Reading Comprehension
5th Grade - CADRE
So What? Now What?
When looking back at who I was as a teacher at the beginning of the year and who I am now, I can honestly say I am pleased with what I have done even though there may have been a few bumps along the way. CADRE Capstone was always seen as a something in the distance that would never come, but time has flown by and my research is finally complete. Through this process there have been many challenges and successes, impacts on students and my teaching/professional growth, along with a long list of ideas I have for the future.
Through this process of CADRE Capstone I have learned that above all else, it is okay to not see success right away. In other classes and life experiences I have seen success or failure right after trying something new. This is not always the case when teaching. I knew I wanted to focus on reading comprehension and text dependent analysis not only for my students, but for me as a teacher. TDA is becoming a big pie piece in reading and it cannot be done without strong reading comprehension skills. Knowing this idea, I enrolled in a close reading book study, which gave me a majority of the strategies I used in my research. It is my job as a teacher to first understand what I am teaching myself before I can provide my students with this content.
When I first introduced the Notice and Note Signposts strategy to my students they looked at me like I was from a different planet, speaking a different language. “Why is this important?” “Do we really need to know this stuff?", were all statements I heard at the beginning of this endeavor. This led me to using Pixar shorts videos as an engagement piece to introduce the signpost we were focusing on each week. Students loved this idea and most of them had seen the some of the Pixar shorts before making it a great teaching point about close reading. The students began to realize that the more you read/watch something, you see different pieces you had not seen before. This is the entire purpose of close reading.
Looking back at the challenges of getting students to understand the purpose of reading and writing a TDA, I now look at my data and see so much success. Each one of my data points increased. There was not a perfect average , but there was growth. Students also had the opportunity to see this growth and understand how my instruction had impacted their ability to read and understand text. Each part of my action plan was research based, meaning that there is evidence to prove that the strategies I was using have been successful. The question was, would they be successful for my students? I believe the strategies I provided my students with in regards to close reading and using evidence to synthesize a piece of text can be used for the rest of their lives. When teaching how to construct a TDA I explained to my students that I am still having to write a TDA response at times and I am twice their age. I think showing them that there is a purpose and I am in the same boat they are in really made it more of a group effort to succeed.
Even though my research is over, the school year is not. I want to continue following the plan I have been using because success can be seen. Each student is different and research has provided me with countless ideas on how to engage students and meet them where they are academically to make sure they are successful. Action research will be something I continue to do throughout my career as a teacher. I never want to become a teacher who relies on past knowledge and never looks to what new research is out there. It has been such a blessing to be used as a knowledge source at my building because of the research I have done this year. The collaborative conversations and learning communities I have been a part of with colleagues have given me a deeper understanding of why we do what we do as teachers to help students be successful.
In the future, I would like to modify and refine. I would like to get to know my students as learners and set up a concrete plan for conferencing earlier in the year. At the beginning of my research I felt that I had a good idea as to what my students needed, but knew there was more I could have done to make sure what I was doing was best for each student. I also went into my action plan with too much on my plate. I planned to meet with four reading groups a day and hit all of these points, when that was not realistic and my students would have benefited more from meeting less but for a longer amount of time.
The NBPTS Core Propositions guided my teaching this past year. Before I could start implementing my action research needed to make sure I had a strong understanding of what I was going to implement in my classroom and how I was going to do it. This relates to the second proposition. I enrolled in a book study to guide my understanding of close reading and the engaging ways to incorporate it into my current reading lessons. During my action research Propositions One, Three, and Five were prominent. In order to successfully implement my strategies I needed to be committed to not only my research, but to my students as well. I also needed to monitor their learning by collecting data and analyzing what needed to change the next week to best fit the needs of my students. While implementing my strategies I had endless conversations with my colleagues and administrators on what I was doing and if they had any feedback or further resources for me to consider. Without the support from my building team I would not have been as confident and successful as I was. Looking back on my research I really thought about what I would do next year and what I wish I would have done differently (Proposition Four). There will be a whole different group of students in my class next year. Will the same strategies work for them? Will I have the same amount of success? These are all questions I have and am excited to answer as I enter next year.
