| Research question and sub-questions. How will second grade students who are performing below grade level in reading benefit from using stuffed animals and graphic organizers during homogeneous group instruction to aid them in retelling with beginning, middle, and end? (1) How will student's discussion with others about a book lead to increased motivation and retelling skills in reading? (2) Will students be able to use character names and correct pronouns when retelling the story using tangible figures to represent the characters during retelling? (3) Will having students explain the events of the story to a peer or family member, increase their retelling abilities?Research activities. Context. This intervention took place in a self-contained second grade classroom of 18 students. The research focused on four students, three of which were English Language Learners. These four below grade level readers struggled with comprehension, specifically retelling. Methods and data. Students were taught about basic story structure: beginning, middle, and end. They were taught how to retell the events of the story using both stuffed animals and a graphic organizer to represent the characters in the story. After practicing this strategy, students worked in their homogeneous reading group, read a book at their level, and manipulated the stuffed animals to retell the story. As homework, students were asked to share the story with their siblings, parents, or friends. The following day, students told the story to a peer using the figures to help them. Data sets included collection of reading levels, comprehension scores, retelling scores, as well as attitudinal data about reading. Results. Comparisons of baseline and outcome data indicate that the stuffed animals and graphic organizers did positively aid in retelling. The graphic organizer allowed students to organize their thoughts of the events that occurred using first, then, next, and last. The graphic organizer also provided all students, especially the English Learners, with a visual aid to see that the story could be divided into sections such as beginning, first middle, second middle, and then last. It also provided vocabulary reminders by having the words first, next, then, and last in the separate boxes. By using stuffed animals and building the foundation of relating and representing the character with the stuffed animals, students were able to use correct pronouns and character names with more accuracy. The homogenous grouping allowed students to have less anxiety and focus on the task while increasing both their retelling and motivation.Grade level. Second GradeData collection methods. Oral Summaries, Observation-Student Engagement/Behavior Tallies, Reading Assessment, Survey-AttitudeCurriculum areas. Reading, English Language ArtsInstructional approaches. Graphic Organizers, Reading Comprehension, Reading Fluency... |
