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Full-Text Articles in Education
Using A Text Set Of Diverse Media To Teach Alternative Perspectives To Third Grade Students, Christina Benson
Using A Text Set Of Diverse Media To Teach Alternative Perspectives To Third Grade Students, Christina Benson
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
This capstone project is centered on the question, how can a text set made of diverse books be used to teach alternative perspectives to third grade students? The author documents their experience both personally and professionally as well as their research that led them to create a fifteen lesson third grade literacy unit that teaches the critical literacy skill of alternative perspectives. This literacy unit focuses on students being able to distinguish their perspective from that of an author or character. Through the creation of this project, the author discovered important things about the topics of critical literacy, diverse books, …
The Texts Matter: Essential Text Characteristics For Comprehension Intervention In The Intermediate Grades, Tia Clasen
The Texts Matter: Essential Text Characteristics For Comprehension Intervention In The Intermediate Grades, Tia Clasen
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
Results on state and national reading assessments indicate that students in the U.S. overall, and in Minnesota specifically, continue to struggle to comprehend expository texts; only one-third of fourth graders meeting grade level proficiency on state assessments designed to analyze reading achievement. Further, a significant gap persists for fourth grade students based on race, language, and socioeconomic status. Contemporaneously, technology continues to advance rapidly, demanding increased literacy skills and a better understanding of comprehension intervention. This research study aims to identify essential text characteristics of expository texts that will eventually be included in an online, automated reading strategy tutor providing …
Poverty In Education: The Impact On Academic Vocabulary And Need For Early Interventions, Carly Spillner
Poverty In Education: The Impact On Academic Vocabulary And Need For Early Interventions, Carly Spillner
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research question addressed in this extended literature review was: How does poverty impact academic vocabulary skills and how can early vocabulary interventions be used effectively in order to strengthen the academic vocabulary skills of students living in poverty? To determine effective interventions to use with low-income students, an extended literature review was conducted that analyzed research studies that implemented academic vocabulary interventions including explicit instruction of phonics and vocabulary, embedded instruction, class discussions, shared book reading, and guided reading. Ten research studies were reviewed with intervention lengths varying from five weeks to two school years. These studies measured improvements …
How Does The Use Of Annotation Affect Reading Comprehension In The Primary Grades Of Immersion Education?, Erin O’Flaherty
How Does The Use Of Annotation Affect Reading Comprehension In The Primary Grades Of Immersion Education?, Erin O’Flaherty
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
This capstone project is developed to support students’ reading ability and comprehension. I want to improve my students' interaction with texts. I hope for students to not just passively read but to actively engage in their reading which will lead to a deeper understanding and better comprehension. The purpose of this capstone project is to address the following research question: How does the use of annotation affect reading comprehension in the primary grades of immersion education? Through my research and literature review I found that annotation of text has a positive effect on promoting students’ reading ability including improving reading …
Promoting Early Literacy Learning, Margaret Baird
Promoting Early Literacy Learning, Margaret Baird
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
This capstone addresses the importance of early literacy exposure for later literacy development and academic achievement. Literacy levels when students enter school have been shown to be related to later reading achievement and academic success. Caregiver involvement is a significant part of early literacy development. The influence of caregiver involvement is the primary focus of the project. The website created for this project provides caregivers of children birth to age 5 with activities to facilitate the development of early literacy, and community resources dedicated to promoting early literacy. The project is intended for anyone who spends an extended amount of …
Engaging Middle Schoolers: Teaching Strategies For Boosting Independent Reading Motivation In Middle School, Hannah Schrempp
Engaging Middle Schoolers: Teaching Strategies For Boosting Independent Reading Motivation In Middle School, Hannah Schrempp
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
This capstone investigates and describes the factors that impact adolescent reading motivation. With access to modern technology, limited resources at home, and a shift in teaching practices, adolescent readers do not find value in reading. Many guardians struggle with supporting their middle school readers at home due to social and economic factors. A combination of articles, studies, and assessments, help answer the question, What factors impact reading motivation in middle school students to help them identify as readers? Research concludes that creating a print-rich environment, giving access to high-interest books, building a positive relationship with family members, and giving students …
How Can Primary Teachers Use Digital Resources To Enhance Reading Instruction?, Gabrielle Harteneck
How Can Primary Teachers Use Digital Resources To Enhance Reading Instruction?, Gabrielle Harteneck
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
This Capstone project answers the question: how can primary teachers use digital resources to enhance reading instruction? Research has demonstrated that students need exposure to both print and digital literacies. This paper reviews effective reading instruction and highlights the importance of integrating digital technologies in primary classrooms, focusing on kindergarten, first, and second grades. The project involved identifying quality digital resources that support literacy development in elementary grade levels. A website was developed to combine the findings based on research with digital resources that support targeted learning objectives. Specific digital resources are analyzed using both the Common Core State Standards …
Deepening Student Thinking About A Text: Effective Critical Literacy Strategies In The Elementary Classroom, Kelly Jordahl
Deepening Student Thinking About A Text: Effective Critical Literacy Strategies In The Elementary Classroom, Kelly Jordahl
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
While at a critical crossroads of a social movement to end systemic racism, and with schools simultaneously pushing for cultural competency training and practices in the classroom, educators are being asked to take on the task of bringing diversified texts to students in the classroom and deepening student understanding of those texts. While there are many strategies for implementation, one research-based strategy is utilizing critical literacy strategies to expand student view and analysis of said diversified texts. This capstone explores deepened questioning strategies, critical literacy strategies, and frameworks for implementation as support for educators to help answer the research question, …
Research Based Strategies In Reading And Writing For Content Area Teachers: A Website To Support Growth In Academic Language, Kathryn Schmidbauer
Research Based Strategies In Reading And Writing For Content Area Teachers: A Website To Support Growth In Academic Language, Kathryn Schmidbauer
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The population of English language learners in general education classrooms is growing every year and teachers are finding that they need strategies to support these learners in reading and writing along with helping them adapt to school in another culture. Without classroom support, it becomes more difficult for these students to acquire the academic language needed to be successful and the opportunity gap continues to widen. This website designed for this project focuses on research based reading and writing strategies for content area teachers at the secondary level, specifically grades six through 12. Strategies for skills such as comprehension, vocabulary …
Effective Differentiation Of Vocabulary Instruction For Upper Elementary Classrooms, Erin Johnson
Effective Differentiation Of Vocabulary Instruction For Upper Elementary Classrooms, Erin Johnson
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research question examined in this project was, How can I develop effective differentiated vocabulary instruction materials for upper elementary classrooms? It outlines one teacher’s research and the resulting development of a collection of engaging vocabulary activities suitable to be used throughout the entire school year within upper elementary classrooms. These vocabulary activities are reflective of both the learning that occurred through this research process, as well as the author’s personal experience of encountering vocabulary curriculum which lacked cohesion and effectiveness for all learners. Multiple learning styles were considered, as well as simple ways to differentiate the materials for different …
Analyzing Perspectives With Relevant Grade-Level Texts To Improve Engagement In A Rural Fifth-Grade Classroom, Micah Peters
Analyzing Perspectives With Relevant Grade-Level Texts To Improve Engagement In A Rural Fifth-Grade Classroom, Micah Peters
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this research was to improve engagement in a rural classroom by analyzing perspectives in relevant texts using a literature circle format. The literature reviewed in this study was centered on adolescent literacy, engagement, critical literacy, relevant texts, and literature circles.The study was conducted over an eight-week period with a small group of fifth-grade students; they selected their own text and read it together while utilizing a traditional literature circle format. The unique literature circle roles were designed to promote analysis of perspectives, critical literacy practices, and basic comprehension strategies. This mixed-methods case study utilized primary data from …
Integrating Marie Clay’S Theory Of Literacy Processing And Reading Recovery Into Small Group Reading Instruction, Katherine Ronning
Integrating Marie Clay’S Theory Of Literacy Processing And Reading Recovery Into Small Group Reading Instruction, Katherine Ronning
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research question in this project was, how can teachers use Clay’s theory of literacy processing and adapt Reading Recovery procedures to deliver effective small group reading instruction? This project documents the incorporation of Clay’s theory and Reading Recovery procedures into small group reading instruction. The literature found focuses on understanding the current literacy competencies of a student and developing a hypothesis regarding what is on the cusp of the student’s learning. The literature review helped to develop a lesson plan format that includes anecdotal record-keeping to track change over time in a student’s learning. The literature recommended that when …
Reading Strategies In A Second Language Spanish Classroom, Wendy Gorman
Reading Strategies In A Second Language Spanish Classroom, Wendy Gorman
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Reading in a second language can be a challenge for many students. This project seeks to answer the question ““ What are the most effective reading strategies to use in a middle school comprehensible input Spanish classroom? The project is a website designed to show teachers of Spanish ways to implement reading strategies that word in Spanish in their classrooms. Grounded in research on both language acquisition and reading strategies, this project keeps the basis of several key components in mind at all times- the specific needs of middle school students, how to teach language, how students acquire language skills, …
Increasing Diversity Exposure In Rural, Homogeneous Elementary Classrooms Through Picture Books, Meghan Flanary
Increasing Diversity Exposure In Rural, Homogeneous Elementary Classrooms Through Picture Books, Meghan Flanary
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
This Capstone Project examined the question: How can educators increase diversity exposure in rural, homogeneous elementary classrooms using picture books? Text sets with nine different categories of diversity were created and thirty-nine books were included for educators to use within classrooms. Using the theory of mirrors, windows, and doors for examining diversity in books guided the books to include within the text sets so that all students can see themselves represented or learn about others that are different from them. Key influences included Larrick for one of the first studies on diversity within children’s books, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center …
Identifying Reading Interventions Appropriate For Middle School Students With Learning Disabilities In Inclusive Classroom Settings, Mary Douthitt
Identifying Reading Interventions Appropriate For Middle School Students With Learning Disabilities In Inclusive Classroom Settings, Mary Douthitt
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research question addressed in this Capstone project was, what are effective reading interventions for middle school students with learning disabilities that will enable them to achieve academic progress in an inclusive classroom? Including students with learning disabilities in the general education setting can improve outcomes in self-perception, social relationships, and academic achievement, but providing effective instruction in an inclusive setting is complex. At the secondary level, inclusive, co-taught classrooms include a special education teacher who typically has training in differentiation strategies but not core content, and a general educator who is a content expert but has not had preparation …
Using Ipads In A Readers' And Writers' Workshop, Megan Engfer
Using Ipads In A Readers' And Writers' Workshop, Megan Engfer
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Many classrooms around the country and world are using technology to enhance student learning. An increase in technology use in the classroom allows students more educational opportunities when meaningful tasks are created by teachers and curriculum writers. When meaningful tasks are created teachers may have an increase in student engagement. This capstone uses a variety of resources to help answer the research question: What do teachers need to know about using iPads for engagement in a readers’ and writers’ workshop? Research concludes that teachers need additional resources and time to fully understand how to effectively use iPads in the classroom …
Effectively Teaching Reading And Social Studies That Students Will Meaningfully Connect To Their Lives And Experiences, Daniel Zielske
Effectively Teaching Reading And Social Studies That Students Will Meaningfully Connect To Their Lives And Experiences, Daniel Zielske
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Research studies have shown that students reading culturally relevant literature have increased reading comprehension and fluency, experienced affirmation of their identity and an increased understanding of other cultures, and increased reading engagement (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Ebe, 2010; Feger, 2006; Freeman, Y. & Freeman, D., 2004; Clark and Fleming, 2019 ). Bringing culturally responsive competent teaching into literacy and social studies by using culturally relevant texts will allow students to connect these texts to their own lives and experiences. Looking at the social studies textbook used in my school district, I felt it was ineffective in helping to connect students to history …
Increasing Student Engagement And Success In Reading: A Reading Workshop Unit For Grade 7 Ela, Megan Wilson
Increasing Student Engagement And Success In Reading: A Reading Workshop Unit For Grade 7 Ela, Megan Wilson
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The goal of this capstone project was to design and implement a digital reading workshop unit that is based on the Investigating Characterization: Author-Study Book Clubs (Calkins, Ehrenworth, & Wischow, 2018). This project sought to answer the question Can student-selected texts and the use of a reading workshop model improve student reading engagement and success? My early teaching experiences inspired me to consider whether or not traditional reading instruction methods were resulting in student reading engagement and success. The research studied in this capstone revealed that increasing student engagement in reading is highly reliant upon building student motivation, including student …
A Professional Development Program To Improve Reading Comprehension For Secondary Students, Dayna Hillcrest
A Professional Development Program To Improve Reading Comprehension For Secondary Students, Dayna Hillcrest
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The goal of the literature review and project was to help secondary students improve reading proficiency by identifying influential instructional practice and creating a systematic professional development. The literature review revealed four influential themes that became the pillars of a systematic professional development to be implemented over a three-year period and provide secondary teachers with direct and explicit reading comprehension strategy instruction. Themes were as follows: students need reading comprehension strategy instruction (RCSI) in the content area secondary classroom to learn how to comprehend complex text, teachers need to use direct and explicit strategy instruction with a scope and sequence …
Conferring With Elementary Students To Enhance Literacy Skills, Kelsey Patricelli
Conferring With Elementary Students To Enhance Literacy Skills, Kelsey Patricelli
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research question addressed in this project was, how does conferring improve the literacy skills of elementary students? The author describes the process of researching and creating a professional development for the purposes of informing educators of conferring, demonstrating its benefits, and modeling how to best implement it into their educational spaces. Research around conferring, specifically by Serravallo (2019), Allen (2009) and Calkins (2013) helped break down the three aspects of conferring - assessment, individualized instruction and goal setting. These separate components were then broken down to help determine the benefits conferring has on the literacy growth of students. This …
Administrator Role In Successful Volunteer Based Reading Programs, Heidi Frye
Administrator Role In Successful Volunteer Based Reading Programs, Heidi Frye
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
The research addressed in the capstone considers programs that utilize volunteer reading programs using tutors from the community to work with elementary students who need extra support to reach grade level reading goals. The research question is: How do administrators of elementary schools implementing volunteer reading tutoring programs describe their role in the program’s success? The thesis considered research of Stanovich and Torgesen around the needs of struggling readers and of Wasik and Slavin about the essential elements in volunteer tutoring programs aimed at increasing student reading achievement. The research utilized qualitative semi-structured interviews with two administrators working in buildings …
Using The Process Approach To Create An Effective And Efficient Secondary Writing Curriculum For Students And Teachers, Adam Koehler
Using The Process Approach To Create An Effective And Efficient Secondary Writing Curriculum For Students And Teachers, Adam Koehler
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The process approach to writing instruction has become widely used; however, writing assessment practices that emphasize summative feedback may not utilize the strengths of the process approach to instruction. This capstone project answers the question: How can writing instruction and assessment practices be used to create an effective and efficient writing curriculum? The result of the research shows that the instruction methods of specific writing strategies, mentor text analysis, collaborative writing, and sentence combination can be effectively integrated. Research-informed curricula were developed with an emphasis on student-centered formative assessment practices such as writing conferences and peer/self-assessment. These practices effectively support …
Personalized Reading Strategies And Tools To Support Struggling Third Grade Readers, Rebecca Antil
Personalized Reading Strategies And Tools To Support Struggling Third Grade Readers, Rebecca Antil
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
A common concern among elementary school teachers involves supporting students who struggle with reading. This capstone project provides a combination of tools to aid elementary school teachers in the support of struggling readers, specifically third-grade students, through motivation, environmental influences, time opportunities, and effective practice with comprehension and fluency. This project and the review of literature help to answer the capstone question, What personalized tools and reading strategies best support struggling third-grade readers? According to literature, a reader’s motivation, emotions, and environment play critical roles in the growth of students who struggle with reading success which is synthesized throughout this …
Co-Teaching Strategies For Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Learners In Middle School English Language Arts, Adena Berg
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research question addressed in this project is: What are the most effective co-teaching strategies for teaching literacy skills in a middle school English Language Arts class that is culturally and linguistically diverse? It documents one teacher’s creation of an ELA-based curriculum that includes strategies for ELD co-teaching, learning activities to increase middle school literacy skills and supports for culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Designing the curriculum using the Understanding by Design framework, it is for use when teaching Free? Stories Celebrating Human Rights ( Morpurgo et al., 2015) in a co-taught sixth grade classroom. The overall goal of the …
Growing Reading Skills Through Oral Language Activities: Reading Intervention/English Learner Curriculum, Sarah Lundgren
Growing Reading Skills Through Oral Language Activities: Reading Intervention/English Learner Curriculum, Sarah Lundgren
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Promoting student growth in reading comprehension and language skills is a primary goal of every language teacher. Research increasingly shows that engaging English learner (EL) students in oral language activities is connected to growth in both language skills and in reading comprehension. Research also shows that oral language activities improve engagement and comprehension not only in EL students but in native English-speaking students. This project combines oral language activities in reading prosody, Routine, Integrated, Structured, Academic (RISA) Oral Interactions (Watson, 2015), and reading comprehension for groups of both mainstream and EL students covering both Minnesota standards and WIDA standards for …
Incorporating Multicultural Literature Into The Upper Elementary Language Arts Classroom, Elizabeth M. Burgos
Incorporating Multicultural Literature Into The Upper Elementary Language Arts Classroom, Elizabeth M. Burgos
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Read-aloud is a strategy that is used in many fifth-grade language arts classrooms, although more often than not it is used to fill time and the only expectation of students is to listen passively. Therefore, the research question addressed in this capstone focused on how to make read-aloud in language arts engaging to students in a fifth-grade classroom. Components and best practices to create an effective read-aloud were explored so that students can participate more actively through different responses during read-aloud. A complete read-aloud guide including sixteen lessons to lead a class through the book The War That Saved My …
Culturally Responsive Curriculum And Literature For Primary Grade English Learners, Katherine Behrend
Culturally Responsive Curriculum And Literature For Primary Grade English Learners, Katherine Behrend
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Culturally and linguistically responsive teaching and learning is being implemented in many school districts to better meet the needs of all students. Using culturally authentic literature is equally important. Research demonstrates the need for culturally authentic texts so students can see themselves mirrored and see windows to other cultures during school. English learners (ELs) benefit from seeing their culture in the texts they are exposed to as well as culturally responsive learning strategies, or protocols. According to the CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2019), non-majority ethnicities represent a small percentage of all children’s literature …
Middle Level Literacy: Individual Skills Screener And Plan For Response To Student Data, Emily Margaret Olson
Middle Level Literacy: Individual Skills Screener And Plan For Response To Student Data, Emily Margaret Olson
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The guiding question addressed in this project is “What is the most effective way to identify areas of need for struggling middle school readers and how can teachers intentionally target those areas of need once identified?”. Research into key literacy skills, effective literacy skill screeners, and intervention resources are presented in this project. This ultimately culminates in the presentation of a literacy skill screener complete with guide book and recommendations of methods for responding to student data based on the results of the literacy screener. This literacy screener can be easily used by classroom teachers, literacy coaches, and reading interventionists …
Literacy Strategies For Secondary Social Studies Classrooms Website, Rachael Shaner
Literacy Strategies For Secondary Social Studies Classrooms Website, Rachael Shaner
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Multiple experts agree that using literacy in secondary classrooms can be a gateway in multiple content areas (Alvermann, Phelps, & Ridgeway, 2007; Kottler & Gallavan, 2008; Schneider, 1994) and this project is focused on integrating different literacy strategies into secondary social studies classrooms. The website project is focused on three main categories of literacy: Reading (pre-reading, during reading, and post-reading), Writing (formal and informal), and Speaking and Listening (discussions and debating). The website is designed with over 25 literacy strategies, each of which has its own web page with a detailed explanation of how to integrate and use the strategy …
A Montessori Reading Intervention For Nonliterate First Grade Children, Benjamin Dorer
A Montessori Reading Intervention For Nonliterate First Grade Children, Benjamin Dorer
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
This capstone paper seeks to address the question, How could traditional literacy interventions be integrated into an authentic Montessori classroom in order to help public Montessori teachers address the specific needs of nonliterate first grade students? The literature review explores the topics of authentic Montessori, Montessori literacy curriculum, traditional reading interventions, school readiness and teacher challenges. The researcher was influenced by the works of M. Montessori, C. Anderson, R. Ungerer, National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), and B. Goldsbrough. The researcher produced a project to address the specific needs of nonliterate first grade children in Montessori classrooms. The project created for …