Benchmark Assessment
Data Collection
Qualitative
Over the course of this study I formally collected two forms of qualitative data. The first was anecdotal notes I took during small group instruction. In these notes I observed how students used the organizer and what type of guidance they needed. At the end of every week, I reviewed these notes and synthesized the information. I chose to use anecdotal notes because they are already a component of my guided reading block and they allowed me to reflect on my students interactions with the organizers. The second form of qualitative data I collected was student attitude surveys. On these surveys, students shared how they felt about using graphic organizers during reading. This survey was given both at the start and end of the study. I chose to use student surveys because I valued my students' opinions when I am looking to make engaging lessons in my classroom.
Over the course of this study I formally collected one type of quantitative data. I used a benchmark assessment from the district reading curriculum. This benchmark assessment is similar to the weekly theme tests the students take, but covers a wider variety of concepts. Through this benchmark assessment I was able to track growth in my students based on the comprehension skills and genre of the story. Students took a fiction and nonfiction benchmark test at the start and conclusion of the study. I chose to use a benchmark assessment because I wanted to be able to clearly see how my students do when given a new story to read and comprehend. This also gave me data on their ability to comprehend independently compared to the comprehension work we do during small group.
Quantitative
In general the students did better on the fiction test than the nonfiction test. This could be because students are more familiar with the structure and topics of a fiction story. One way for students to comprehend a text is to make connections, and in a fiction story there is a greater chance of a student being able to make connections than with a nonfiction story. Additionally, in a nonfiction story the students are exposed to new material that they need to process and make sense of. Developmentally, this is a difficult skill for second grade students as some are still working on developing their decoding skills. Overall, the data from my pretest showed me that I needed to spend more time focusing on nonfiction texts with my students.
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In looking at the post-test, 56% of the students improved in score on the fiction test, 33% remained the same and 11% of the students decreased in score. The two students that made up the 11% of students that decreased in score only missed one more question than they did the first time. Alternatively, 78% of the students improved in score on the nonfiction test, 11% remained the same and 11% decreased in score. Overall, my students showed growth in both assessments, which suggests that the use of graphic organizers in small group reading impacted their overall reading comprehension.
Each benchmark assessment had questions pertaining to different comprehension skills. In addition to tracking individual student growth, I tracked the class growth for each comprehension skill. The questions on the fiction test focused on character, setting and events, point of view, synonyms, key details, text features, theme, compare and contrast, and sequencing. The questions on the nonfiction test focused on main idea and key details, antonyms, text features, context clues, author's purpose, and similes. By analyzing the students' pretests, I was able to base my ongoing instruction on the areas the students needed to work on the most. I was also intentional in the types of questions I asked during whole group and small group reading. After administering the post assessment it was clear that the graphic organizers helped to increase overall reading comprehension. Student scores improved in 79% of the comprehension skills assessed. These skills included character, setting and events, point of view, text features, compare and contrast, sequencing, context clues, author's purpose and similes. There were two skills that student scores remained the same: synonyms and antonyms. Both times the students scored well on these sections, and these were not discussed in the use of our graphic organizers. The use of graphic organizers did not impact their understanding of synonyms and antonyms.
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One point of this data I found interesting was the students' scores on main idea and key details. On the nonfiction test there was a 20% increase in student scores, but on the fiction test there was a 5% decrease in student scores. I found it curious that there was such a large amount of growth on the nonfiction test in this skill, and a decrease in scores on the fiction test. With this only being one study, I can say for certain that the graphic organizers impacted the students ability to identify the main idea and key details, but I would need to do more research to determine if graphic organizers are as effective with fiction texts.
Anecdotal Notes
Through anecdotal notes I kept track of how the students did with the graphic organizers during small group time. On the recording sheet I generated I had a box for each of the guided reading groups in my classroom as well as a box where I synthesized my findings at the end of the week. Depending on the week, we would spend one to two days working with the graphic organizer during small group. The students had already been exposed to this graphic organizer during whole group reading before seeing it in small group. During small group we took sometime to review and discuss the design of the graphic organizer and how the different information was connected in the organizer. Then I would help guide the students as they worked to fill out the organizer. This was when I took my notes. After the students completed the graphic organizer they used the lines on the bottom to put their thoughts into complete sentences. Through these notes I observed a trend between the groups.
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One trend I observed was that my highest reading group became more independent in their ability to complete the organizer than my lower reading group. By the last few weeks of the study I would hand my higher reading group the organizer and they would get to work right away with me barely giving direction on what they should do. In contrast, my lower reading group would be able to complete the organizer independently after we took a minute to review the type of information that we put into each box. I was not surprised by this finding because in general I have observed that my higher reading group is more comfortable taking on new learning independently.
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Another trend I observed was that my students were generally excited to complete these organizers. On the first day of the week they would immediately ask me if we were filling out our chart and writing that day even though we hadn't read our book yet. This finding was also confirmed as I analyzed the growth in their attitude survey which can be seen below.
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One last trend that I observed was that the more the students used the organizer the better they became at putting their thoughts into complete sentences on the bottom of the page. This is an important skill as second grade students should be able to not only discuss what they read but write about what they read. I think that the graphic organizers helped the students organize their thoughts in a way that they could more clearly articulate what they read. By the end of the study I did not have to guide the students through putting their thoughts into sentences. Students would simply show me their organizer so I could ensure they were on the right track, and then tell them they could put it into sentences and they would start right away.
Student Attitude Surveys
The student attitude survey was completed both at the beginning and completion of this study. I wanted to see how my students felt about the graphic organizers. Follow the button below to see an example of the student attitude survey that was given.
At the start of this study in January, only 61% of my students said that they enjoy reading. After spending eight weeks regularly working with graphic organizers, 88% of my students said that they enjoy reading. That means that after being exposed to graphic organizers, there was a significant increase in the number of students that enjoy reading. This correlates with the research that has found that students find graphic organizers engaging.
I enjoy reading.
Mar. 2017
Jan. 2017
I understand what I read.
The goal of implementing graphic organizers in my classroom was to positively impact reading comprehension. Through my baseline assessment I was able to see the impact that it made. What I found to be more meaningful was to see the growth my students felt they had in their reading comprehension. In January only 47% of my students felt like they understood what they read, and by the end of the study in March, 83% of my class felt like they understood what they read. That is almost double and truly shows the impact students not only had but felt in their ability to comprehend a story.
Jan. 2017
Mar. 2017
Graphic organizers help me understand nonfiction text.
Jan. 2017
Mar. 2017
When I gave my baseline assessment students received both a fiction and nonfiction test. In the students' self assessment I wanted to see how they thought it helped. In January 41% of my students thought that a graphic organizer would help them understand nonfiction and by March 67% thought it helped. Looking at this, I feel that nonfiction is an area for growth in my classroom but we have made significant improvements over the course of the study. One reason why a third of my class may still feel unsure about nonfiction tests in the amount of exposure that they had with nonfiction texts. As I reflect back o the books that I read, my students read more fiction than nonfiction texts during small group time.
Graphic organizers help me understand fiction text.
Jan. 2017
Mar. 2017
Going into the study, 72% of my students felt that graphic organizers would help them understand a fiction story. Interestingly, by March the results did not change much. Only 78% of students that felt the graphic organizer helped them understand fiction. One reason for this may be the fact that students went into the study with reasonable comprehension for fiction stories, so some felt that graphic organizers did not impact their ability to comprehend a story like it did with nonfiction. In general, there was little movement in the student responses to this question. I feel this minimal movement is due to the fact that my students already had a generally positive outlook on graphic organizers in regard to their use with fiction tests. Another possible reason for this limited movement could simply be the fact that at the start of this study my students did well on the fiction pretest so some may feel that graphic organizers are not necessary to help them understand a fiction text since they are already strong in this skill area.
I enjoy using graphic organizers.
Jan. 2017
Mar. 2017
My students greatly enjoyed using the graphic organizers during reading so I was not surprised by these results. There were many days where I had students asking when we would be writing and filling out the charts about our story. I also found it interesting that the 11% of students that disagreed with the statement in January, somewhat agreed in March. This shows that through the exposure of graphic organizers their opinion on graphic organizers changed. I was very pleased to see the positive reaction my students had to graphic organizers and even more pleased when I saw that it impacted their learning as well.
