What were the challenges and successes?
There were many successes and challenges that occurred throughout the action research. The biggest challenge of my action research was the time parameters. The Reading Horizons program has 30 videos with each video focusing on one phonetic skill or rule to teach students. Trying to fit 30 skills into 35 days was too much. I felt like only my highest achieving students were able to grasp a majority of the skills, which showed in their spelling inventories as they made some of the highest growth. But for the vast majority my students, the pace was far too fast and I felt like they missed so many valuable skills. I did not have extra time to review skills so if a student missed a day of school or did not grasp the concept on that day, they completely missed it. In order for students to really get a deep understanding of the phonics skills taught and to cement them in their memory, I would have needed a week per skill, rather than one day per skill.
The biggest success in implementing Words their Way and Reading Horizons was the growth the students made. In the eight week implementation, all but one student showed growth on their Spelling Inventory. All students grew at least two reading levels, and all students learned to love reading even more than they did before. My students grew the same amount of reading levels in these eight weeks as they did in the entire 2nd quarter. This amazing growth also led to increased confidence in their reading skills, making my students more excited to read and more willing to take on challenging texts. I am so excited to implement these two programs next year with an extended timeline. Even with the challenge of time, my students made great growth so I cannot wait to see what these programs can do for students when implemented throughout the whole school year!
The biggest success in implementing Words their Way and Reading Horizons was the growth the students made. In the eight week implementation, all but one student showed growth on their Spelling Inventory. All students grew at least two reading levels, and all students learned to love reading even more than they did before. My students grew the same amount of reading levels in these eight weeks as they did in the entire 2nd quarter. This amazing growth also led to increased confidence in their reading skills, making my students more excited to read and more willing to take on challenging texts. I am so excited to implement these two programs next year with an extended timeline. Even with the challenge of time, my students made great growth so I cannot wait to see what these programs can do for students when implemented throughout the whole school year!
What did the researcher learn as a result of the action research?
As a result of the action research, I learned how to conduct thorough research to inform my teaching and ensure I am using best practices within my classroom. The first skill I gained from this research was how to network and utilize professionals within my field to help better myself as an educator. For my research I interviewed Mary Fripp, a reading specialist and phonics expert in my district. Through talking to my teaching team and the instructional coach in my building, I learned about Mary and the amazing program she uses, Reading Horizons. I met with Mary to learn how she uses Reading Horizons as a Reading Specialist. After meeting with Mary I researched best practices in phonics instruction to ensure that this program aligned with the research. I found that best practice required both code-based (Reading Horizons) and meaning-based (Words Their Way) phonics instruction. I then researched the most effective strategies for implementing these programs, monitored my students' progress throughout to ensure it was benefiting them, and reflected to improve my instruction further. Because of this process I now feel confident in my ability to identify a need within my class, research best practices to meet that need, collaborate with professionals within my school, community, and beyond, implement the strategies found in the research and collaboration, and collect and analyze data to guide my instruction further. I believe I will be ready to employ this process with any future need within my classroom and it will benefit all of the students I have a privilege of teaching.
How has the action research impacted learning?
The action research impacted my students' learning in many areas of the language arts. First, the Words Their Way Spelling inventory showed that my students' spelling skills benefited from the programs implemented. All students made growth in at least one spelling pattern within the inventory. This also led to growth within reading. Usually if a student can spell a spelling pattern correctly, they can read it correctly too. Their growth in spelling explains their huge growth within reading as well. I saw the most growth within digraphs, blends, and inflected endings, which are key components to mastering the first grade reading levels. My students were able to move past these levels only because they mastered the phonics skills contained within. My students' growth in skills and abilities led to an increased confidence and a true love for reading. This confidence allowed my students to challenge themselves within reading and push themselves further which led to even more growth. It was an amazing cycle of new skills leading to confidence and confidence leading to more new skills.
How has the action research impacted teaching?
The action research I implemented impacted my whole approach to teaching and how I find resources. In this day and age it is so easy to take to Pinterest or Teachers Pay Teachers to find a resource or strategy that you need to work on. I learned that this is not the best approach because you cannot know if it is research-based so it is hard to tell if it is really the best thing for students. I will now approach problems and needs by collaborating with professionals in my school, community and beyond to gain ideas to approach the problem. I will follow those conversations up with research to ensure that the solutions and strategies I use will be the most impactful for my students. I will also monitor my students' progress throughout to make sure it is effective for them. Lastly, I will dive deep into the data and thoroughly reflect on what components of the strategies were effective and why and how to make them even more effective. Then I will contribute to the field of education and share my findings so I can hopefully help impact students in other classrooms as well. I have already shared my successes with the combination of these two programs with the professionals within my building and many have begun supplementing our curriculum with the Reading Horizons program and strategies. Next I am hoping to share it with other teachers in my district and within the community of Omaha so it can have a larger impact with students.
How will this impact future learning?
Implementing Words Their Way and Reading Horizons taught me so much about teaching reading and how students best learn to read. I learned how to observe when students are ready for specific phonics skills, how long they need to learn a specific phonics skill so that it sticks, and how to balance whole language skills with phonics skills. I plan to use these two programs again next year but I have already planned to make some changes in how and when I use them based on the results of my research. First, I plan to teach the Reading Horizons skill over the course of the whole first semester of the year, giving each skill a full week for students to learn, practice, and master the skill. Second, I plan to teach Reading Horizons during the same time block as Words Their Way. Both programs were very successful for me, but I do not think students were making connections between the two and how they can use them together when they are reading. By teaching them together, I can help students draw connections between the two so they are more likely to utilize them as a team when they are reading new texts. This research has greatly impacted my teaching and I cannot wait to see what I can do with my new knowledge and these changes next year.