine practical ways to use the strategies in
the classroom. An education student from the University of Regina, Jessica La
Pointe, also attended the training session. The researchers met outside the
school at a local church and watched an informative video, Instructional strategies
for Guided Reading that enhance students reading comprehension, Grades 3-6
(2002). The accompanying resource guide served as the basis for discussion.
The video presented six instructional strategies:
12
I wonder,
good reader strategies, and
the keyword strategy on Tape 1, as well as
making it real,
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
BENCHMARKS
Students were given the Star test in August 2006 to help determine their reading
levels and grade equivalents. Testing occurred again before each of the reporting
periods in November, February/March, and May to follow up these initial
benchmarks.
STRATEGY INSTRUCTION
Explicit teaching of the strategies was the next focus of the research project. After
the researcher training, each researcher chose to focus on selected strategies that
would best meet the needs of her students and fit with the work in the units being
taught in the classroom. The individual approach each researcher took was
discussed and compared during reflection meetings. Highlights were as follows.
IN
GRADE THREE
13
the chapter, students illustrated a scene from it (see Appendix 4a: Imagery with
Owls in the Family). The novel was brought to life. Students enjoyed illustrating an
event from the chapter, and the book became very real to them. Every student was
able to complete this task; artistic ability did not matter. As visualizing continued
throughout the year, students became very adept at making pictures in their
minds. It was a valuable reading comprehension strategy to make the written word
become real.
14
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
IN
GRADE FOUR
Direct Guided Reading instruction was the focus for a novel study on Stone fox by
John Reynolds Gardiner (1980). Students participated in a variety of activities
designed to promote higher level thinking skills from Literature and critical
thinking, Book 1 by John Carratello. Students read up to Chapters 5 and 6, and
then did an activity about being a responsible person. In the novel, they learned
that the main character had many responsibilities so then the students had to
connect the book to their own lives. Students had to think of how and in what
ways they were responsible. They also had to write if they thought they could care
for their Grandpa like the character Little Willy had to and answer why or why not.
Then they had to think of five ways that they could earn $500, like Little Willy. The
ideas had to be real ways and not make-believe. The students also had to write
a prediction of whom they thought would win the big race, and what they
thought would happen. Then they read the book to find out. Afterwards, they
watched the video, Stone Fox. Students recorded the similarities and differences
between the book and the video.
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
15
INSERT PHOTO #3
16
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
make predictions by giving evidence from the text and picture clues,
relate legends to their own experience,
apply what they had learned about a character to their own lives,
raise questions as they read,
identify the authors message,
determine meaning by reading and writing words in context,
draw conclusions at the end of the legends,
evaluate favorite legends and paintings, and
answer lots of why do you think questions.
This line of questioning kept students interested and challenged. Discussions were
lively and students had to think more critically. The researcher took turns
working with each group, and observations were recorded.
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
17
Each group read three legends, and took Accelerated Reader tests on the books,
when available, at the end of the activities. The unit concluded with a lunch
featuring First Nations food. Some students retold a few of the legends they had
read by performing puppet shows on the last day of school for students in
Grades One through Three. Students in the audience were asked to infer what the
authors message was at the end of each legend. Each legend was well received by
the audience.
IN
GRADE FIVE
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
In English Language Arts, a Guided Reading approach was employed using short
stories, poetry, and essays on Canadian and world heroes.
In Social Studies, students learned about Canadian War Heroes/Remembrance
Day by reading and responding to several information cards from Lest we forget,
grades 4-6 (2000) by Ruth Solski, published by S & S Learning Materials.
In Guidance, students made personal reflections on the Stations of the Cross and
drew posters to represent each station.
In Mathematics, personal dictionaries were used to help students understand
vocabulary, and problem solving duotangs were created to help students think
more critically. Students did the Written Assessment Task, Understanding the
Problem on pages 77 through 83 of Alberta Educations Diagnostic mathematics
program: elementary: division II: problem solving (1990). This assessment included
determining what information was not needed to solve problems and answering
a variety of multiple-choice questions about tables, charts, signs, diagrams, and
word problems. Students also made their own tables, lists, pictures, and diagrams,
or used guess and check to answer problems from The Problem Solver 3: Activities
for Learning Problem-Solving Strategies (1987) by Shirley Hoogeboom and Judy
Goodnow, published by Creative Publications.
SCHOOL VISIT
In January 2007, three of the researchers, armed with questions, visited Sacred
Heart, an inner-city school in Regina, to observe a highly successful Guided
Reading program in action. The program was intensive and involved all of the
students in Kindergarten to Grade Eight. The program was facilitated by 18
dedicated teachers and three educational assistants and occurred four days a week.
Benchmarking was conducted three times a year. Students were grouped
according to their reading levels and expected to improve one reading level per term.
Reading materials consisted of benchmarking tools, books, and activity sheets
downloaded from the Reading a-z website. The enthusiasm of all the participants
was clearly evident.
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
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RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
Summary of Data
STUDENT INTERVIEWS
WHAT WAS THE STUDENT SAMPLE LIKE? WHAT WERE THE
STUDENTS INTERESTS? HOW DID THEY SEE THEMSELVES AS
READERS? HOW DID THE GRADE THEY WERE IN AFFECT THEIR
PERCEPTIONS?
In September 2006, the students in Grades Three, Four and Five were given the
Student Interview, Kindergarten Fourth Grade from The Critical reading inventory
(2004) to gather some background information, including students perceptions of
themselves as readers. Students wrote their responses on an interview sheet. An
analysis of their responses followed, and the results are summarized below.
There was an even balance of boys and girls in the sample, with a total of 22 boys
(one boy moved before the March 2007 reading assessment) and 21 girls.
Reading was the students third favorite home activity, rated below watching TV
and playing on the computer. Students explained that they like reading at home
because the book is interesting, reading teaches you stuff, Im good at reading, I
like reading because its exciting, and I relax.
The number of students who were read to at home dropped as the students got
older. The majority of Grade Three students were read to at bedtime, while the
majority of Grade Four and Five students were not. While it was parents who read
to most of the Grade Three students, a grandparent read to several of the
students, and a brother or sister read to a few.
Whether students liked to read or not depended on the grade they were in. The
majority of students in Grade Three and Four liked to read, while only about half
the students in Grade Five liked to read.
There was a wide range of favorite books and authors that depended on the grade
students were in. The most popular books in Grade Three were the Magic Tree
House series and Junie B. Jones; in Grade Four students preferred fantasy,
animal stories, and books by Lemony Snicket; and J. K. Rowlings Harry Potter
books were the favorites in Grade Five.
The students perceptions of themselves as good readers varied according to
grade. The majority of Grade Three and Four students saw themselves as good
readers, while the Grade Five students were split as to whether they saw
themselves as good readers or not.
According to the majority of the students, no matter what grade they were in, the
hardest part of reading was reading words that were hard or long. Other
difficulties listed were taking an Accelerated Reader test, finding the perfect
book, understanding a book, the fine print in a book, pages that are too long, and
the middle of a book. Several students indicated that nothing about reading was
hard for them.
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
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When students were asked what they do when they come to a word they do not
know, they gave a variety of responses. The majority of students indicated they
sound the word out. This response was followed by those who ask someone for
help, usually an adult and sometimes a friend, those who re-read the same
sentence, those who tried their best; those who split the word into groups or broke
it up, those who looked at the word, those who thought, and those who kept
reading or skipped the word. The Grade Five students tended to list more
strategies for dealing with unfamiliar words than the younger students.
When students were asked where they got the books they read at home, most of
them recorded the school library as their source of books. Other popular responses
were classroom book orders, gifts, stores, a bookshelf at home, siblings, and last
on the list, the public library, which was mentioned by only a few students.
When students were asked what they liked most about school, reading was
among the top five things listed, regardless of the grade the students were in.
The majority of students in all three grades thought that reading would be
important when they were older. However, several students in Grade Three and Five
thought that it would not be important. A few students responded to this
question with maybe, sometimes or a little.
22
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
Note:
The sources of the passages were as follows: The Noise Form B, Johns
(2001), Cricket Song Form D, Johns (2001), A Visit to Earth 3B-2,
Alberta Education (1989), Just One More 4A-N, Alberta Education
(1989) and Jens Rotten Day 4D-N, Alberta Education (1989).
Grade Three students read three narrative passages in November and two
narrative passages in May. The percentage of students who were inferring in
November improved significantly when the passage was read orally. A total of 88%
of the students succeeded in making inferences compared to 38% and 25%
when the passage was read silently. The percentage increased to a total of 94% of
students making inferences successfully in May on the passage read orally.
However, the percentage of students inferring in May rose significantly to 81% on
the passage read silently.
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
23
Note:
The sources of the passages were as follows: Just One More 4A-N,
Alberta Education (1989), Grizzly Bears 4D-I, Alberta Education (1989)
and Jens Rotten Day 4D-N, Alberta Education (1989).
Note:
24
The sources of the passages were as follows: Through the Storm 5A-N,
Alberta Education (1989), Breakaway 5B-N, Alberta Education (1989),
Roller Skating 5C-I, Alberta Education (1989) and Two Famous Brothers
Form LE I, Johns (2001).
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
Grade Five students read one informational passage orally in November; and one
narrative passage orally, and two informational passages silently in May. Results
varied from a total of 57% of students inferring in November to a total of 86, 50 and
86% in May, depending on the passage.
COMPUTERIZED TESTING
Students did well on their Accelerated Reader tests after learning Guided Reading
strategies. The tests included novel study books and Native legends. Results
from the Literacy Quiz for the novel, Stone Fox, provided detailed information about
Grade Four students inferring skills, including where the students were successful
and where improvement was needed. These results are shown in the table below.
Possible
5
4
6
5
6
4
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RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
%
100
75
100
80
100
50
87
25
Researcher Reflections
What did the researchers learn from collaborating on this project?
The researchers maintained reflection journals throughout the project. The
following insights are drawn from their unpublished journals for the 2006/2007
school year.
26
The project proved to me we are good Reading teachers willing to learn new
strategies to improve and build on what we are already doing everyday in our
classrooms.
Perhaps our greatest resource for teaching Reading already exists in our
school the knowledge that we all have in teaching Reading.
I do believe that critical and creative thinking can be taught just to the
mind that is developed and ready for it.
Some children were excellent readers; but were not comfortable or confident
in creative or critical thinking. They appeared to be better at learning factual
information rather than using personal judgment or taking guesses at
things.
It is important that each teacher collect his/her own data with each child
when screening the children.
Having release time to assess students and to meet with the other
researchers was very beneficial.
One highlight of this project was to visit Sacred Heart School in Regina.
To see the before, during and after posters hanging in the classrooms
and being used was an affirmation of the many years I spent on the
Saskatchewan Learning K-5 ELA renewal team.
Because of the visit, all my fears of how to implement this strategy were
alleviated and I have the confidence to immerse my class into it.
The kinds of questions I ask now are more open-ended, and encourage
students to dig deeper, and think more critically.
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
Teaching students to infer by giving evidence from the text and/or picture
clues when they are young provides a good foundation for the kinds of higher
level thinking they will be expected to do when they are older.
The more students predicted what would happen next, the more students
learned to take risks.
Some students were better able to relate stories to movies they had seen,
rather than to other stories.
Next year, I plan to try and implement small Guided Reading groups in other
themed units.
I would like to use the Literacy Quizzes next year for novel studies in my
classroom.
We can learn from each other, pool our ideas together, discuss what works
and doesnt work, identify what needs to be changed, and teach kids to read
so that they come to love reading and will become hooked on reading.
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
27
Conclusions
The use of Guided Reading strategies to teach students to infer and think
critically was just one of a multitude of approaches available. The researchers found
that cross-curricular (Language Arts, Math, Social, Science, and Guidance)
critical thinking questions, assignments, and tasks when combined with Guided
Reading strategies, could indeed increase students critical thinking and inferring
skills. In order to be successful, Guided Reading strategies needed to be taught
explicitly and modeled by the teacher, and the students needed to be given lots of
opportunities to practice them.
The way Guided Reading strategies were taught was very individual, depending on
several factors:
the researcher (level of experience, comfort level, and focus of the teaching
units),
classroom organization (what tasks the other students were doing, e.g.,
keyboarding, Creative Writing or participating in another Guided Reading
group),
It definitely took a lot of time to learn the theory behind Guided Reading and the
wide variety of strategies available to implement it, as well as prepare the units and
gather, create, and organize the necessary reading materials. The improvement in
student outcomes made the effort worthwhile.
The researchers concluded that this action research project was just a beginning
and they were very much in an awareness/exploration phase. They inferred
that their work with Guided Reading strategies would continue in 2007/2008, as
they shared what they had learned with other teachers and continued to apply the
strategies in their teaching practice. They expected to continue building on this
knowledge and applying it in the years ahead.
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RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
Limitations
The research was not without limitations related to the administration of the
informal reading inventories, the timing of the school visit, as well as when and how
Guided Reading strategies were taught. These limitations are described in more
detail below.
1) The administration of The Critical Reading Inventory could have been better
handled. Overall, the researchers were dissatisfied with how the passages
were administered. For instance, difficult questions were not repeated or
rephrased, and foreign names were not told to the students. The passages
were much longer than the passages administered in the past, and the
retelling portion of the inventory took more time. Students were not asked
to expand on their retellings through further questions, such as then
what happened? or what else?
2) The informal reading inventories were not used consistently. The researchers
administered passages from two different inventories (the Diagnostic Reading
Program and the Basic Reading Inventory) and some used two types of
passages (narrative and informational), but not consistently. The graphs
helped the researchers to see how many passages had been administered,
from what reading inventories, and the kinds of passages used.
3) The visit to Sacred Heart School would have been better organized for the
fall as planned rather than in January. This timing would have given the
researchers more practical information about teaching Guided Reading
strategies sooner.
4) The Guided Reading Author Study in Grade 4 should have been completed
before the Star test and the last informal reading inventories were
administered at the end of May.
5) Two of the researchers used a whole class approach to teaching Guided
Reading strategies, while the other two used a small group approach.
Multi-grade groupings were not attempted, given the number of siblings that
read at similar levels. Flexible groupings were also not used.
6) Parent questionnaires were not part of the research, as originally planned.
Parent reflections would have been a useful way to involve parents more in
their childrens reading and thinking.
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
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Recommendations
This action research project led the researchers to formulate the following
recommendations:
1) That the researchers continue to collaborate by sharing best practices for
teaching Guided Reading strategies through Professional Learning
Communities (PLCs);
2) That provisions continue to be made for teacher release time to allow for the
administration of individual reading assessments;
3) That the researchers share what they have learned from this project with
other teachers who teach Grades Three, Four and Five in the Holy Family
RCSSD, and at the Learning from Practice Exchange of Teacher Knowledge
and Research, sponsored by the McDowell Foundation;
4) That other teachers in the Division be encouraged to use Guided Reading
strategies to help improve student reading outcomes, particularly the
development of higher level thinking skills; and
5) That additional Division-level funding be given to each school that
implements Guided Reading strategies for the purchase of Guided Reading
materials, including multiple copies of books for students to use.
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RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
References
Assessment Tools
Books
Block, C. C., & Pressley, M. (Editors). (2002). Comprehension instruction: researchbased best practices. New York, NY: The Guildford Press.
Daly, J., Chafouleas, S., & Skinner, C. H. (2005). Reading comprehension,
Interventions for reading problems: designing and evaluating effective
strategies. New York, NY: The Guildford Press.
Dole, J. A. Explicit and implicit instruction in comprehension. In Taylor, B.M.,
Graves, M.F., & Van Den Brock, P. (Eds.) (2000). Reading for meaning. New
York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Fogarty, R. (1994). The mindful school: How to teach for metacognitive reflection.
Palatine, IL: IRI/ Skylight.
Fountas, I. C. & Pinnell, G. S. (1996). Guided reading: good first teaching for all
children. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Fredericks, A. D. (2001). Guided reading in grades 3-6: 300+ guided reading
strategies, activities, and lesson plans for reading success. Austin, TX:
Harcourt Achieve.
Haack, P. (1999). Guided reading to help your students become better readers
(Grades 3-6). Bellevue, WA: Bureau of Education & Research.
Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. (2006). Inferences, 50 strategies for improving
vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency: an active learning approach.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Jamison Rog, L (2003). Guided reading basics: Organizing, managing, and
implementing a balanced literacy program in K-3. Markham, ON: Pembroke
Publishers.
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
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Journal Articles
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RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
Research Reports
2005 AFL reading assessment: Holy Family RCSSD 140-Grade Five Report.
Anderson, T., OLeary, D., Schuler, K. & Wright, L. (2002). Increasing reading
comprehension through the use of guided reading. Master of Arts Action
Research Project. Chicago, IL: Saint Xavier University & Sky Light.
Fabrikant, W., Siekierski, N. & Williams, C. (1999). Improving students inferential
and literal reading comprehension. Masters Action Research Project.
Chicago, IL: Saint Xavier University and IRI/Skylight.
Teaching Materials
Billings, H. & Billings, M. (1999). Heroes: 21 true stories of courage and honor with
exercises for developing reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.
Lincolnwood, IL: Jamestown Publishers. Jamestown Publishers.
Carratello, J. (1984). Literature and critical thinking: book 1. Huntington Beach, CA:
Teacher Created Materials.
Hoogeboom, S. & Goodnow, J. (1987). The problem solver 3: activities for learning
problem-solving strategies: Mountain View, CA: Creative Publications.
Solski, R. (2000). Lest we forget, grades 4-6: Napanee, ON: S & S Learning Materials
Video
Hoyt, L. & Forman, K. (2002). Instructional strategies for guided reading that
enhance students reading comprehension grades 3-6: video training
program. Bellevue, WA: Bureau of Education & Research.
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
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RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
I hereby authorize St. Olivier School to use the following with my permission:
A photograph of my child
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
in a PowerPoint presentation
Yes
No
Yes
No
I understand that names of all students and parents participating in the project
will be kept confidential.
Name _____________________________________________________________
Address ___________________________________________________________
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
35
DURING READING
AFTER READING
I wonder if
The message is
This reminds me of
I learned
This relates to
answer
these
I want to know
I want to know if
If, then
So the point is
I thought
I felt
This could be more effective if
I do not like because
I would add or delete
This reminds me of
I enjoyed
I really like
I see why
This relates to
I bet
This reminds me of
I wonder
I wonder if
I still wonder
36
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
37
Examples of I wonder
who wins,
if they go on a holiday,
Examples of I think
it is interesting,
Grade Four
St. Olivier School
November/December 2006
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RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
AND
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
39
Kind of (1)
a) Why?
I like being in groups and the book and the activities.
I got to read a good book with friends and we got to share opinions.
I got to work in a group and I got to tell what I predicted and how I think
the story is going to end.
It was fun working in groups and answering some of the questions.
We got to work in groups and the book was an adventure.
It took me to a different place.
It was about a ghost and I think ghosts are cool.
It was fun because we were in groups and I liked doing the projects.
I like fantasy stuff.
b) Why not?
The part I didnt like was the part where we had to answer the questions
and do the summary.
2. Did you like using the Before, During and After cards for our reading
assignments?
Yes (4)
Okay (20)
Kind of (1)
No (1)
a) Why?
I got to hear what everybody else predicts and I got to tell what I
predicted.
They gave a good picture of what might happen in the book.
You got to share your answer with the class.
I improved on answering questions.
It helps you think and listen a little better.
b) Why not?
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RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
a) Why?
b) Why not?
I just know the answers (I do not know why).
There are hard words and I read slower than everyone else.
Usually I can remember what I read the last time so I didnt really need
it.
It just stopped us from reading.
I already picture it in my head and make predictions in my head.
All it did was remind me of what happened in the chapters.
Sometimes (1)
Okay (1)
No (2)
a) Why?
My Star test says I can read up to 12.9 - 13.0 books.
Ive been reading novels since I was in Grade 1 and I love to read.
It is just I dont have the time to and reading isnt my favorite unless it is
a good book that I enjoy.
I think Im a decent reader but should read more at home and school.
Im always challenging myself to read in less time.
People listen to me and tell me Im good, I just need to read more.
Harry Potter is not hard for me but its just long!
I rarely make mistakes.
I guess I was born with it.
b) Why not?
Sometimes it hurts my eyes.
I dont have 50 points (on A. R.).
I havent reached my 25 points yet.
RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five
41
Appendix 5:
Guided Reading Evaluation Checklist
Students Name: ________________________________
COMPREHENSION SKILLS
makes predictions
matches story vocabulary with definitions
compares characters
makes inferences about a character
relates stories to his/her own experience
identifies the authors message
identifies story problem and solution
sequences story events
WRITING SKILLS
uses graphic organizers (Venn diagram, & charts)
writes sentences with correct mechanics
creates a well-written paragraph
interprets vocabulary by writing words in context
uses jot notes to brainstorm ideas
creates chapter titles
writes questions after reading
uses correct spelling
works neatly so writing is legible
corrects work, after being edited
SPEAKING SKILLS
speaks clearly
expresses his/her ideas
retells stories
LISTENING SKILLS
follows directions
listens carefully to others opinions
WORK HABITS
cooperates with other group members
participates voluntarily in discussions
works well independently
completes work on time
Grade: ____
EX
VG
Comments:
Date:
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RESEARCH REPORT: Guided Reading Strategies to Improve Students Critical Thinking Skills in Grades Three, Four and Five