Strategies to improve word recognition skills Essay Example

tremendous progress. The fourth variable is discontinuous education. In my class this past year I had fluctuating class sizes. I had students being transferred in and out throughout the school year. The last student that I received was in the middle of May. This can have a negative impact on student success because we don't know where they are going or what type of education they received prior to entering your classroom. The fifth variable is motivation.

Some students are not motivated to learn, and when they come into your classroom a teacher must take the time out to motivate them. If a student is not motivated they will not give their best and a teacher always wants a student's best. The sixth variable is effectiveness of flashcards. I will use flashcards as one of my strategies to teach students their sight words, and I want to know how effective it may or may not be. The seventh variable is effectiveness to picture-to-text. I will also be using this as a strategy and I want to know how effective this strategy may or may not be. The eighth variable is environment.

I think that a student's environment can affect the way they learn. If they come from a negative environment then they can bring that negativity into the classroom, and this can also affect other students as well. If a student is being bullied in school, their mind is not focused on learning but focused on how to get out of that situation. A student's environment plays a major role in a student's academics. The ninth variable is grade level/age. While completing an action research

I think that it's important for the researcher and others to know what age or grade level the students were.

The last variable is the results. This is one of the most important parts of the research. Everyone including myself wants to know what happened at the end of the research, what worked and what didn't work, and how it helped the student's achievement.

Research Questions

• How effective would it be if students learned their sight words from flashcards?
• How effective would it be if students learned their sight words from picture-to- text?
• What is the effect of absenteeism?
• How can knowing sight words help with fluency?
• How can knowing sight words help with student achievement? Can having a developmental disability affect overall learning?

Interventions

In my classroom I will incorporate a few new strategies to my students on how to recognize their sight words. I will include flashcards, picture-to-text, writing, sky rating, movements, and computers to find what is most effective. My students that may have developmental disabilities will receive more one-on-one time with me, so that I know they are interpreting the information correctly. Membership of the action research group: I will be working with the reading specialist.

Their role in action research will be to support me in my daily work and provide feedback in collaboration with other teachers. The reading specialist will help in developing lessons and understand instructional cycles. The reading specialist will also be collecting data that will help monitor the effects of my teaching.

Negotiations that need to be undertaken: Since my action research will be conducted during my daily lessons, I don't think that it is necessary

to get permission from administrators or parent's. I will in fact inform my principal of this action research, and share my proposal.

If there is not a problem with my administrator I will then create a newsletter for my parent's informing them of the action research. I will also speak with the other primary grade teachers, and see if they have any positive input while conducting this action research.

Timeline

• Phase 1 Planning and Research (August-October). Determine area of focus, explore ways to improve, review current research, and develop action plan.
• Phase 2 Action and Implementation (November-December). Document experience and evaluate and collect data.
• Phase 3 Action and Implementation Unary-April).

Modify instruction if necessary, document experience, evaluate and collect data. Phase 4 Reflection and Presentation (May-June). Data analysis, draw conclusions, compare literature, and final presentation.

Statement of resources

To be able to complete this study I will need flashcards with the pre-primer and rimier sight words, picture-to-text cards, pencils, paper, funds to purchase sight word computer games, and the teacher will need planning time to make copies and to lesson plan.

Data collection ideas

It is extremely important to have a balanced data collection.

It can keep data simple to locate and read and organized. It is also important for accuracy for data research. Since attendance (quantitative) is one of my variables, I look at previous school year attendance and take that into consideration for students that are struggling to recognize their sight words. I will also collect test data from quizzes ND tests that the students will be taking on their sight words. Each student will have a portfolio where writing samples, test/quizzes, and

other data that can be shared with the student and parent's.

This will be included in my data collection. I will also be observing (qualitative) my students while they interact with each other and take test. I will write anecdotal notes (qualitative) about the progress, if any, and keep them inside a binder that will be shared with parent's, colleagues, and administrators. I will also use a (quantitative) grade book. This record will be used to heck if students have made progress across the curriculum.

Conclusion

Overall, this is my 9 step action research plan on how to improve sight word vocabulary using many different strategies.