More on Garfield

According to McKenna and Kear (1990), suggests measuring classroom averages from the beginning to the end of the school year to determine growth and progress of a group of students. However they do not encourage comaring individual students growth from beginning to end. They state, "the pre/post difference would, in general, need to be 5 points or more on either the academic or recreational subscale before any real change coudld be assumed. On the total score, the pre/post difference would, in general, be 7 or 8 points." (McKenna and Kear, 1990).

My Data:

• Individual Students:
•  Sam's recreational reading score improved from 26 to 31 (5pts)
• Amanda's recreational reading score improved from 26 to 31 (5pts)
• Amanda's total reading attitude score improved from 57 to 66 (9pts)
• Brittneys academic reading attitude score improved from 26 to 34 (8 pts)
• Brittney's total reading attitude score improved from 56 to 64 (8 pts)

 ** The survey shows that the implementation of the Daily 5 did increase 3 of my 8 focus students' individual attitudes towards reading. **

• Focus Group Beginning:

                Recreational- 58%
                Academic- 58%
                Total- 59%

• Focus Group Ending:

               Recreational- 38%
               Academic- 53%
              Total- 46%

**This data shows that according to the Garfield Reading Attitude Survey my focus group's attitude towards reading actually decreased as they participated in Daily Five reading activities.

• Thinking about this data really disapoints me. Mostly because I feel like my students are much more excited about reading and writing after watching them participate in Daily 5 and having discussions with them about reading. Maybe the attitude survey is not a great way to measure or compare. I will figure out how to handle this data as I move forward...

Here are a few notes that would explain the differences in my scores.

• Hannah circled the happiest Garfield on the first test for every question. Therefore her score was as high as it possibly could have been. On the second survey she was much more honest, a more true reflection of the attitude I see her show about reading.
• Michael a student that answered very honestly on the first survey. However, he scored VERY poorly on the second reading attitude survey. I really doubt that his attitude decreased that much over the course of my study. Maybe I just caught him on a bad day?

What's Left??

I can't believe it.... but it is about time to wrap this thing up!

Here is what I have so far:

• Original DRAs
• Survey 1- Data and Analysis
• Survey 2- Data and Analysis
• 2 Garfield Attitude Surveys
• Field Notes- 5 Weeks worth

Here is what I still need to do:

• Re-do DRAs on my students
• Analyze the Garfield Attitude Surveys based on how the article describes

I cannot believe I am finished collecting data (except for DRAs) and am almost finished analyzing! This truly has been a much more successful process than I expected.

Then... onto my powerpoint presentation!

Analyzing Survey 2

Once again... I was pleased with the survey I gave to my focus group of students. They did a really good job answering the questions, and I think they were honest. I thought of a couple of questions after I typed up the survey. I had them answer these questions on notebook paper. They really struggled with these. I am not sure if it was because they were confused without having the question on the paper in front of them, or if my questions were not as clear. Oh well. I think I got some good data!

 

I have 4 themes that I found within this survey. I did not have any oddball post-its this time!

 

 

 

1. Behavior (purple)

2. A sense of autonomy or choices (orange)

3. Positive attitude towards Daily 5 (blue)

4. Helps academically (green)

 

Here is a picture of the memo I wrote about this survey.

 

Inductive Analysis

Well... I spent ALOT of time fretting about coding! As the semester went and we read more and more articles it just seemed like it would be a huge undertaking. After we had the last class, I felt much more comfortable about it, but still wasn't exactly sure how it would work for me.

I must say I am very pleasantly surprised! I have used inductive analysis to code the data for both of the surveys I gave. It is a very quick process to go through and write up post it notes about the ideas the students write about. Then I move the post its around on my desk as I put them into categories!

I have been much more successful with it than I would have expected back a few months ago. Yay!

Below is a picture of the data from my two surveys:

These surveys will be the biggest chunk of my data. I also have my Garfield reading attitude surveys and I will also be giving DRAs in the next week or so. I also have my field notes to back up the data I collected and provide good thick descriptions.

For now.... I have these major themes: (I am not sure about the wording for these- any suggestions would be fabulous!) Also.... can I have 5?

1. Students have positive attitudes about Daily 5. (blue- survey 1 and 2)
2. Daily 5 helps academically. (green- survey 1 and 2)
3. Daily 5 provides students with a sense of autonomy/ allows them to make their own choices (orange- survey 1 and 2)
4. Peers- work and learn together and its fun! (pink- survey 1)
5. Improves behavior (purple- survey 2)

Garfield Survey 2

I gave the Garfield Survey for the second time on Monday morning. I am starting to think I should have waited until later in the day, or maybe until Tuesday. I think I might have had a few kiddos that were grumpy about being at school that morning- because their attitude about reading had really dropped from the last time.

Here are a few pictures of the garfield survey from 3 different students:

Here is a picture of the results I got from the survey.

I was able to meet with my professor yesterday and she gave me some valuable information!
She told me not to compare the survey from February to March. I should go back and re-read the article that goes with the survey and check for the subsets that go together. This way I will be able to gather more information from the survey.

I hope to get to analyze this data further this afternoon, or this weekend. More coming soon!


I got the garfield survey from:

McKenna, M. C., Kear, D. J. (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool for teachers.

         The Reading Teacher, 43 (9), 626-639.

Analyzing- Student Survey

Well... I just tried out the post it note method with my student surveys. I think It went pretty well! Here is a picture of what I endend up with!  (I have NO idea why it is sideways... ugh!)

 

**Updated** After speakin with my professor I have made a few changes to the way I coded.

 

Anyway... I came up with 3 themes and a few post its that are kind-of oddballs.

 

1. Students have positive thoughts about Daily 5.

• 8/8 like it
•  "I like reading"- John
• " It is fun" - Katherine (x2), Hannah, Brittney
• There were a variety of favorite stations
• There are plenty of books in the classroom library they like to read 8/8

2. Students enjoy working with thier peers.

• "It is not fun to read alone"- Brittney
• "They help you"- Sam
• "They help figure out words"- John and Sam
• "It's fun doing something with a partner"- Michael
• "You can talk"- Hannah
• Dislike being alone
• Would like expectatinons to have a voice level 1 instead of a 0 (all students)

3. Students say Daily 5 helps them academically.

• " It makes you smart"- Sarah
• " So I can be a better reader"- Brittney
• " You learn new things"- Sam

Oddball Postits:

• Dislike being still Sarah
• They like that there are no worksheets during Daily 5. They do not want to add worksheets.
• "You have to read and write alot" Hannah and Katherine

Overall, the results I got from my survey confirm many of the ideas that I found in my literature review. Especially about working with peers.

For example:
      I think providing my students a buddy, especially one with a slightly higher reading level, would increase reading confidence and reading attitudes. Research by Williams, Hendrick, and Tuschinski (2008) confirms my ideas. They say, “children appear to have high motivation to read when they will be sharing some aspect of their reading with others” (Williams, et. al, 2008,  p.136). The Boushey and Moser (2006) text provides a teacher with a step by step guide to teaching students to read to someone. Boushey and Moser (2006) recommend that students buddy read by, choral reading, echo reading, or taking turns reading pages.

Refrences:

Boushey, G., Moser, J. (2006). The daily five: Fostering literacy independence in the elementary

      Grades. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers. Williams, L.M, Hendrick, W.B, Tuschinski, L. (2008). Motivation: Going beyond testing to a

       lifetime of reading. Childhood Education, 84(3), 135-141 .

Field Notes 2-27

It was the BEST day ever!!

I swear, every student in my room was doing what they were supposed to be doing during Daily Five! Groups were productive, and it was quiet in the room. A first grade teacher's dream!

Here are pictures of my typed up field notes. I love the 2 column set up. It really works for me. It tells me what I see and what I think about it. I hope to start using the post it note method on some of my field notes this weekend!

Also, here are a few photos of the kids working today!

 

Read To Self- Amanda

 

 

Read to Buddy- Brittney

 

Listening To Reading- Katherine

 

Read to Self- Sarah

Another Thick Description

This week, one of the times I was not scheduled to take field notes, I was very excited about what I was seeing from one of my focal students, so I decided to take notes on it! Here is what I got!

Earlier, when Brittney was at Working On Writing (described in field notes 2-20)I was very disappointed with the work I saw. She spent the majority of her time talking to the other student that was also at Working on Writing and very little time actually writing. While she did end up with a final product, I wish she would have followed the expectations we decided on at the beginning of the semester.

Brittney is the only ESL student in my classroom. While she does not receive any special ESL services, I still make sure to clarify my directions and check that she understands everything I say and what she is supposed to do. Brittney's father is very involved in her education, and wants the absolute best for her. While he speaks pretty good English, her mother speaks very little. At home, Brittney mainly speaks in Spanish- although her mother is taking English classes. Brittney's dad always wants to be informed about her behavior and how she is doing academically. I really value this partnership and know that it will help Brittney succeed in school.

She is reading just at grade level, although she sometimes struggles with understanding vocabulary. On this day, she was Reading with a Buddy. Her buddy is another student in my classroom who is reading above grade level. The two girls decided to sit together at a table in the middle of the classroom (usually the kids don't sit at tables, they choose a comfy place on the floor). The first thing I noticed was the girls spread out all of their books from both book bins (I have noticed Brittney doing this before). Then I saw them choose the book The Lorax to read together. The girls were using the "I Read, You Read" procedure they learned at the beginning of the semester, where one student reads one page and then the other reads the next page. Both girls were paying attention and following along. I could hear them reading the words since they were near my reading group table. The girls did not finish the book, before they stopped and selected a different one. They chose Wacky Wednesday, another Dr. Seuss book to read. This time they used the "Choral Read" method we learned where both students read the words at the same time. They were reading fluently and I could hear the rhythm that naturally comes from reading some of Dr. Seuss's rhyming books.

I was very pleased with Brittney's work today at read to buddy. She was on task the entire time and followed the Daily Five expectations. The two girls got started right away and were reading together the entire time. They even showed that they could use both of the buddy reading strategies we learned at the beginning of the year.

I wonder if Brittney's behavior and work ethic was different this time because she enjoys reading much more than writing, or if it was just a fluke that she was off task before, and on task this time I was watching.

Field Notes 2-20

Here is a picture of my field notes from this week. These were my biggest take aways this week:

• Most of the time the children really ARE doing what they are supposed to be doing!
• Yes, there is some talking, but they are quiet and not disruptive.
• This week one student (Brittney) was off task quite a bit during her time at Working On Writing. She had wasted about 10-12 minutes of her time with talking to her partner, and then rolling the idea dice. I did give her one correction, and she got busy right away.
• Even though this was a disruption to my group, and not encouraged by Daily Five, it is absolutely okay with me. It was one quick redirect that did not take away from my group, and then she got right back on track. I can handle this!!

I took a couple of pictures today. One of  Sam during read to self. He was absolutely PRECIOUS! He was reading, following the expectations, and looked like he was enjoying himself while he was reading! Then, I also took a picture of Brittney while she was actually writing, and then a picture of her writing. She still had a pretty good writing product even though she wasted 10 minutes of her 20-25 minute writing time.

Field Notes and Thick Description

Here are a few things I noticed as I was typing up my field notes from the past week:

• I always take field notes on Wednesday.... so the same kids are always at the same station. For example "Sam" is always at read to buddy. I think I might need to change this up- still take field notes once a week, but take them on different days so I have data on students at a variety of stations and I will have information abut the station with a variety of children. You would have thought I would have noticed this before today... but oh well. Better late than never!
• The most "off task" behavior is happening at working on writing. There is too much time being spent on coloring their illustrations and not enough time actually writing. I think I might need to revamp this station. Maybe put a timer there and only allow them to color for a certain about of time?? Or just find more creative things for them to write about- I think I will check out pinterest for some ideas. Any readers ideas would be helpful too!

Thick Description... I am really nervous about this. I am loving the way I take my field notes in a two column chart but I am not so sure that I really have been doing thick description. I feel better after reading my groups examples- but am still just feeling hesitant about it. So... here it goes!

Amanda is a six year old African American student in my classroom. She is reading just above grade level. Amanda is very well behaved and a very hard worker. I know that her parents have extremely high expectations for her behavior at school, and she has consequences for misbehavior. Her Mom and Dad are involved in her education and always want to know what they can do to help her if she is struggling with any concept. Through my observations she is almost always on task and working hard during Daily Five and I think some of this has to do with her work ethic and the expectations her parents and teacher have set for her. Today as I sat at the reading group table observing, Amanda walked up to the Word Work table, int the front of the room,  and had a seat in the chair. She got out the tub of colored markers and a piece of paper. She immediately began writing her spelling words for the week. She worked on this for about ten minutes. As Amanda was nearing the bottom of her page, there was some talking with the other student at the word work table. It appeared to me that they were talking about which colors of markers they were using, but I was not close enough to actually hear the words.  Then I noticed that she had filled up her paper with her words. Amanda put the tub of markers back on the shelf and opened up a drawer next to the shelf to get out new materials. She got out a dry erase board, marker, and eraser. I saw her begin to write her words on the dry erase board. When time was up, and the teacher made the signal to change groups, Amanda cleaned up the dry erase materials and put them back into the drawer. Then she walked over to her next group (with the teacher).

Sam is a six year old Caucasian boy in my classroom. This is his first year at Sandersville, the adjustment at the beginning was tough, but now Sam is a hard worker and tries his best to please his teacher. Sam is reading right at first grade level, but is still writing very phonetically. He has nice handwriting and wants to succeed. Today Sam was at Read To Buddy. On his Daily Five survey he indicated this is his favorite stations. Sam and his partner are sitting on the floor on the black carpet in the middle of the classroom library. They are both sitting near each other, however they are not sitting criss-cross applesauce. They are both sitting on their knees and are looking at the book they have selected to read. I can see from the round table that they are reading an Arthur book together. The boys are reading nicely at a level one and are turning the pages at a good speed. I can tell they are using the "I read, you read" method they learned where they take turns reading the pages. Sam reads his page and then sits and listens as his partner reads his page. After the boys have finished reading the Arthur book, they get the book No David out of one of their book bins. No David is a favorite in my classroom. They continue to do "I read, you read". I see the boys reading the words and turning the pages. Then on the page where David runs naked down the street, I see them pointing at the picture and laughing. This image is exactly what I want to see in my classroom- students reading and enjoying literature together. They are learning, becoming better readers, and having fun while they are doing it!

Daily 5 Survey

I gave a survey to my focus group last Thursday. Yesterday, I went back and compiled all of their answers into one document, so it would be easier to look at them... and code... once I get a handle on how to start that! Ha!

I was excited about how the surveys went. The students gave me some good answers and I learned a lot from what they said!

Here are a few conclusions/surprises I came to after looking at the kids answers:

• Every child said they liked reading group and Daily 5 time.
• Here were some of their reasons:
• "because I want to learn new things"
• "because I like reading!"
• "so I can be a better reader"
• "I like it because it makes you smart"
• "because it is fun!"
• Every child said there are enough books they like to read in the library. I asked them for suggestions too- I might go shopping at scholastic to get a few of their choices.
• This was my favorite question with responses... I typed them exactly as they were written on their papers.

• I asked them about changing the voice level from a 0 to a 1. 6 of the 8 said they thought I should change the voice level. The next question asked if they thought people would stay at a 1 if I did change it. 7 of the 8 kids were thoughtful enough to know that if it was a 1 students would not stay at a 1. This happens in my room ALOT.... I thought it was interesting that these kids were perceptive of this voice level problem we had.
• Favorites:
• 2 Read to Buddy
• 1 Read to Self
• 2 Work on Writing
• 3 Word Work
• Least Favorite:
• 1 Work on Writing
• 3 Read to Self
• 2 Word Work
• 2 Listening
• The kids had a variety of good reasons for why they did or did not like the particular station.
• Here are some of the best/ most valuable:
• I don't like read to self because "I might not know a word" "It is not fun because you have to read to yourself"
• I don't like word work because "It is messy"- I have to admit this one puzzles me!
• I don't like listening to reading because "we just sit and listen" "you have to keep on listening to a whole story" - I am going to try changing out the books more often.
• I like word work because "It is fun"
• I like read to buddy because "me and my partner get to read together" "because I read a page and my buddy reads a page"

Overall I am VERY pleased! There were several of the kids that answered with "because it is fun" for several questions. I tried to watch as they answered to make sure I got answers more specific than that- but missed a few. I really wish I had asked them a follow up question at the time, like what do you mean it is fun? or how is it fun? I wonder if I took their survey to them this week if they would be able to give me more information? Is that okay?

This week

Update:
I have gotten quite a bit of work done on my project this week! I took field notes on Wednesday and tried to be more mindful of thick description. I will post a couple of examples at my thick description attempts this weekend. I also typed up a survey about The Daily Five and did it with my focus group today. I was so excited about how the kids responded. They gave honest answers and were able to answer all of the questions and explain their opinions. I will post more about these this weekend too!

Next project will be starting to code all of this information I have gathered! EEEK!

Reading Attitude Inventory

This past week, I finally got around to giving my Reading Attitude Inventories for the first time in my data collection process. In my original plan, I was going to give this three times- beginning middle and end. I am wondering if giving this twice would be enough.... I guess I have a couple of more weeks to decide.

The attitude inventory gave me lots of great data! Before giving it to my kiddos, we talked about how I wanted them to answer the questions honestly, not how they thought I would want them to answer. Based on the results, overall, I think the kids were really honest- which is great! I had one student circle the happiest Garfield for EVERY question. I am thinking her survey might need to be thrown out...

Here is my data laid out in a chart. I can't get the picture to flip... CRAZY technology! I guess you will just have to turn your head...

From this survey I was able to draw these conclusions:

1. Every child (except for the one that answered all of the questions with the happiest Garfield) scored the question that asked how they felt about completing workbook pages and worksheets with the most unhappy Garfield. 
2.   I was very surprised at the variation in how a student might feel about recreational reading and reading at school.
3. I would have thought that recreational reading would have been lower for most students than academic reading- mostly because I would have thought they would have been more interested in playing or doing other things. However that was not the case. Several of my students preferred recreational reading.

** From this I can draw the conclusion that by getting read of the traditional center with a worksheet to complete, my students are happier! If they do not like to complete worksheets, finding a way for them to be productive and learn without worksheets is crucial!!**



I got the Garfield Reading Attitude Inventory from:

McKenna, M. C., Kear, D. J. (1990). Measuring attitude toward reading: A new tool for teachers.

         The Reading Teacher, 43 (9), 626-639.

Busy Week!

Well... I am already a bit off from my schedule. Those snow days really messed me up!!

I have been very busy this week finalizing plans and collecting data!
Here are some things that have been going on!

• I FINALLY received all of the permission forms back from the students I was planning on using to collect data in my focus group. I am so relieved that all of the parents were on board!
• I have a focus group set in stone now and can weed out a few of the notes I took last week before I knew exactly which eight students I would be using.
• I need to give the kids pseudo-names starting now. This way, I can post my notes and data on the blog. This will be a weekend project!
• I gave the Garfield Reading Attitude survey. I am still working on getting those scored. Once I do, I will organize my data into a table and share it here on the blog. (Maybe on Sunday!!)
• I completed another round of field notes. I am already feeling more confident in my notes! I was able to observe and record much better this week, because the students in my group were doing an independent activity. I will need to stick with this plan for the next few weeks as I really try to get my data collected.
• I wish I could hear what the students are talking about when they are working. A few have been whispering as they work. I think this is okay with me-- as long as they are still working and on task too. I know if I was to set up a recorder, the students would not talk. Also, when I get up from group and walk past, they quit talking. If only I could read lips! Ha!

Field Notes: Trial 1

Field Notes- January 30th

Well.... field notes trial number 1 was semi successful!

I think I did very well writing descriptive notes about what was happening in my classroom during my focus group's daily five time. When I finished I had a page of total chicken scratch! I know if I did not go back to it within a few days, I would have had NO idea what my notes meant!

One thing that I was not very successful at was making observers comments while I was writing down what I was seeing. Next time, I will try to be better at noting both my observations and my thoughts about what I am seeing.

I went through and typed up my field notes in a word document with 2 columns. 1 side for my observations and one side for observers comments (this is what our reading this week suggested) so I thought I would give it a shot! I really liked it! Obviously since I did not make any observers comments, I had to go back in and add them in. But I feel like this might have been a good strategy for me. It gave me time to think about what I saw and evaluate it.

At the bottom of my typed field notes, I wrote just a couple of take aways. Here is what I said:

Overall, the students did very well today. Only a few off task behaviors, and they were all very short and did not interrupt either teacher’s reading group. These students seemed to be involved in their activities and working hard. Some even looked like they were enjoying themselves!

 I wish there was a way to upload/attach word documents to this blog! All it looks like I can upload are pictures. I might try to do this at school next week, because my computer there has a button to take a screen shot. Then I could upload a picture of my screen so you can see a visual of my field notes.

My biggest struggle this week was teachign while I was trying tot ake field notes. Next week, I plan to have an activity my reading group can do independently while I need to take field notes. This way I can give more attention to my field notes.

 

Choosing Books

Choice is important!
Here is an excerpt from my literature review about choice:

Linda Grambrell (1996) said, “when children told us about both narrative and information books they ‘most enjoyed’ reading, over eighty percent responded they had self-selected the books from the classroom libraries” (p. 21). One huge component of The Daily Five is allowing students to make their own choices about not only what they choose to read, but which activity they choose to do during each rotation. According to Boushey and Moser (2006), “choice is highly motivational and puts children in charge of their learning” ( p. 20).  Through my research, I found several ways of teaching students how to choose a good book to read. My favorite method was presented both in the Boushey and Moser text (2006) and Williams, Hendrick, and Tuschinski’s article (2008). Both sources present a method called IPICK. In the IPICK method, students should know their purpose for reading, make sure the book they choose interests them, they are comprehending the text, and they know the words in the text. As a teacher, it is hard to give up control in my classroom. However, after researching, I can see the benefits of giving up my control and allowing my students the opportunity to make choices about their learning. Allowing students to make choices could make huge improvements in the amount of work, quality of work, and the engagement in my classroom.

Here is a picture of my classroom library!

 

 

I have tons of books that have been sorted by category, author, or level. The students choose books from the library to read during read to self and read to buddy time.

Obviously, kids cannot be going back and forth between the library and thier reading spot. So I stole a teambates idea and got each kid a  "book bin" to store thier books in.

They look like this:

Each kid is allowed to have 6 books in thier bin to choose from at a time! (Please ignore the names... I wll figure out from someone more technologically savvy how to blur them)

How do they choose a book? This strategy was intentionally taught to my students. Hopfeully they use it! They use this strategy in the library as well :)

When do they get to choose a book? Well we certainly wouldn't want to call it choosing books. That doesn't sound very fun! In our classroom we call it shopping for books! How exciting! Each child has an assigned day to shop each week so they do not flood the library at once to get new books.

Here is how it is posted in my classroom!

 

 

Boushey, G., Moser, J. (2006). The daily five: Fostering literacy independence in the elementary

 Grades. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Gambrell, L.B. (1996). Creating classroom cultures that foster reading motivation. The Reading

Teacher, 40 (1), 14-25.

Launching the Daily Five

Boushey and Moser (2006).  laid out a five week plan for launcing the five components of The Daily Five in a classroom. From the outset, teachers must relay to thier studnts that they trust them and believe they can become better readers and writers. Teachers must create a sense of urgency and provide clear expectations for what this time of day should look like in their classroom. The book clearly laid out the procedures teachers should take to teach students thier responsibilites to complete each of the five tasks.

Well, my class did not have 5 weeks to spend launching the program, so I had to modify it a bit. So over the past three weeks my class has worked VERY  hard to learn the different components of The Daily Five designed by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. The kiddos and I have worked together to create anchor charts that lay out the expectations, and procedures they should follow at each station. They have practiced each station and built up their stamina for working at each task indepenedntly.

I highly reccomend the Boushey and Moser text to any teacher! To practice and build stamina they reccomend creating anchor charts, posting the charts, modeling incorrect behaviors, modeling correct behaviors, and practice of course!

My students and I worked on launching The Daily Five for three weeks, and this week they began visiting the different stations during small group time. I am VERY proud of how they are working independently so far. I cannot wait to see what types of data I collect and what my data shows.

Boushey, G., Moser, J. (2006). The daily five: Fostering literacy independence in the elementary

        Grades. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.


For now... A few pictures to see what we have been doing! It is easier than writing out :)

Anchor Charts

 

 

Working on Writing

 

Students are keeping thier writing journals "folders" in these colored baskets separated by thier reading group.

 

 

Listening To Reading

A CD player with headphones and books in a basket!

 

 

Word Work

 

 

Read To Self

 

Read To Someone  Buddy

 

 

Changes...

Okay... so already a few changes in my otherwise "fabulous" plan!

• The snow day last Friday, meant that I did not get consent forms back last week. However, most of them came back on Monday.
• Since I did not have all of the consent forms returned from my focus group, I will not have six students to collect data on.

So...

• I am planning on sending consent forms home with 6 additional students tomorrow. Hopefully they will come back on Thursday.
• Then I will be able to choose 3 girls and 3 boys of various reading abilities, socioeconomic statuses, and cultures. Hopefully this will make my focus group more well rounded. I might get crazy and choose 4 boys and 4 girls! I will see how I am feeling tomorrow.

Tomorrow is my first day for field notes. I am nervous about multitasking teaching a reading group and observing/taking notes! Wish me luck!

Timeline

Here is my current timeline:

Sorry about the print quality. I am having technical difficulties!
Hopefully I will be able to stick to this, but there maybe a few small changes :)

The Setting

I teach in a self contained first grade classroom at Z Elementary, a public school in Fayette County. Approximately 715 students attend Z Elementary. Of those students, 49% are Caucasian, 34% are African American, 9% are Hispanic, 5% of the students are listed as other, and 2% are Asian. This year, 39% of our students qualify for free and reduced lunch.

The 24 students in my classroom reflect the diverse culture of our school. There are nine Caucasian students, eleven African American students, one Hispanic student, one Asian student, and two students listed as other in my classroom.  I have 10 boys and 14 girls.  Of my 24 students, 10 are reading below grade level according to the MAP, (Measures for Academic Progress) assessment. These same 10 students also tested below grade level according to the DRA, (Developmental Reading Assessment). Providing small group time and independent work time will be important in my classroom to reach the varying needs of each student. I need to ensure all students, especially those reading below grade level, are productive during their independent time as well as small group time. I also want to foster positive habits and ideas about literacy. I hope to find a plan that will be successful in my classroom for student’s independent work time.

To complete my action research I will be using a group of focal students as described in Pappas Raymond-Tucker (2011). I will focus on one of my four reading groups. My focus group is a group of six students reading slightly below or right at first grade level. This group of students is representative of the general population in my classroom. There are two boys and four girls in this reading group. There is one Hispanic student, two Caucasian students, and three African American students. Throughout the project I will focus on this specific group of students to collect and analyze my data.

Pappas, C.C &Tucker-Raymond, E. (2011). Becoming a teacher researcher in literacy teaching and learning: Strategies and tools for the inquiry process. New York: Routledge.

Getting Started

I am getting ready to start my very first action research project! To tell you the truth, I am pretty nervous about the process. It is a major process (research question, collecting data, analyzing data, coding, and formulating results)!

My action research will be investigating the following question:
"How will The Daily Five make my students' independent time more productive and improve their attitudes about reading?"

I am ready to start collecting data in the next week or two. Look for a more specific timeline in the next few days. I will be posting about my findings twice a week. I am sure it will be a wild ride, so be sure to check back often to see how it is going!