Authors: Cari Richards
Mentors: Chizu Matsubara
Insitution: Utah Tech University
Struggling Readers: Action to Improve Comprehension
In the intermediate grades, reading comprehension greatly impacts student’s ability to understand what they are reading. When evaluating a student’s reading performance, 90% accuracy is an indicator that the text is an appropriate level for a student. Accuracy is determined by how many words are read incorrectly while the student is reading orally. The methodology of action research will be used to explore the validity of the following hypothesis, “Will the application of reading strategies improve reading comprehension?”
A sixth-grade multilingual learner (ML) who attends an intermediate school will be the focus of this study. This student’s reading level is currently evaluated at the third-grade level. Although the student can read simple chapter books, they need continual practice reading with more complex text. To support the student to meet 90% accuracy for reading comprehension, five specific reading strategies will be implemented.
After the student has been assessed to determine appropriate reading level text, 1) The student and the teacher will meet four times a week for 15 to 20 minutes for a total of six weeks, 2) teacher will preview words in the text with student, 3) student will read aloud to the teacher, 4) student will orally summarize what is being read. Lastly, to measure if the student’s reading comprehension has improved, they will write a summary of the content in 2-3 sentences. With continual support using these strategies, the student will be able to transition to a more complex text.