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Transitioning The Struggling Reader: Evaluating The Effects Of Middle-School Direct Instruction On Traditional High-School Learning In The English Classroom, Sarah Tanner Anderson

Theses & Honors Papers

In this qualitative study, I investigate the academic performance of three current ninth-grade students who were tracked throughout middle school by the 1999 McGraw-Hill SRA Corrective Reading Direct Instruction program. To study their respective transitions from middle to high school, I investigate their test performance on the fifth- and eighth-grade reading and writing Virginia Standards of Learning assessments, analyze the quality of student work from sixth through ninth grades by evaluating student products and test documents, and conduct intensive interviews with students and their former and current teachers. By constructing a case-study of each student and conducting a cross-case analysis …

Implementation Of A Reading Curriculum In A 6 Week Summer Enrichment Program, Katie J. Holz-Russell

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

In this research project, the author presents an enrichment curriculum that will be implemented in the Denver Summerbridge 6 week summer school program. Denver public school students choose to attend this program because they are seeking academic enrichment during the summer. They seek enrichment from Denver Summerbridge because most supplementary programs at their home schools focus on closing the achievement gap and increasing standardized test scores, rather than offering a structured enrichment program for gifted students. The curriculum presented in Chapter 4 provides a framework for a 9th grade literacy classroom. The author attempted to strike a balance between reviewing …

Diagnosing Reading Strategies: Paraphrase Recognition, Chutima Boonthum

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Paraphrase recognition is a form of natural language processing used in tutoring, question answering, and information retrieval systems. The context of the present work is an automated reading strategy trainer called iSTART (Interactive Strategy Trainer for Active Reading and Thinking). The ability to recognize the use of paraphrase—a complete, partial, or inaccurate paraphrase; with or without extra information—in the student's input is essential if the trainer is to give appropriate feedback. I analyzed the most common patterns of paraphrase and developed a means of representing the semantic structure of sentences. Paraphrases are recognized by transforming sentences into this representation and …

The Relationship Between Oral Reading Fluency And Comprehension, Jessica A. Talada

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Oral reading fluency and reading comprehension are identified as components in effectively gaining meaning from text. A reciprocal relationship exists between the two that allows one to comprehend more thoroughly as one reads more fluently. Additionally, as one reads more fluently, one’s ability to comprehend also improves. This is due to the fact that one’s brain is more capable in processing text meaning when one is able to read fluently. Therefore, when one automatically identifies words one is able to comprehend text more completely. The oral reading fluency and comprehension relationship was tested for a second and third grade population …

Exploring Learning Styles To Teach Reading, Caroline Earp

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Reading education needs to be taught using many different learning styles. Students that have learning styles different then those normally used in their classrooms are being undereducated. Teachers need to understand how learning styles work and how to use them in their classroom. In my work in classrooms, I found that teachers think that using learning styles is important but they are sometimes unsure as to how to use them. To assist teachers, I made a pamphlet on learning styles. In the pamphlet there is a list of different learning styles and a brief summary of how each group learns …

Does Intensive Reading Interventions Cause Alienation In Ninth Grade High School Students?, Allan Lee Aab

Theses Digitization Project

The objective of this research was to determine if students who are enrolled in intensive reading intervention classes due to limited reading and comprehension skill, experience greater alienation than students not enrolled in these classes. Ninth and tenth grade students from March Valley School, a small alternative high school in Moreno Valley, CA participated in this study.

Stimulating Reading Excitement In Secondary Level English Language Learners, Rachael J. Schweigert

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this paper is to examine how ESL teachers can stimulate reading excitement in secondary level English language learners. The current research about factor which affect reading enjoyment in secondary level English language learners will also be discussed. These factors include element in reading instruction, attitudes toward reading, readability of text, interest level in literature, and availability of meaningful literature. Current research regarding applications that can be used in classrooms will also be reviewed, such as reading models and reading strategies. Based on the results of this research, suggestions will be presented regarding literature that can be used …

Examination Of One District's Identification, Assessment Practices, Preventative Interventions, And Longitudinal Literacy Learning Of At-Risk Readers, Lori J. Lennon

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to profile Reading Recovery students in one district to examine: (1) the content and predictability of the district’s early intervention screening assessments and progress monitoring tools, (2) the initial and (3) sustained effectiveness of the Reading Recovery preventative program relative to student achievement in first through third grades (4) rates of identification of educational disabilities and special education placements and (5) common variables in intellectual, process, and achievement characteristics of those students who were slow to respond to reading interventions. Participants consisted of students from fifteen elementary schools, within the years 2000 to …

Three Points Of The Phonics Triangle: An Equilateral Relationship Among Pseudoword Reading, Name Reading, And Spelling, Annmarie Petrozzelli

Master's Theses and Capstones

This study evaluates the relationship among three commonly administered phonics measures. "Pseudoword Decoding," a norm-referenced assessment from Wechsler Individual Assessment Test - II (WIAT-II), the "Primary Spelling Inventory" and the "Names Test," criterion-referenced instruments, were administered to a general population of 56 second-grade students with mixed reading abilities. The "Elision" subtest, a norm referenced assessment from the "Phonological Awareness" composite on the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP), was also administered to all 56 students to discover whether the phonics measures correlated with it. Pearson product moment correlations were used to compare the four measures. Significant correlations were found among …

The Lynks Reader, Anne Marie Reamey

Theses and Dissertations

Many adults and children have problems reading and comprehending books, signs, written directions, etc. These same individuals have difficulty processing written materials as a result of right hemisphere interference. The Lynks Reader (DLR Co., Richmond, VA) is a commercially developed device which has been used to help individuals move from their right to their left hemisphere and to increase reading fluency and comprehension. The objective of this project was to evaluate the best way to use the various forms of the Lynks Reader. Using the device demonstrated an increase in reading fluency and comprehension by increasing the left hemisphere dominance. …

Working Memory Cross-Modal Binding And Decoding Ability In Children In The First And Second Grades, Eduardo Sanchez

Doctoral Dissertations

unavailable

The Effect Of Optimistic Explanatory Style Instruction On The Explanatory Style, Reading Self Efficacy, Reading Resilience And Reading Performance Of Third-Fifth Grade Students With Learning Disabilities, Melba Rhodes-Stanford

Doctoral Dissertations

unavailable

Teachers’ Use Of Sensory Activities In Primary Literacy Lessons: A Study Of Teachers Trained In Accelerated Literacy Learning, Margaret E. Stockdale

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated Accelerated Literacy Learning (ALL) trained teachers' implementation of sensory activities into their classroom instructional practice. There were 38 participants in Phase One that completed questionnaires using a 5-point response scale to indicate their frequency of use for each of 30 sensory activities. All but one participant reported a high use of sensory activities in their literacy lessons, although the grade level did influence the variety and frequency of their reported use. Most primary level teachers reported a high use on many of the activities. Seven teachers of the participants from Phase One participated in interviews for Phase …

Alphabetic And Phonemic Awareness In Toddlers, Pamela A. Terrell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The ability of 20-24 month-old toddlers to recognize graphemes and phonemes was investigated by reading a Phonic Faces (PF) alphabet picture book. Phonic Faces iconically picture a letter in the mouth of a character producing the sound (the curve of the P looks like the top lip popping the /p/ sound). The book was composed of nine letters and was read individually to experimental subjects three times weekly for six weeks. The control group received no treatment, but engaged in individual play activities for comparable time. Following six-weeks the groups alternated so the former control group now received the alphabet …

A Study Examining The Impact Of Scaffolding Young Children's Acquisition Of Literacy In Primary Grades, Judith Rollins Burch

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This case study explores the implementation of scaffolding in literacy learning in a first grade classroom setting. The complexities and nuisances of scaffolding present in the elementary school classroom context during reading and writing instruction are examined. Ten first graders, five from a pilot study an five from the case study, are followed in reading and writing in a public school classroom. Themes indicate that students in lower elementary grades benefit from reading and writing instruction that include the following strategic elements: 1) leveled predictable texts; 2) small group guided reading and writing instruction; 3) systematic, strategic instruction based upon …

An Exploration Of The Impact Of Picture Book Illustrations On The Comprehension Skills And Vocabulary Development Of Emergent Readers, Judy Lavender Nicholas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The formal instruction process of teaching reading to emergent and beginning readers needs to incorporate a much more multimodal approach. People today, not only in America but in many other countries as well, are more graphically oriented than any other generation has ever been. Children in our society expect to experience pictures and images in almost everything they encounter. This graphic orientation needs to be taken advantage of and incorporated into the educational process in ways that can be beneficial to the learning environments of children in our schools. Reading programs need to forego one-dimensional teaching methods and learn how …

Words And Worlds: Irony Makes Literary Creations, Alastair Goff

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

In this paper I take up anew the suggestion recurrent in the work of Kierkegaard and Lukács, among others, that literature is fundamentally ironic. Literary creations, I argue, are ironic because they convey the real world, even though the worldhood of this world is ineffable. In creating a world from words in a novel or poem, the author confronts his or her own skepticism about the possibilities of written expression. Literary creations are only completed when the reader is able to engage with the world of words that is constituted in the work, and to realize that what is said …

Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall Of The House Of Usher: Bilingual Approaches, Michelle Johnston

Theses

This literature curriculum unit includes some implements the bilingual strategies (ASL and printed English) to teach deaf students about Poe's short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher." Throughout the curriculum, the students will read, analyze, and interpret the story in primary and secondary languages: ASL and printed English. The bilingual reading and writing processes require the students to read the story in printed English, discuss the literature elements of the story in ASL to decode, interpret and understand the literature elements of this story. The students will go through the writing process to write a h a 1 …

Adolescent Literacy: What Is It And How Might You Support Its Development?, Jill A. Jones, Zhihui Fang, Joyce Fine, Linda Ray, Vicky Zygouris-Coe

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Teachers' Perceptions Of Their Preparation To Choose And Implement Effective Methods For Teaching Emergent Readers., H. Brooke Blair

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Reading is not an easily learned skill for most students. I chose to look at the methodology being used by teachers in East Tennessee to instruct emerging readers. Through my review of literature, I researched reading approaches implemented in American classrooms in the last 150 years. I compared and contrasted data to determine current researchers' findings concerning the most effective techniques for teaching reading and how teachers have implemented this knowledge base into their teaching strategies.

Teachers cannot teach what they do not know. Therefore, I also researched literature addressing the growing concern among educators with teachers' preparation and professional …

Teaching Young Children How To Read : Phonics Vs. Whole Language, Kelly Waldo

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This article talks about the phonics and whole language approaches to teaching young children how to read. It shows studies done on these approaches and talks about how these two approaches have been used in California.

Innovative Literacy Content, Methods, And Assessment In English-As-A-Foreign Language Primary Instruction, Tzu-Ru Tsai

Theses Digitization Project

The primary goal of this project is to offer Taiwanese teachers diverse innovative literacy instruction and assessments to motivate students' reading processes. Sample curriculum/lesson plans are included.

Component Processes In The Predictors Of Reading Achievement: Direct And Indirect Effects, Bryson Bresnahan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the relationships between the most reliable predictors of reading, possible factors of these predictors, and different aspects of reading achievement. Thirty six subjects were recruited from a reading clinic and administered measures of phonological awareness and rapid naming. They were also given measures of two constructs hypothesized to underlie these predictors, the constructs of working memory and processing speed. Each participant's sight word vocabulary, reading fluency, and reading comprehension were collected to represent reading achievement. Comprehension performance was not directly related to reading predictors but instead was indirectly influenced by sight vocabulary. Contrary to the presented hypothesis, …

A Study Of Southwest Florida High School Reading Teachers And The Implmentation Of Scientifically Based Reading Research Instruction, Virginia Harper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The literacy mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) swiftly and directly have an impact on reading teachers. The literacy directives of the act constitute a paradigm shift in reading reform, especially at the secondary level. Literacy directives require state and district level administrator's to focus on secondary reading teacher pre and in service training. Effecive secondary reading teachers must be well versed in the foundation sof Scientifically Based Reading Research. Florida is among the first states to implement six comptencies of professional development that leads to endorsement in the teaching of reading. Florida teachers of secondary reading …

Karaoke: A Tool For Promoting Reading, Abha Gupta

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This article is a description of a teaching strategy that we have experimented with promising results as a motivational tool. The strategy uses Karaoke as a tool to build and enhance reading behaviors such as fluency and motivation as a twofold purpose for struggling readers. An audio and video sample of children engaged in reading and singing using Karaoke is enclosed. Some modified Karaoke instructional approaches are mentioned for a whole group/classroom use.

The Effects Of Reading & Reading Strategy Training On Lower Proficiency Level Second Language Learning, Lane O. Steinagel

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate what effect reading in a second language has on the knowledge and language performance of young adult missionaries studying to learn a foreign language. It was hypothesized that reading would improve vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension, and it was further hypothesized that reading aloud would improve language speaking performance. The subjects of the study were 214 missionaries learning Spanish as a second language at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. The missionaries were all beginner level students of Spanish, and they were randomly assigned to reading aloud and silent reading groups, …

Associations Involving Open Court Reading In Kindergarten And Student Performance On Standardized Assessments In Reading In A Tennessee School System., Rachel Suzanne Walk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine what, if any, associations existed between the implementation of the Open Court Reading^® program in kindergarten and students’ reading achievement on the Terra Nova standardized achievement test in the first grade. The study involved first-grade students who attended kindergarten in one school system in East Tennessee. Using a quantitative design, this study included the first-grade Terra Nova scores from 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. Scores obtained by first-grade students who did not receive Open Court Reading^® in kindergarten (2001 and 2002) were compared with first-grade scores obtained by students who …

Impact Of The Kindergarten Teacher Reading Academy On The Instructional Practices Of Kindergarten Teachers, Mary Lynnette Grant

Theses and Dissertations

The research question for this study was: Did the Kindergarten Teacher Reading Academy (KTRA) Professional Development Model impact the kindergarten teachers¡¯ instructional practices? Moat (2004) indicated that professional development should be job-embedded with substantive and sustaining power. This research employed a qualitative method. The Participant Knowledge Survey (pre-and posttest), was administered to all kindergarten participants at the KTRA. Six kindergarten teachers were then selected to participate in follow-up. This follow-up included a classroom observation and teacher interview at each teacher¡¯s school. All participants are certified kindergarten teachers that teach in public schools in Mississippi. The results of the interview revealed …

Toolkit For Assistance With The Emergent Reader, Theresa Joanne Phelps

All Graduate Projects

Following the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Initiative in 2002, educators were faced with new obstacles never before experienced. Reading levels were at an all time low with nearly 70% of inner city fourth graders unable to read at a basic level on national reading tests. Because reading is the backbone of all academic areas, struggling readers need much more consideration and attention than they have needed before. The five main components of an effective reading program that are focused on in this project are vocabulary, phonics, phonemic awareness, comprehension and fluency. This toolkit contains assessments and strategies …

Reading Fluency Instruction In Upper Elementary International School Classrooms, Jinky Lunaspe Dagoon

Theses Digitization Project

This project focuses on the importance of reading fluency, emphasizing its role in the construction of meaning and aiding in the overall comprehension process. Its components: accuracy, automaticity, and prosody are examined in relation to various activities that enhance each component. A sample curriculum is discussed.