Observations

Here is my target observation chart... 

Activity Record	Language Record	Context/ Task	Other Particpants
1. Gabby follows along with reading		Decoding B1 Lesson 28 Small group lesson Each student takes turns reading a sentence. Continues for entire passage
2. Gabby read when it was her turn	1 insertion (added the word day after every)
3. Stops for comprehension questions	Answers question #3 “He tricks people and lies about everything” “What do we know about the Con Man?”
4. (student elbows) Reads again	error substitution (a for the) error (a for and)	Corrects/ rereads	Another student corrects error
Interpretations: -Distracted after 1st reading	- syntax errors. -Errors did not change meaning -activated prior knowledge -connected to previous reading
Instructional ideas:	-review sight words -teaching point- look for information in the word. letters, clusters

I couldn't get a clear picture of the hand-written chart, so I typed my notes in a word doc this time. (The student name is a pseudonym).


The chart is used to document a ten minute observation of one student. During the first half of every minute I observe the student's actions and record under the activity section. The other half minute is used to record what the child says or reads, this is recorded under the language section. One great aspect of this chart is the area for interpretations and instructional ideas. It gives me the opportunity and space to write my own thoughts immediately after I have described my observations. 
I didn't quite complete the full ten-minute observation this time around. We ran out of time and students had to return to class before completing the lesson. I plan to continue using the target observation chart to record my observations. I hope to uncover patterns and themes in students' reading behavior as I conducted repeated observations of each child in my focal group. 


The template and description of the Target Observation Chart can be found in:

Pappas, C. C. & Tucker-Raymond, E. (2011). Becoming a Teacher Research in Literacy Teaching and Learning: Strategies and Tools for the Inquiry Process. New York: Routledge.

Moving Along

I began collecting data on Thursday. I had anticipated some glitches and conflicts, but did not plan for the (no snow) snow day. The first group took a little longer than expected. I had already started a bit later due to morning interruptions (people stopping me for a quick question in the hall). I really hate being late to pick up my kids, but sometimes this is the only chance I have to speak with teachers or instructional assistance that work with many of the tier 1 and tier 2 students. Anyway, we started late and I was not able to collect data on two of the students in that group. I planned to do it first thing on Friday, but that didn't work out either. All of the other groups went according to plan!

With each group, I assessed reading fluency, as usual, using the DIBELS measure of Oral Reading Fluency (DORF). After students completed the 1- minute assessment, I asked them to retell what they remembered from the story. The timed measure and retell are both  part of the usual progress monitoring routine. Starting this week, instead of stopping after the retell, I asked the students to finish reading the passage and then gave them a set of 8 short-answer comprehension questions (including both literal and inferential). Students were asked to answer the questions independently. Many of my second graders struggle with written expression, so those students dictated their answers to me and I  jotted down their response.

As I glanced over the Excel spreadsheet that I am using to record data, I noticed some changes in fluency and comprehension scores. A few students may not be in the category (blue, red, black) that I had originally classified from the baseline data. I will take a closer look after the next round of data collection.

I was also able to collect some qualitative data through student observations. Student behavior and observational notes were added to the target observation chart. My plan was to observe 2 students this week, but was only able to get one.


Coming Soon: pictures of target observation chart and data spreadsheet

So far...

Today was a very productive day! I was able to send home consent letters with students and will keep my fingers crossed that I get all of them back. Initially, I had identified 23 students that would make up my focal group, representing struggling readers as a whole. At this point, I have had several students move in and out of our school and our district. The transfers have reduced my focal group to 20 students. Getting all of the letters returned is a long shot, but we will see. My students seemed to be excited to be a part of research, since most of them have been working on their own research projects in the classroom. I also had to have a letter of consent translated by the ESL teacher in order to send the letter home in the parents native language.
I was also able to organize the baseline data that was gathered from middle of the year DIBELS benchmarks during the week of January 7th. I will add middle of the year MAP scores to the data sheet as part of the existing records. Also, pseudonyms have been applied to names of the students. Any student that does not return a consent form will simply be removed from the data sheet. All assessments would have occurred regardless of the research project as part of participation in the RTI program, so consent was not necessary at this point. Any student that does not return a consent form will simply be removed from the data sheet.
The work is just beginning!

Baseline data can be found below...

Baseline data

Names (All names are pseudonyms)	WC	Retell	Comp score
Caleb	19	0	0/8
Tyler	18	9	6/8
Liz	26	10	5/8
Kate	19	14	6/8
Sarah	44	8	1/8
Grace	11	7	0/8
Brooke	10	3	5/8
Ryan	5	0	0/8
Katelynn	16	4	1/8
Jon	29	11	2/8
Gabby	55	15	2/8
Brittany	31	4	1/8
Eric	73	29	2/8
Brad	63	22	2/8
Drake	46	25	7/8
Kelly	74	26	3/8
Jake	87	52	4/8
Hayden	69	44	7/8
Bobby	87	48	3/8
Mike	40	14	6/8

Blue indicates Fluent/ no comp (Comp < 50%, WC > BM)

Red indicates Not fluent/ no comp (Comp < 50%, WC < BM)

Black indicates Not fluent/ comprehends (Comp > 50%, WC < BM)