Feedback from Students via Journals

Journals area a wonderful way for students to share what they feel and think about a topic. They feel comfortable knowing that I'll keep this information between the student and myself. Students are always eager to get their journals back to read the comments I made on their entries. For one of their entries I asked students to write how they felt about being in the FT Program and what skills were being improved if any. Below are some of their responses in their own words including errors.

Student, Boy:
I like fast track because it help me read better. I think that fast Track helps a lot of kids. I’m better at writing because Fast Track help me. It make me feal better because I now how to read more.

Student, Girl:
I like fasttrack because I learn to wrighi beter. Fasttrack has helped me to lern more.

Student, Boy:
I like fast Track because it help me read better. I think that fast Track helps a lot of kids. I’m better at writing because Fast Track help me. It make me feal better because I now how to read more.

Most of the students said they liked the Fast Track Program and their skills in reading, writing, and spelling were improving. I was glad to know some of the students self esteem improved as they result of increased reading abilities.

Data Collection Techniques & Results

I collected most of my data from my students from last year. I used their journals, questionnaires, surveys, interviews, videotapes, and pictures, as well as students work. To determine student's growth academically I gathered data from their reading comprehension assessments that were given about every six to eight weeks.
This year I started to implement the fluency strategies immediately with other reading material besides the fluency cards they use within the reading program. I used the pre assessment scores to compare them to the post assessment scores and see whether using the strategies were of any benefit. This year's students scores turned out to be higher than the scores students from last year overall. The results show that students scored higher on their reading comprehension assessments as a result of using their reading fluency strategies in class.

Assessing Students

To get a better idea on how my students are doing I like to assess my students individually. Every morning when the students have SSR, I choose a different student daily to work with and listen to their reading and that helps me to have a better idea how they're reading rates are and their accuracy in their reading. I also check to see if they are using expression while they are reading. I then work with these students and give them suggestions on how they could improve. The students enjoy reading outloud and they like that they get to have individualized attention. I also use their journals and writing assignment to check for understanding and growth. The comprehension test which includes multiple choice, short and long answer questions ultimately determine whether they can go back to their regular class, but I have a better idea on how my students reading levels and comprehension by working with them closely and examining their work.

Student motivation and fluency

How are students motivated to use reading fluency strategies? I find that using the ones they like increase their motivation to use these strategies. I found a stategy online called shared paired reading; the students like this strategy the best because they get to work with partners. The first partner reads aloud a passage as the second partner reads the same passage along silently and gives support as needed until the passage is read. Then they swith roles and the second partner reads aloud while the first partner reads silently and helping when needed. The shared paired reading fluency strategy has the benefit of the repeated reading strategy while working with partners. The students in my class enjoy using this startegy the best because they get to work with partners. I like to pair up a lower reader with a higher one because the higher reader can help the lower reader as needed. Students also like to read aloud to hear themselves and this gives them an opportunity to do it.

Reading Fluency Strategies

The FAST TRACK program uses three key fluency strategies to help struggling readers: guided, practice, repeated reading, and independent reading. Guided practice or assisted reading is usually done by the teacher in class. The teacher reads aloud and models fluent reading using proper phrasing, intonation, expressions, and rates of reading. Parents and peers may be models of fluent reading as well. Guided practice also gives students feedback as they are reading. According to the Nation Reading Panel, repeated oral reading procedures that includes guidance from teachers, or good reader has a positive impact on word recognition, fluency, and comprehension across a variety of grades. Repeated reading is another strategy that is effective in developing automaticity. Repeated reading helps students read the text fluently so that they may concentrate on the meaning of the text. Repeated reading may first begin with reading a text silently and following along as a teacher reads aloud and models fluency. Then the student might read the text again whether it be reading silently, reading with a partner, to a partner, or outloud. The repeated reading strategy has helped my students as they are able to take part in discussions and share their thoughts because they understand what they have read. Independent reading is helps students' fluency if books that are provided that are interesting and are at their reading levels. Independent reading should be monitored and done daily for about 20-45 minutes. When students first start in the FT program they resist reading, but they soon realize that it is a part of their daily routine and I am there to support their reading and they feel less intimidated. Having free choice for reading motivates the students to find books that they think are interesting. FT mentions uses these three main strategies, but there are other effective strategies available as well.

Reading Comprehension

While working with students in my reading intervention class I observed how low their reading comprehension skills were. The Fast Track curriculum, which I use in the program is designed to help students who are reading at below grade levels to advance in their reading levels. The only way these students advance to higher levels and return to their normal classrooms is to test out and the test is based on reading comprehension. My goal for these students is to increase their reading comprehension and their reading skills. I started gathering information for my action research, which includes a student survey on reading habits and their likes as well as dislikes of reading. The students are given a pre-assessment test which comes from the FAST TRACK (FT) curriculum that measures their reading ability and comprehension. Students who are in the FT program are given assessments every eight stories to check on their reading comprehension as well as their reading levels.

All my students have varied levels of reading difficulty as well as low reading comprehension levels. I noticed that the students who had an easier time reading also had higher levels of reading comprehension. Maybe it was just coincidence ,but I started to focus in on which reading fluency strategies would help these students' reading abilities. I used a few fluency strategies that I thought would help my students read better and ones that they wouldn't mind using. What I found soon after is that their reading comprehension increased because they were able to take part in discussions and answer questions more than they did before I used these strategies. The students reading levels also increased as well as their reading fluency. The whole class benefited from using these strategies which was pleasantly surprising to me. The students' assessment scores also went up.

I will continue to use the reading fluency strategies that enables students to read better and work with the strategies that the students find that they enjoy as well. I didn't realize how powerful action research could be in the classroom and what a difference it could make to my students and myself.

Research Question

Does reading fluency strategies increase reading comprehension?