Next I took baseline data including:
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Reading 100 sight words
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Writing 100 sight words
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Guided Reading Levels
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Independent Writing
This allowed me to see where all my students were so that I could adjust my teaching practices.
I then created a goal setting sheet with action steps. This allowed my students and I to have a quick conference and gave them the opportunity to choose what they wanted to do in order to move to that goal. All action steps were practiced weekly in the classroom, the students chose what they wanted to focus on the
I then looked at my teaching practices for whole group reading, whole group writing, and guided reading as these are the times that sight words are practiced authentically which helps the students to understand the need for mastering the 100 First Grade Sight words. Read more in Whole Group Reading & Writing and Guided Reading.
The students were then taught 4 different games that they played daily. This gave them the chance to practice reading and writing sight words in a stress free environment. Read more in Game Intervention.
Reading and Writing Sight Word Goals
​By the end of the action research process, the goal is that students will be able to:
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Read 85/100 First Grade sight words accurately.
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Write 85/100 First Grade sight words accurately.
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Read grade level text independently with strong sight word accuracy.
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Write grade level stories independently with strong sight word accuracy.
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In order for students to develop accuracy when reading and writing sight words, we practiced during whole group reading, guided reading, whole group writing, and during intervention/ enrichment time.
Whole Group Reading & Writing
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Students are introduced to the five sight words for the week.
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Students read each word as a class, practicing the sight words in isolation.
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Students spell each word as a class, adding different body movements each day.
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Students listen to and give examples of the word in a sentence, practicing the sight words in real life application.
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Students are directed to the word wall when observing the use of sight words.
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During writing time, each step that was taught was recorded onto an anchor chart. However, this was not done for the baseline writing (favorite story character).
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During Informative Writing about an animal (check-in) students were directed to the anchor chart, anything that was highlighted could be copied verbatim. Sight words were included in the anchor chart to practice the use of sigh words authentically. Students personalized their stories by identifying the animal and various attributes. (See below)
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During Narrative Writing (final) students were still directed to the anchor chart, but less guidance was given by the chart. The Sight words included in the anchor chart were limited to first, next, then, and last to practice the use of sigh words authentically.(See below)
These were done with the entire class, all students got the same amount of instruction during this time.
Guided Reading
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Students write the week's five sight words with guided direct instruction.
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Students receive direct instruction for any of the previous week's words that were not written correctly on the weekly assessment.
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Students read text according to ability level, referring to the word wall for sight word accuracy.
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Students write a sentence including sight words related to ability level text.
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Students write the week's five sight words independently, followed by stamping each letter to create the word.
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Students roll a dice and write the corresponding sight word for the number rolled independently.
This is done only in small group. Students that are reading above grade level meet two times a week, while students that are reading under grade level will meet five times a week. Therefore, some students receive extra practice each week because their need is higher.
Game Intervention
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Students write the week's five sight words with math equation according to letter value (similar to scrabble).
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Students find the week's five sight words on cards around the room and unscramble the letters.
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Students write the week's five sight words in a sentence.
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Students write the week's five sight words in a blank 10x10 grid, then fill in the remaining boxes with various letters to create their own word search.
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Students play Battleship, Go Fish, Memory, and BINGO following the same rules, using the 100 sight words.
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Each day the students were to complete one of the four daily practices in their packet. After they finished they were placed into an intentional group to play one of the four games.
After analyzing the baseline data and weekly Dictation Sentences, I noticed that some students needed additional support when writing the 100 First Grade Sight Words. I then started a small group intervention the fluctuated week to week depending on the need. Read more in Writing Intervention.
After analyzing the baseline data, I also noticed that 5 students needed additional support when writing the 100 First Grade Sight Words. I then started an individual intervention that allowed those students only practice what they needed. Read more in Reading Intervention.
I then checked in after 4 weeks of instruction with my students and reassessed:
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Reading 100 sight words
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Writing 100 sight words
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Independent Writing
I then created an individual list for each student of the words misspelled so that I could target that specific words that need more assistance. Read more in Additional Writing Intervention.
After I analyzing the data of the reading intervention. I noticed that some students still needed additional support. Read more in Additional Reading
Intervention.
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Writing Intervention
Each week after the instruction and practice of sight words, the students were given weekly dictation sentences. The students were asked to write a sentence that I say containing all five sight words taught that week, Students who misspelled one or more of the sight words in context, would be called back write the word each day until it could be spelled correctly by memory.
Additional Writing Intervention
After the second check in of writing sight words, each student was given a sheet to tape to their desk. The students were given 10-15 minutes each day to write the words on their list in order to increase accuracy.
Reading Intervention
Students who scored below 85/100 reading sight words on the baseline were given a folder. Each week the students were given five new words that they needed to work on, along with five known words to total 10 words. The students would read their 10 words to a partner each day and on Fridays they would be assessed on the accuracy of the words.
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Additional Reading Intervention
Some students were still have a hard time with a few words, if they could not successfully say the sight words after 2 weeks, we then added a student generated sentence to help see the word in context.
Although this worked for the majority of students, one student was not making progress with the previously stated flashcard technique. During week 4 I transitioned the one student to a new flash card technique in which he would be told two words at a time, then had to repeat them back to me, another two words would be shown and process continued for 5 minutes. At the end of those minutes, however many words he could repeat back to me accurately would be the words he worked on for that week. The number was not predetermined, simply however many would stick at the time. This method seemed to show progress in the last couple of weeks.
Finally I took final data including:
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Reading 100 sight words
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Writing 100 sight words
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Guided Reading Levels
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Independent Writing
I compared this data to the baseline data and determined that all students improved in all 4 data point areas.
Following 3 Students Through the Process.
Student A
Baseline
- When given an attitude survey, Student A is confident they can learn to read and write new sight words. (5/5), thinks they can read almost all sight words (4/5), and thinks they can write all sight words (5/5).
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- Student A could read 72/100 sight words and write 50/100.
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- Baseline Writing was 93% accuracy (25/27) on sight words. Sentences were simple (3-5 words long).
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- Reading on grade level.
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Student A showed a need for reading intervention.
Student B
Baseline
- When given an attitude survey, Student B is confident they can learn to read and write new sight words. (5/5), thinks they can read all all sight words (5/5), and thinks they can write all sight words (5/5).
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- Student B could read 42/100 sight words and write 11/100.
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- Baseline Writing was 89% accuracy (16/18) on sight words. Sentences were simple (2-4 words long).
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- Reading 4 levels below grade level.
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Showed a need for additional reading and writing support.
Student C
Baseline
- When given an attitude survey, Student C is confident they can learn to read and write new sight words. (5/5), thinks they can read all all sight words (5/5), and thinks they can write all sight words (5/5).
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- Student C could read 96/100 sight words and write 55/100.
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- Baseline Writing was 86% accuracy (24/28) on sight words.
-Sentences were run-on and repetitive (5-6 words long).
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- Reading on grade level.
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Student C did not show a need for additional support. I continued to monitor the spelling of sight words used in everyday context.
Reciprocity