Reflection

Successes

Implementing a strategy that can be adapted to the student's instructional level.
Increasing the student's knowledge of answering reading comprehension questions.
Introducing a strategy that can be generalized across content areas.
The QAR strategy helped students show growth for their IEP goals.

Challenges

Missing 7 instructional days due to weather, breaks, and test days. Many of these days were not in a row therefore I had to spend many days reviewing and reteaching content.
Teaching the strategy to students with different instructional levels at the same time. It made it more difficult to give specific examples because each student was reading a different book.
Reading groups being at the end of the day therefore behavioral issues were increased.

Collaboration

In order to create an effective plan for student learning, I collaborated with multiple experienced educators. Throughout the study, I was in constant communication with my grade level teammates and associate. It was vital I stayed in communication with my grade level teammates because we are co-teaching the students. Together we were able to determine the instructional needs of the students as well as analyze what was working and what wasn't. My associate helped me gather resources and meet with the students individually when needed. Outside of the school building, I was able to communicate with my college professors for ideas on differentiation and scaffolding. With the collaboration of these professionals, I was able to create, implement, and reflect on the impact of this study.

New Learning

This action research has taught me more about explicitly teaching reading comprehension and its importance for students. My biggest takeaway from the research was the importance of scaffolding the strategy. The students first needed to understand how to answer "In the Book" questions before they can answer "In my Head" questions. I also learned the complexity of reading comprehension. Many students were able to retell the story and its events but were unable to specially tell me who and when the story took place. I learned that we need to teach the students how to use and understand what the information they read is actually telling them.

Impact

This project has helped me grow as an educator by teaching me reflective practices. Each step of the way, I was learning and adjusting my practice to promote student outcomes. I think this process showed me how every experience is valuable in the learning process. There were some days where students were not understanding the concept. I either had to react at the moment or had to step back and reflect after the lesson. There were also days where what I was teaching just clicked with the student. Taking the time to think about what is going right and what is a struggle is how I continue to learn and grow.

Changes

If I were to conduct this research study again there are a few changes I would make. First, I would like to implement these category questions earlier in the year. This would help build the foundation for reading comprehension in my small group as well as other content areas. I would also spend more time on "In the Book" questions. I feel this category is more beneficial for their instructional level based on weeks 3 and 4 data. I also learned that in each category there are multiple skills I could teach. For example, the "In the Book" subcategory "Right There" touches on who, what, where, when, why, and how questions. I could spend multiple weeks teaching each question stem and how to find the answer and what that means. I think choosing individual categories and subcategories for my students would be a more individualized approach. I would also be interested in implementing this strategy consistently with one genre rather than alternating genres weekly. For example, when teaching the question stems it was confusing for the student to alternate because fiction and nonfiction text are very different. I would like to teach it in one genre then the other genre and see if that impacts the student's growth.

Moving Forward

Next year, I plan to take all that I learned from this action research into my teaching. I will continue to research and find evidence-based practices to implement with my students. In my study, I found that differentiated reading groups based on instructional level and goals were vital. This allowed me to meet the students at their level and create appropriate lessons. Lastly, being a reflective practitioner was very beneficial for my students. Not all strategies and approaches worked for all the students. Next year I will be moving from teaching intermediate grades to primary grades. I look forward to taking my knowledge of the strategy and implementing it with younger students. Based on what I've learned, in the primary grade we will focus more on the "In the Book" category questions. Overall, I will continue using this strategy and being a reflective practitioner to be the best I can be for my students.