Jill Felbeck, Dean Morgan Junior High School, Casper, WY
Research question:
How will the Spalding Writing Road to Reading Method improve achievement and
skill level with seventh and eighth graders who are reading below grade level?
Monthly data collection shows an average of 1.6 years improvement on the
Morrison and McCall Spelling Scale. When analyzing the tests, students need to
learn more spelling rules and memorize words that do not follow the rules.
When reading orally, students are reading what is there, using some voice
expression, and beginning to use the five Mental Actions (Spalding reading
strategies). Sight word recognition has improved. However, six students have
not memorized the reading strategies, and all students need to have continual
practice on applying them when reading all materials in school.
The class is having difficulty finding the main idea of a paragraph, so I need
to model then coach them in the thinking of how to determine a main idea. I am
currently modeling how to find answers to inferential questions and reading
beyond the literal meaning in a story. With half the school year to go,
student growth should increase significantly with these procedures in place. |