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School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

2020

Reading

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Integrating Marie Clay’S Theory Of Literacy Processing And Reading Recovery Into Small Group Reading Instruction, Katherine Ronning Oct 2020

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 Oct 2020

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 Oct 2020

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 Oct 2020

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 Oct 2020

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 Oct 2020

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 Oct 2020

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 Jul 2020

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 Jul 2020

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 …


Using The Process Approach To Create An Effective And Efficient Secondary Writing Curriculum For Students And Teachers, Adam Koehler Apr 2020

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 Apr 2020

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 Apr 2020

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 Apr 2020

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 …