Education Commons^™

The Effect Of Choice In Reading: Motivation, Engagement, And Enjoyment, Jennifer Barberg

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of student choice in independent reading material. Specifically, the research focused on student motivation, engagement, and enjoyment of reading in classrooms where choice is offered versus those in which texts are assigned by the teacher. Data was collected through multiple student surveys and researcher observation of student behavior. The students in this classroom gave before and after information about their reading interest and self perceived growth. The results of this study were used to determine whether the freedom of choice in a student’s in class independent reading material fostered an …

A Qualitative Study Of Parental Needs In Supporting Home Literacy Environments And Child Literacy Interest, Leah Carlson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Literacy education begins long before students step foot in their first classroom. Much research has been done that highlights the importance of the home literacy environment and the development of literacy interest in children (Jeynes, 2018). Home literacy environment (HLE) refers to the variety of literacy materials and activities found within the home. Literacy interest, broadly put, is a child's desire to engage in literacy activities. The development and practice of these has shown to be correlated with students' later reading success in school. Considering this, the role of a parent in their child’s success is influential. However, it seems …

The Impact Of Repeated Reading Interventions On Second Grade Readers, Katelyn Schmitz

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

ABSTRACT

Reading is a lifelong skill that is used in many other subject areas. When students aren’t meeting the academic standards set before them in reading, often times, reading interventions take place. Repeated reading is an intervention that targets improving students’ oral reading fluency. This study took place during a second grade classroom’s reading intervention time. The study included four students from my class that were reading below a second grade reading level. I worked one-on-one with these students to conduct the intervention. The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of the intervention of repeated reading in …

Front-End-Connective Phonics Effectiveness In Reading And Spelling In Fifth Through Seventh Grade Students, Bridget Weber

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This 2021 study experimentally investigated the impact five front-end-connective phonics had on the academic performance of middle school students in reading and spelling DIBELS nonsense words. In the upper grades, students depend on whole-word instruction instead of phoneme awareness. My focus was on whether or not front-end-connective phonics instruction played a significant role in the outcome of students’ scores on reading and spelling tests. Participants were assessed twice in both reading and spelling. The participants took an assessment at the beginning of the study and then a final assessment at the end of the study. The research took place in …

The Effects Of Book Choice In Small-Group Reading, Jessica Proell

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This study investigated the effects choice has on student comprehension, motivation and overall satisfaction in a small-group setting within the reading classroom. The focus for this study was to determine if allowing students the opportunity to choose the book that is read in small-group is more beneficial than having the book chosen by the teacher. Data were collected through student comprehension scores, student surveys, and teacher observation sheets. Research took place within two 4^th grade classrooms in a small school in central Minnesota. The results of this study indicated that allowing choice has positive effects on student learning.

Short-Term Direct Reading Instruction For 2nd Grade Students Using Horizons Fast Track A-B, Emily Dempster

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Children who read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to graduate from high school (Hernandez, 2011). This school-based project explored the effects of Horizons Fast Track A-B phonics intervention on oral reading fluency (ORF) progress of three second grade students. Students received 40-minute lessons, twice a week for three weeks. Lesson activities ranged from identifying letter sounds to story comprehension. Students were progress monitored weekly at the second- grade level using one-minute ORF probes. It appeared that the intervention was not beneficial for these students. Discussion includes possible changes that could have been made to make the …

Power Of Choice: Empowerment Through Reading, Sarah Heise

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the impact and relationship between empowerment through choice of literary work and hand-selection “on-level” books within public schools, precisely grade three, in the West-Central region of Minnesota. Twenty-three third graders completed a written questionnaire before and after the study to determine their preference when reading for enjoyment using a Richter Scale. Upon completion of the study, students’ Accelerated Reader scores, a tool for comprehension, were thoroughly analyzed and calculated. Scores were sorted between choice books, those that students chose for themselves, and hand-selected “on-level” texts that I chose for them. The …

Motivation In Male Adolescent Readers, Rachel Dockter

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if weekly one on one conferring with male students was effective in increasing motivation in adolescent male readers. The study began by collecting data on individual reading habits by having students complete a comprehensive questionnaire on their habits and attitudes towards reading. Male students then meet with their instructor on a weekly basis to orally outline their past reading habits, discuss current reading habits, and make goals for future reading habits. The study concluded by having students take the questionnaire a second time to determine if conferring had any impact on their …

Using Small Group Reading Instruction To Improve Reading Fluency In First Grade, Michaela Kolness

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This paper explores the effect of teaching evidence-based fluency strategies in a small group setting to improve first grade students’ reading fluency. Students for this study were chosen based on an aimswebPlus fluency assessment. Students that scored below grade level in the area of reading fluency were chosen to participate. Four of these students were put into a small reading group. They received targeted fluency instruction twenty minutes a day, four days a week for five weeks. The fluency instruction they receive included practice with reading high frequency words, poetry practice, repeated readings, decoding practice and read alouds. The remaining …