Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Caraga Administrative Region
Division of Butuan City
Central Butuan District I
Butuan Central Elementary School
Butuan City

ACTION RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Project Title : The Use of Directed Reading Thinking Activity in Improving the
Reading Comprehension Among the Grade - V Learners
Proponent : Marie Josephine M. Trinidad
Project Location: Butuan Central Elementary School
Proposed Date: Feb. 19, 2020

I. Context and Rationale

Although many children can read, reading and reading comprehension

are two different things. While reading involves translating and decoding text
into sound and spoken words, reading comprehension involves taking what
was just read and deriving meaning from those words in simpler terms,
reading comprehension is the ability to read, understand, process and recall
what was just read. (Sarah Rutzler, Oct. 20, 2017)

Reading comprehension is an essential skill for all learners to master,

in order to ensure success in learning. With strengthened reading skills
learners tend to make greater progress in other areas. Comprehension or
extracting meaning from what you read. Is the ultimate goal of reading.
Rather than passively reading text, readers must analyzed it, internalize it,
and make it their own.

In a survey of 79 countries conducted by the Programme for

International Student Assessment (PISA), result reveals last Dec. 3, 2019 that
Philippines ranked dead last in reading and comprehension and second-
lowest for both Mathematics and Science, scoring well below average in all
three categories. (Franco Luna, Philstar.com, Dec. 5, 2019).

A representative from the Reading Association of the Philippines

(RAP) said that the country’s lackluster performance in the recent reading
comprehension survey was indicative of other issues in education.

Asked why the country ranked last in the survey, RAP President
Frederick Perez said on ANC’s Early Edition, “I think we ranked at 79th
because our students are more attuned and used to having encountered
narrative texts”.

Although also careful to point out that it was the first time the
Philippines had entered into PISA in 2018, the Department of Education has
since acknowledged the country’s dismal performance in the international
poll and has vowed to improve their education services.

“The PISA results, along with our own assessment and studies, will aid
in policy formulation, planning and programming,” the department said in a
statement. (www. Philstar.com)
 Since reading comprehension is indispensable tool in learning and
understanding other subjects, therefore intervention must be provided to
enhance reading comprehension among pupils. Anchoring to the Dep. Ed’s
Initiative, Hamon: Bawat Bata Bumabasa (3B’s Initiative) (Dep Ed. Memo No.
173 s. 2019), with the aim to produce graduates that are globally competitive,
enhancing reading comprehension is a must, so this Action Research was
conceptualized.

II. Action Research Questions:

This Action Research aims to make an action plan to enhance reading

comprehension among Grade V learners of Butuan Central Elementary
School.

Specifically it seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What is the level of reading comprehension among the Grade V

pupils before and after exposure to Directed Reading Thinking Activity?
2. Is there a significant difference in the level of reading
comprehension among the Grade V pupils before and after the exposure
to Directed Reading Thinking Activity?

III. Proposed Innovation, Intervention & Strategy:

This Action Research will examine the effectivity of Directed Reading

Thinking Activity (DRTA) among grade V learners. It is a comprehension
strategy that is used during reading to guide students in asking questions
about a texts and making predictions. They then keep reading to figure out if
their prediction was correct or not. “The DRTA process encourages student to
be active and thoughtful readers enhancing their comprehension”.( Reading
Rockets, 2015). Typically the teacher will read students the passage and
have them do the thinking and predicting part. “These predictions, and
confirmations (or revisions) guides students’ understanding of the story (
Jennings, Caldwell, and Lerner, 2014).

With this strategy, Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA),the

teacher chooses a text to be used and then selects some point in the
selection that will guide the pupils where they will stop their reading. The
teacher introduces the selection, the purpose of DRTA, and the use of DRTA
outline:

D – Direct………..The teacher will activate pupils prior knowledge,

have them look through the material, and asks open-ended questions to
direct the pupils in making predictions.

R – Reading………Pupils read the first selection, wherein the teacher

chooses where to stop, and they will answer the questions that the teacher
asks, about a specific information and then asks pupils to evaluate their
prediction and refine if necessary. This is a continuous process until the
pupils have read the whole selection for the day.

T – Thinking………At the end of each selection, pupils will go back

through the text and think about their predictions, making some changes they
see necessary. The teacher can asks questions about pupils prediction, such
 as evidence to back them up, and explain why they thought so, if ever they
will change their prediction and etc.

The purpose is to help encourage pupils to be active and thoughtful

readers and activate prior knowledge and background knowledge to gain a
better understanding of reading and the material. It also helps pupils develop
monitoring while reading, because they are always checking to make sure
their prediction are right and they understand. Lastly, it uses critical thinking
skills, which is necessary in the 21st century ( Jenning C. & Shepard, J.).

This strategy is good for all pupils. Especially those with learning
disabilities and struggling readers, mainly due to the repetition within the
strategy. Many pupils with learning disablilties and or struggling need
repetition within the same content in order to start to gain an understanding
(Hallahan, Kauffman, and Pullen, 2015) Also this strategy give pupil time for
thinking, they are constantly predicting what will happen, justifying and
explaining, and going back to see if the prediction was correct or not and
fixing it if not ( Jennings, Caldwell and Lerner, 2014.

IV. Action Research Method

This chapter will discuss the participants and other sources of data and
information,data gathering method and data analysis.

a. Participants and/or Other Sources of Data and Information:

This Action Research will be conducted at Butuan Central Elementary

School, Butuan City. The subjects of this study will be the learners of the Grade V,
Section Mangrove, for the school year 2019-2020, which consist of nine (9) pupils who
were among those who belong in the frustration level during the conduct of Group
Screening Test (GST) last July 25,2019. The teacher chooses the material suited to
their level of interest and level of understanding.

The study made use of the Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA)
rather than the conventional, traditional method of lecture discussion instruction.

b. Data Gathering Method

The researcher will use the purposive sampling design. It will use the
profile of the Group Screening Test (GST), which was conducted last July 25, 2019,
prior to the investigation, Which shows the result in the table below.

No. of Pupils Independent Instructional Frustration

Boys 17 4 7 4
Girls 26 13 7 5
TOTAL 43 17 15 9
 The researcher will provide ten (10) short selection bearing five (5) questions in
each, that comprises the fifty (50) item comprehension questions, that will be used as
instrument for the pupils to answer on reading comprehension. Scores will be recorded
to ascertain the trend of the pupils comprehension level. The post test will be conducted
after two (2) week implementation of DRTA.

The researcher will employ three stages of the study:

Pre- Experimental Stage. The researcher will ask the approval of the
of the principal, instrument to be used will be prepared to cover the allotted
number of sessions.

Experimental Stage. The researcher will have a time allotment of 30

minutes everyday after the class, in this case pupils will have a thorough focus on the
activity in which they will be engage in. They will be exposed to Directed Reading
Thinking Activity.

Post-Experimental Stage. After exposing the pupils to the different

sessions. A post test will be administered to both groups. The scores obtained will be
recorded, analyzed and interpreted to answer the problems cited above.

c. Data Analysis Plan

The following statistical tools will be used in the conduct of the study.

Arithmetic Mean. This tool will be used to obtain the central measure
among the array of pre test and post test scores of the experimental and control groups.
This is a preliminary tool for measuring standard deviation.

Standard Deviation. This will be used to determine the spread of the

distribution of the scores of the pupils in particular groups as compared to another.

V. Action Research Work Plan and Timelines

Activities Time Frame Person Involved

1. Conduct of pre-test Feb. 17, 2020 Researcher
2. Determine pupils’ Feb. 18-19,2020 Researcher
reading level
3. Selection, Feb. 20-21,2020 Researcher
preparation and
reproduction of
reading materials
4. Implementation of Feb. 24- March 10, 2020 Researcher
DRTA approach
5. Conduct of post test March 12,2020 Researcher
6. Reporting and March 13-20,2020 Researcher
Evaluation

VI. Cost Estimates

Materials No. of Copies Quantity Amount

 1. Selection A 16 pcs. P1.00 P16.00
2. Selection B 16 pcs. P1.00 P16.00
3. Selection C 16 pcs. P1.00 P16.00
4. Selection D 16 pcs. P1.00 P16.00
5. Selection E 16 pcs. P1.00 P16.00
6. Selection F 16 pcs. P1.00 P16.00
TOTAL COST

VII. Plans for Dissimination and Utilization

On the basis of the findings and conclusion of this Action Research, the
following recommendations are offered for consideration:

For School Administrators....... That they should allow and encourage the
teachers to use this study to their respected classrooms for variation of techniques
applied in conducting reading to pupils.

For Teachers……………………….. That they should be given a copy of this

study to guide them in conducting the DRTA, so that they will in one way or another
update themselves with new discoveries and strategies in teaching reading and
comprehension. The use of Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) is another
strategy that will capture pupils interest in reading.

For Parents………………………….Education begins at home, might as well

include the parents and inform them during the conduct of Parents’ Day, the
importance of reading and comprehension, that in their small way they can help in
nurturing the minds of their children by giving them something to think and asks them to
explain their answers.

VIII. References

Author:

Elicay, K. ( 2019). The Philippines Scored The Lowest In Reding Comprehension

Among 79 Countries. Retrieved from URL.

Hallahan, Kauffman and Pullen (2015).Exceptional Learners: An introduction to special

education.

Jennings, Caldwell and Lerner (2014).Reading Problems and Teaching Strategies.

Llego,M. (2019). Hamon: Bawat Bata Bumabasa (DepEd 3Bs Iniative).

Luna, L. (2019). Literacy group blamed Philippines reading comprehension rank on

study materials.

Rutzler, S. ( 2017.) Importance of Reading Comprehension. Retrieved from URL.

Websites:
http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/shared_reading.(2015).Directed Reading
Thinking Activity.

Prepared by:

Marie Josephine M. Trinidad

Teacher III/ Proponent

Noted:

Jonas H. Jomonong, Ph.D

Principal IV

Attested:

Leona A. Carmelo
CBD-I District Supervisor