The research paper evaluated the effects of the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) persuasive writing strategy called STOP & DARE on six 5th grade students, including three English Language Learners. Pre- and post-tests measured changes in students' use of persuasive elements, essay quality, and knowledge of STOP & DARE. Results showed significant gains in students' use of persuasive elements like rebuttals, transitions, and conclusions. Essay quality scores also moderately improved on average. Three students demonstrated particularly large improvements between 2.5-5 points in their writing scores. While two students scored slightly lower, overall the intervention improved students' persuasive writing abilities.
Students’ Perceptions of Grammar Teaching and Learning in English Language Cl...iosrjce
The use of grammar teaching in the field of second language acquisition has been extensively
studied, but there is a lacuna in the literature, regarding the students’ perception of its importance. To
investigate this aspect, the study was conducted on a group of 15 students studying in Semester Five, in the
English Language Department of Misurata University, Libya. The students were interviewed in groups of three
with nine specific questions, and the responses were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. The findings
revealed that although they all came from the same cultural, linguistic and educational backgrounds, they had
different perceptions regarding the form focused instruction of grammar. The information gathered is of
considerable significance to ESL teachers who intend to meet students’ needs as well as reduce conflicts caused
by different perspectives between teachers and students regarding whether or not grammar teaching should be
encouraged in the classroom.
Students’ Perceptions of Grammar Teaching and Learning in English Language Cl...iosrjce
The use of grammar teaching in the field of second language acquisition has been extensively
studied, but there is a lacuna in the literature, regarding the students’ perception of its importance. To
investigate this aspect, the study was conducted on a group of 15 students studying in Semester Five, in the
English Language Department of Misurata University, Libya. The students were interviewed in groups of three
with nine specific questions, and the responses were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. The findings
revealed that although they all came from the same cultural, linguistic and educational backgrounds, they had
different perceptions regarding the form focused instruction of grammar. The information gathered is of
considerable significance to ESL teachers who intend to meet students’ needs as well as reduce conflicts caused
by different perspectives between teachers and students regarding whether or not grammar teaching should be
encouraged in the classroom.
The paper makes an empirical research on the effect of formative assessment on English learning of higher vocational college students. It finds that: formative assessment attaches importance to the learning process, which is conducive to the development of good English learning habits; formative assessment can enhance students’ confidence in English learning, improve the atmosphere of team cooperative learning and autonomous learning, but cannot change the learning motivation of students. Overall, formative assessment has a greater impact on students with lower English proficiency.
Pilot Study for Validity and Reliability of an Aptitude TestBahram Kazemian
The study was conducted in the department of the English University of Gujrat during Spring- 2012 semester. A question
paper was designed to check the aptitude of the intermediate students of population 25. There were three sections; Grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension, in the question paper. Section: A (Grammar) was proved valid with 84.33 % of validity. The validity of Section: B (vocabulary) and Section C (reading comprehension) were 91.64 % and 52.00 respectively. As a whole, the validity of all the questions was 75.99 %. Thus, the designed aptitude test may be considered reliable.
The paper makes an empirical research on the effect of formative assessment on English learning of higher vocational college students. It finds that: formative assessment attaches importance to the learning process, which is conducive to the development of good English learning habits; formative assessment can enhance students’ confidence in English learning, improve the atmosphere of team cooperative learning and autonomous learning, but cannot change the learning motivation of students. Overall, formative assessment has a greater impact on students with lower English proficiency.
Pilot Study for Validity and Reliability of an Aptitude TestBahram Kazemian
The study was conducted in the department of the English University of Gujrat during Spring- 2012 semester. A question
paper was designed to check the aptitude of the intermediate students of population 25. There were three sections; Grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension, in the question paper. Section: A (Grammar) was proved valid with 84.33 % of validity. The validity of Section: B (vocabulary) and Section C (reading comprehension) were 91.64 % and 52.00 respectively. As a whole, the validity of all the questions was 75.99 %. Thus, the designed aptitude test may be considered reliable.
1How Does the Use of Reading Strategies Improve Achieve.docxaryan532920
1
How Does the Use of Reading Strategies Improve
Achievement in Science for Language Minority
Students?
Shannon Hicok
Glasgow Middle School
Fairfax County (VA) Public Schools
Submitted June 2000
Introduction
Two years ago, I began teaching science at Ellen Glasgow Middle School
in Fairfax County, Virginia. I realized right away that my language minority
students, especially those still in an English as a Second Language (ESL)
program, needed differentiated instruction in their mainstreamed science class.
The question then became, “How do I meet the unique needs of this population?”
This is a question with which I have continued to struggle over the past two
years.
I recognized that my ESL students had a great deal of difficulty reading
their science textbook. Although some students had success with pronunciation
and word recognition, adequate comprehension eluded them. Working with an
ESL teacher, I began to make accommodations in my instruction that seemed to
increase understanding during whole class and small group activities. However, I
was still puzzled as to how to help these students during lessons that required
individual reading.
In the 1999-2000 school year, I have had the privilege of working with a
small group of researchers who also teach language minority students. During
discussion, we agreed that improving literacy for these students should be our
primary goal and the focus of our research. Based on the difficulty my students
have experienced with reading comprehension, this is the piece of the literacy
puzzle on which I have focused.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to identify how the implementation of
various reading strategies improved achievement in science for ESL students. I
was particularly interested in their use in the science classroom. Using data
collected from this study, I hoped to make better decisions about the type of
instruction my language minority students needed. The end result was more
confident, successful learners.
Scientific vocabulary development is an area in which language minority
students historically struggle. In addition to learning new technical terminology,
students must deal with the varied use of familiar terms. For instance, in science
class, the words table and compound have a very different meaning than they do
in most other classrooms (Chamot, 1994). For these reasons, I decided that one
of the strategies chosen for the study would specifically target vocabulary
development.
2
The remainder of the strategies chosen for the study were intended to
help make reading a more active endeavor. I chose these strategies with the
hopes that they would help students comprehend written, scientific, factual
material.
Literature Review
Much research has been done regarding the effectiveness of using
learning strategies to promote literacy. The basic premise behind this research is
that students can benefit from t ...
1How Does the Use of Reading Strategies Improve Achieve.docxjoyjonna282
1
How Does the Use of Reading Strategies Improve
Achievement in Science for Language Minority
Students?
Shannon Hicok
Glasgow Middle School
Fairfax County (VA) Public Schools
Submitted June 2000
Introduction
Two years ago, I began teaching science at Ellen Glasgow Middle School
in Fairfax County, Virginia. I realized right away that my language minority
students, especially those still in an English as a Second Language (ESL)
program, needed differentiated instruction in their mainstreamed science class.
The question then became, “How do I meet the unique needs of this population?”
This is a question with which I have continued to struggle over the past two
years.
I recognized that my ESL students had a great deal of difficulty reading
their science textbook. Although some students had success with pronunciation
and word recognition, adequate comprehension eluded them. Working with an
ESL teacher, I began to make accommodations in my instruction that seemed to
increase understanding during whole class and small group activities. However, I
was still puzzled as to how to help these students during lessons that required
individual reading.
In the 1999-2000 school year, I have had the privilege of working with a
small group of researchers who also teach language minority students. During
discussion, we agreed that improving literacy for these students should be our
primary goal and the focus of our research. Based on the difficulty my students
have experienced with reading comprehension, this is the piece of the literacy
puzzle on which I have focused.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to identify how the implementation of
various reading strategies improved achievement in science for ESL students. I
was particularly interested in their use in the science classroom. Using data
collected from this study, I hoped to make better decisions about the type of
instruction my language minority students needed. The end result was more
confident, successful learners.
Scientific vocabulary development is an area in which language minority
students historically struggle. In addition to learning new technical terminology,
students must deal with the varied use of familiar terms. For instance, in science
class, the words table and compound have a very different meaning than they do
in most other classrooms (Chamot, 1994). For these reasons, I decided that one
of the strategies chosen for the study would specifically target vocabulary
development.
2
The remainder of the strategies chosen for the study were intended to
help make reading a more active endeavor. I chose these strategies with the
hopes that they would help students comprehend written, scientific, factual
material.
Literature Review
Much research has been done regarding the effectiveness of using
learning strategies to promote literacy. The basic premise behind this research is
that students can benefit from t ...
This is part of my working Strategies Notebook. Hardcopy papers from outside resources are printed or collected and then placed in the appropriate section for later reference.
The impact of structure on word meaning and fill in-the-blank tests procedure...Dr. Seyed Hossein Fazeli
The purpose of research described in the current study to investigate the impact of structure knowing on two types of test, i.e. word-meaning test and fill-in-the-blank test, their correlation and procedures on both short-term and long-term retention of vocabulary items. The importance of the present study, to test the condition that learners are not allowed to use guess strategy or randomly answer the tests and they should give reason semantically for their answer, otherwise their answer, even is correct, is not scored. The population for subject recruitment was all undergraduate students from second semester at large university in Iran (both male and female) that study English as a compulsory paper. In Iran, English is taught as a foreign language.
Your Name; I pledge.” My Personal Philosophy PaperStuden.docxodiliagilby
Your Name; “I pledge.”
My Personal Philosophy Paper
Students I Desire to Serve
The students I desire to serve are elementary school age students with learning disabilities. In most cases, students who have difficulty with reading and math skills feel isolated, miss instruction, and often fall behind in their academics. From personal experience, I know how important it is for students with disabilities to have the same educational opportunities as anyone else. My great-aunt was withdrawn from school when she first started. After consulting a doctor, it was determined she had a disability. The school felt it would be better if she were home-schooled since the personnel could not provide the services she needed. Her parents tried their best to instruct her, but she never held a job and was not able to stay by herself. After her parents died, her sisters took care of her until she died. The family does not talk about any aspect of her life to this day. Therefore, I have often wondered what her life would have been like if she would have received an appropriate public education (Murdick, Gartin, & Crabtree, 2007).
Instructional Strategies
Students with learning disabilities often have difficulties with vocabulary. McGear, McFloyd, Dichalek, and Bobzien (2012) presented an instructional strategy called Olympic Hurdles to address problems reading sight words in third grade students with learning disabilities in a resource room. Each of the participants in the study had a card with a hurdle track. The track contained twenty-eight cells complete with hurdlers and a flag to show the beginning and ending line. Sight words came from a high frequency word list, written on flashcards, and positioned on the track randomly. A timer began for one minute when each student started. When told to stop, the total number of words correct determined the total number of words each student could correctly read per minute. The total number of words stated correctly or self-corrected was on the data sheets as recorded by the data collectors. After each trial, the students graphed their own performance. Each student averaged 20 words per minute on the first trial. During the second trial, each student’s average words per minute decreased since new words were on the track. During the third trial, there were more words known than unknown, creating an increase in each student’s words per minute averages. It was found that the more times the track with the same words repeated, the higher the success rate in this case on average 40 words per minute for each student. The reading racetracks helped the students increase their fluency and phonics skills. By breaking down unknown words into simpler parts, students were able to sound out unknown words more effectively by looking for phonics patterns (McGear et al., 2012).
Students with learning disabilities may also respond well to computer-based interventions. Nordstrom, Haverty, and Volkswagen (201 ...
Customer IntroductionPrevious modules have discussed the va.docxfaithxdunce63732
Customer:
Introduction
Previous modules have discussed the various components of successful interventions and instruction for students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD), as well as how vital they are to help reduce unwanted behaviors. However, it is not unusual for teachers of EBD students to spend less time on academic instruction, and thus, students may not be engaged in academic activities as much as mainstream students. Knizter, Setinberg, and Fleisch (1990) describe this process as bleak. Keeping current with research-based instructional procedures is a valuable tool to support and develop educators' skills in the design and delivery of effective lessons for students with EBD (Yell, Meadows, Drasgow, & Shriner (2009).
Teaching Reading
Theorists and researchers continue to argue the approaches for teaching reading. Principally, should the approach be meaning-based or code-based, or, perhaps, a continuum of both approaches? Should it be based on general comprehension or an approach of phonics and grammatical rules, or the combination of the two? This has been an ongoing debate for many years, but, most recently, educators are focusing on a combination of phonics and whole words.
Initially, for the code-based, or rules approach, it should be remembered that phonemic awareness and phonics are not synonymous. Phonemic awareness is the understanding of how the various letter or letter combination sounds (phonemes) are combined to create words in spoken language. Phonics is knowing what letters make what sounds in order to place them in the correct order to form the word in written language.
When learning to read, children can learn the whole word by sight or learn to decode and encode with the use of phonics. They can incorporate elements of both approaches, but generally, a student will be strong in one approach and have to acquire more skills for the other approach. Students who show lower reading levels often lack the phonemic skills. According to Yell et al. (2009), the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) reported in 2000 that phonics and phonemic awareness are the best predictors of how well a student will learn to read in the first two years of instruction. It should not be assumed that a student has received those skills simply because they are past those first two years of school. That being said, it would seem evident that a combination of the two approaches would be most successful.
The direct instruction (DI) model has been shown to increase student achievement in reading (Gage & Berliner, 1998). For the DI approach, many teachers, through specific objectives, curriculum, and sequence, incorporate different strategies. Repeated readings and peer-assisted techniques result in improvement in fluency, reading rates, and on-task behaviors. There are often mnemonics and/or acronyms introduced to help remember academic strategies.
Teaching Writing
Two models have been used to teach writing to.
1. Synthesis
The research provides substantial proof that SRSD is an effective evidence-based
writing practice for primary and secondary students of different writing abilities. Most of
the studies examined in this review reveal strong internal validity based on the results of
the impact of the intervention discussed in the literature above. Furthermore, SRSD
proves to have moderately strong external validity because of participant variance. The
students studied cover a large range of characteristics from demographics, geography,
age, and cognitive ability. The first study focused on elementary students who struggled
in writing and the students improved in persuasive and story writing with large effect
sizes ranging from .87 and greater (Harris, Graham, & Mason, 2006). In three of the
studies, the researchers focused on students in the general education setting and showed
that SRSD positively impacted the whole groups writing performance (De La Paz, 1999;
Glaser & Brunstein, 2007; Harris et al., 2012).
All the studies reviewed achieved a good degree of fidelity. The studies using
graduate assistants to implement the intervention used training, checklists, and tape
recordings to assure fidelity, with the exception of Glaser & Brunstein’s study that did
not use tape recordings (Harris, Graham, & Mason, 2006; Glaser & Brunstein, 2007).
The four studies using the classroom teachers showed fidelity through teacher
professional development. The teachers in the yearlong study by Kim et al. (2011)
participated in on-going professional development. Additionally, the researchers in
Harris, et al. (2006) used a survey to collect data about teachers writing instruction and
research assistants observed 25% of the lessons.
2. Given the wide range of students studied, the population of ELL students
examined in the SRSD studies was not significant enough to make generalizations about
the effects of SRSD on this population. Although the last study examined the effects of a
writing strategy with ELL students, the intervention did not discuss the incorporation of a
self-regulation process, which is a critical part of the SRSD model. One way to make the
SRSD model an even more global intervention is for future research to focus on the
effects of SRSD with ELL students.
Extending the Research
The next part of my research paper examines the rationale, implementation, and
results of STOP & DARE (a SRSD persuasive strategy) I taught to six, fifth grade
students. The students selected for the intervention were based on teacher
recommendation and met my criteria of ELL or struggling writer. One of the ELL
students also received special education services with an IEP. All of the SRSD studies I
reviewed show these strategies improve writing for students of all ability levels,
especially struggling writers (Harris, et al., 2012, Glaser & Brunstein, 2007; De La Paz,
1999; Barry & Moore, 2004). However, the effects of SRSD on ELL students are not as
clear. Only one study reported a small percentage of ELL students as part of their sample
population (Harris, Graham, & Mason, 2006), however the results for that subgroup were
unknown.
I decided to focus on persuasive writing because the classroom teacher recently
finished a unit on this genre of writing and their fourth quarter writing benchmark was a
persuasive writing prompt. The classroom teacher shared with me the materials she used
to teach persuasive writing and examples of the student’s graphic organizers, rough
3. drafts, and final papers. The writing pieces showed a large degree of teacher revisions
and the teacher expressed a desire to learn better ways to teach struggling writers.
STOP & DARE Intervention
The lesson plans and most of the materials used for instruction were borrowed
from the book, “Powerful Writing Strategies for all Students.” Most of the materials used
for the intervention can be found in the appendices. I met with students two times a week
for 30-45 minutes in the teacher’s classroom for four weeks. The six stages of SRSD
were followed throughout the intervention and the steps of STOP & DARE were
explicitly modeled and taught.
Keeping consistent with SRSD procedures, I administered a writing probe on the
first day in order to collect baseline data. (Two students left early for a band lesson.
Hilario finished his pretest afterward but Arturo was unable, so I was not able to collect
baseline data for him). One of the studies I reviewed allowed students to choose from
two different persuasive writing prompts to increase motivation (Harris, Graham, &
Mason, 2006), so I incorporated this motivation element into my study. Students were
able to choose from four different prompts. Two of the prompts were school-related and
two of the prompts were out-of-school related (appendix A).
Instructional Procedures
On the first day of instruction, Day 2, the students were asked why students write
persuasive essays and brainstormed the parts of a good essay (appendix B). A star was
written next to the student’s responses that were specific to the persuasive genre
(supporting details, main ideas, reasons, conclusion, catchy lead/attention getter,
introduction). The teacher added the terms million-dollar words or transition words,
4. reject the other side, and 4-5 paragraphs to the list. After the student’s background
knowledge was developed, the students were given a handout that explained the
mnemonic STOP & DARE (appendix C). The students were told that good writers plan
essays before writing and the strategy STOP & DARE will help them learn how to plan
and write better persuasive essays.
During the discuss it stage, the students learned the steps and rationale of STOP.
The four steps of STOP were covered by a post-it note and uncovered sequentially as the
steps were discussed. Step 1, Suspend Judgment. The teacher compared this step to a
spider analogy used by De La Paz (2001). Students were told to wait like a spider
dangling from their web before making up their mind about an idea. The word judgment
was also compared to the job of a judge. The teacher explained that before a judge makes
up his/her mind they have to hear all the evidence (De La Paz, 2001). Step 2, Take a
Side. After brainstorming, the students decide which argument they believe is the
strongest by writing a plus sign (+) next to the For or Against side. Step 3, Organize
Ideas. The teacher compared this step to a road map (De La Paz, 2001). During this
stage the students star and number the arguments they want to use, including opposing
arguments. The teacher emphasized this step explaining that it’s often skipped, but one
of the most important. Step 4, Plan More as You Write. The last step reminds students to
use DARE to help them write a good essay. Lastly, the students learned the mnemonic
DARE: Develop topic sentence, Add supporting details, Reject the other side, and End
with a conclusion. The teacher explained that good essays have all the parts of STOP &
DARE and told students to practice memorizing the steps.
5. On Day 3, the students took turns reading aloud a student example, Should
Children Have to Go to School? (Appendix D). The students were asked to identify the
persuasive elements in the example. The students underlined and labeled the topic,
reasons, reject the other side, and conclusion. This example did not have supporting
details, so the students decided that in order to make this example better the writer should
have added supporting details. The teacher and students collaboratively identified
common missing parts of essays on large poster paper. Lastly, “Essay Rocket Graphs for
Older Students,” were distributed and the teacher showed the students how to fill in the
graph using the student example (Appendix E).
Next the student’s essays from the previous lesson were passed out and the
students charted their level of performance on their rockets. The students also wrote
down goals to improve their writing. Many of the students wrote down goals about using
transition words and rejecting the other side. As students reread their essays, the teacher
met with each student to check their goals. (Prior to this lesson, I read their essays to
make sure I knew appropriate goals). The teacher reminded the students to practice
memorizing the steps for STOP & DARE.
With Day 4, the teacher quizzed the students on their knowledge of STOP &
DARE. The teacher told the students it was not a graded quiz, but wanted to see which
steps they remembered. Next, the teacher modeled how to use the brainstorming chart
(appendix F) for the essay prompt Should parents give their children money for getting
good grades on their report card? The teacher used STOP & DARE cue cards
(appendix G) to model the steps and gave each student a set of cards. (Prior to this
lesson, I spent a significant amount of time planning and practicing the procedures of
6. STOP & DARE for the prompt. I filled in a brainstorming sheet and then wrote an essay
using the brainstorming sheet). The teacher also introduced students to transition words
(appendix H) and prompts to use to reject the other side of the argument (appendix I).
After the teacher demonstrated how to model the steps of STOP, the students and
teachers collaboratively wrote a good introduction using the steps of DARE.
During Day 5, the teacher modeled how to use the STOP & DARE checklist
(appendix J) and continued to model how to write an essay thinking out loud. The
teacher demonstrated writing two paragraphs following the steps of DARE by typing the
essay on the Smartboard (appendix K). The students identified the persuasive elements
and transition words in the essay and the teacher underlined and circled them on the
Smartboard. After the teacher modeling, the teacher passed out a well-written essay,
Keeping Your Hands Clean and Dry (appendix L), and asked the students to underline
and label the persuasive elements and circle the transition words. The teacher and
students did the introduction paragraph together and then each student examined a
different paragraph and reported their findings to the group. The students then graphed
the essay on their rocket graphs.
The teacher quizzed the students again on STOP & DARE on Day 6. The
students wrote down the steps on a piece of paper. After the quiz, the students practiced
writing an essay independently with some teacher support. The essay prompt was Should
kids be able to eat whatever they want? All the students used their cue cards. The
teacher and students discussed different reasons and each student filled in their own
brainstorming sheet. The students completed the first 3 steps of STOP before the end of
7. the lesson. Some of the students needed some support organizing their ideas. The
students finished the last step of STOP on Day 7.
On the last day, Day 8, the students completed the posttest writing prompt. The
posttest was the same as the pretest, except they were required to choose a different
writing prompt from the pretest.
Results
This intervention examined the impact of STOP & DARE, a self-regulated
strategy, on three ELL students and three at-risk students. The following measurements
were analyzed: persuasive elements, essay quality, and STOP & DARE knowledge. I
choose the following variables because most of the published studies I reviewed analyzed
these elements (De La Paz, 1999; Glaser & Brunstein, 2007; Harris, Mason, & Graham,
2006, & Harris et al., 2012). The results of the pretest and posttest persuasive elements
are displayed in Table 1. I scored the persuasive elements similar to the method
described in the study published by Harris et al., 2012. Students were given 1 point for a
topic sentence, 1 point for reasons (up to a total of 3 points), 1 point for supporting details
(each separate detail was not counted individually- only 1 point was awarded for this
element), 1 point for rejecting argument, 1 point for each transition word or million dollar
word used, and 1 point for a conclusion. Students that did not have these elements earned
a 0 for that element. Table 2 shows the outcomes of essay quality (the average of two
scores is reported for essay quality). The STOP & DARE knowledge results are recorded
in Table 3.
8. The average number of persuasive elements increased significantly from the
pretest to the posttest writing prompt. On the pretest students used an average of 4.8
elements compared to an average of 10.5 elements on the posttest. The most significant
difference in elements is the use of a rejecting argument, transition words, and conclusion
the students used in their posttest essays. Specifically, five of the six students included a
rejecting argument and conclusion on the posttest, whereas none of the students used a
rejecting argument or conclusion on the pretest. In addition, students used an average of
four transition words on posttest compared to only one students using one transition word
on the pretest. Everyone included a topic and three reasons on the pretest and most of the
students included these elements on the posttest, with the exception of Nicole. Although
Nicole only included two reasons on the posttest, she included two rejecting reasons.
Most of the students also included supporting details on the pretest, and everyone
included them on the posttest.
In order to determine the essay quality of writing, I used the writing rubric used
by the local district. The rubric assessed the following five areas of writing: focus,
content, organization, style, and conventions. Students were rated on a scale of 1 to 4 in
each section. A score of 1 represents below basic; 2 represents basic; 3 represents
proficient; and 4 represents advanced. All the scores were combined to determine a total
score out of a possible 20 points. A graduate student and I scored the pretest and posttest
essays using the school districts rubric. Table 2 shows the average of the student’s two
scores. On the pretest, the average quality score was 13.3 compared to an average score
of 15.2 on the posttest. Overall, the quality of writing improved moderately.
9. Alexis, Jenna (appendix N), and Hilario (appendx O) showed the most significant
gains of persuasive quality on their posttests. The increase in their scores ranged from
2.5 points to as high as 5 points. Two students, Nicole and Gensis actually scored lower
on their posttest; however, they both only dropped 1 point.