Action Plan
What was implemented?
Beanie Baby Reading Strategies
Manipulatives
The first implementation was five of April Schilb’s reading strategies to assist in decoding a word: stretchy snake, lips the fish, eagle eyes, chunky monkey, and flippy dolphin. These skills were introduced every other day and subsequently reviewed throughout the process. During guided reading, all three students used these strategies to decode a word that they struggled to pronounce. For example, while reading with a student if he or she confused a short vowel sound with a long vowel sound, I reminded the student of flippy dolphin and had them try the word again with the alternative vowel sound.
Each day of the week there was a different strategy to work with the sound. Mondays were the introduction to the new sound and a discussion of words from a provided list that used those sounds. On Tuesdays, the students took those words from the day prior and spelled them out using manipulatives, whether that be letter tiles or sand writing. These strategies allowed the student to create the word physically. Wednesdays, they drew visuals to match the words. Thursdays they used those words in a sentence. Fridays they would do a scavenger hunt in their guided reading books to find words that used that sound. All of these strategies were introduced in my guided reading rotation and would be carried out with my paraprofessional for the following twenty minutes.
Repeated Readings
Repeated reading was introduced on the first day and used daily throughout the study. The student reread the story if they finished before the others in the group during guided reading. As discussed in the literature review, repeated readings offer students numerous exposures to a word. The student then saw words used in the context of a sentence rather than the words alone. Another tool provided was an automatic practice of sounds that they worked on at home. This practice was a list of words and sentences that used the weekly sound. Each student was to read these aloud nightly to an adult. The readings allowed for parental involvement and gave them repeated access to a word outside of school.
Progress Monitoring
The first method monitored their progress with phonics decoding sheets. Each student received a list of words using the sound discussed during guided reading. He or she read the words to me, and I marked which were decoded correctly and which were not. I also noted the sound pronounced incorrectly so that I tailored my teaching to what additional assistance the individual needed.
The second method of progress monitoring was executed three days a week. I completed a running record with one student each week on their scheduled day. While students read their guided reading book, I marked any words that were said incorrectly and found patterns in these misconceptions. I also looked at their overall accuracy score paired with their text comprehension to evaluate if they were ready to move up to a more difficult text using the Fountas & Pinnell reading system.
Why were these strategies implemented?
These chosen strategies were beneficial for my students because they took into account their individual needs. I asked my team members and other members of my cohort what strategies they used in word work that students responded to positively. A standard response was to use visuals and physical manipulation to build words. Using these manipulatives and visuals was advantageous since they were English Language Learners. These techniques are advantageous for English Language Learners because they reduce the reliance on written word alone. The frequency as to which I used progress monitoring, whether it be running records or phonics monitoring, allowed me to more accurately determine when they were ready to move forward.
Repeated readings gave the students recurring access to a word and raised the likelihood of memorization and automaticity. The automatic practice served multiple uses. The primary goal was similar to repeated readings in that it gave them repeated access to not only words but sounds discussed during school. The automatic practice also offered each student more access to the language out of the school environment, creating an opportunity for parental involvement.
Using the phonics progress monitoring sheets helped me assess when a student could move on or might have needed further support with a particular sound. These results helped me guide my teaching so that I was not wasting time on information they already understood or rushed them into new material. This data showed me the rate of growth individually rather than the group as a whole. Completing running records with my students while they were reading was crucial because they were using the skills in the context of their reading.
Timeline
