Action Research Posting

Action Research Summary by Janet Caluris

1) What is the title of the project?
"Using Readers Theater to Show Off Good Reading"

2) What is the Question?
How can I use Readers Theater to improve my students' comprehension and fluency levels?

3) What strategy is being used to address?
Readers Theater is the strategy being used to improve comprehension and fluency.

4) What evidence is presented that the strategy will work?
The National Reading Panel identified fluency as a key ingredient to successful reading instruction because of its effect on students' reading efficiency and comprehension. Evaluating the impact of Readers Theater and noting the patterns in performance will help effectively implement an instructional program to meet students' individual needs.

5) How will data be collected to determine if the strategy will work?
Data will be collected through surveys, observations, and student fluency assessments.

6) How was data analyzed?
The data was broken down and analyzed by four group: academically talented, general education, bilingual, and special needs.

7) What were the results?
Readers Theater improved student levels of fluency, reading comprehension, and attitudes toward reading.

8) How do the results inform teacher practice?
Teachers can use the results to guide future reading activities or incorporate Readers Theater in other subjects. Readers Theater provides students with the opportunity to actively engage in reading while improving their comprehension and reading skills.


Action Research Proposal by a former Fairmont State Student

1) What is the problem?
Kindergarten students have difficulties with rhyming words and word families

2) What is the rational for the project?
Research shows that implementing a range of rhyming games can help students improve their recognition of rhyme and word families in text ( Allen, 1998)

3) What strategy will be used to the address the problem?
Rhyming games will be used throughout the project to help students improve and recognize rhyme and word families in text.

4) What is the question?
How can I use a variety of rhyming games to help my students recognize rhyme and word families in text?
Will the rhyming strategies change student attitudes about reading instruction?

5) What evidence is presented that the strategy will work?
"Wylie and Durrell (1970) reported that their studies of early literacy development revealed that children learn words more easily by the the use of "rhyming phonographs"  as opposed to learning complicated decoding rules that have many exceptions."

6) How will the data be collected?
*Pre-test (highlighting rhyming words in a a passage)
*Performance checklists
*Observations/teacher journal
* Work Samples