How will improving my whole group reading instruction skills improve my first-grade students' reading achievement?

Seminar Title

How will improving my whole group reading instruction skills improve my first-grade students' reading achievement?

Whole group instruction

1st Grade

Elementary

Language Arts

All Disciplines

How can I meet all of my students needs in my classroom, without having twelve different small groups? If you are looking for ways to improve your whole group instruction I am excited to share my learning with you to improve your instruction to meet more of our students needs. The areas of focus will be creating an effective literacy environment for our learners, having our words be explicit when we guide our large group, including differentiation in our whole group lesson plans, and by including fidelity in our whole group lessons. My research evaluates students thoughts and beliefs about their reading, uses an Elements of Literacy checklist, and then looks for student growth based off their FAST Standardized Reading Assessment. My research was conducted in a first-grade classroom, yet the areas of focus are applicable to any content or grade level. Join me for a positive discussion on how to transform your whole group instruction to be more effective and increase your students achievement!

Leaza King Anoka Blended 5 Community lmking16@smumn.edu How will improving my whole group reading instruction skills improve my first-grade students' reading achievement? The question guiding my research is as follows: How will improving my whole group reading instruction skills improve my first-grade students' reading achievement? A review of literature suggested strategies that could improve my whole group reading instruction with my first-grade students. As a result of my review of literature, I chose to focus on 1) the literacy environment of my classroom, 2) explicit instruction, 3) differentiation, 4) and fidelity in my whoel group reading instruction. I used the PRESS Framework created by the University of Minnesota to guide my whole group reading instruction. I requested an Elements of Literacy Environment checklist assessment from my principal using the PRESS Manual to assess my classroom literacy environment. I implemented a whole group reading intervention from PRESS that included explicit instruction. I differentiated my instruction by planning ahead with my lesson, in terms of who to ask which questions and the timing of those questions. My whole group reading instruction has been assesed by my principal using PRESS Fidelity Checks. Through my research, I have learned how to improve my whole group reading instruction so that my students develop better reading strategies, which in turn has improved their reading achievement. I have had my students complete a reading interest survey the second week of school and then again the week before Winter Break, in order to see if my whole group reading instruction strategies have improved their beliefs about their reading skills. I collected my students FAST Standardized Reading Assessment scores from Fall and Winter to compare their reading achievement from before my whole group reading instruction and after my implementation plan. I also collected specific PRESS data on my students' nonsense word fluency using a PRESS skills assessment to look for their growth compared to before and after my whole group implementation plan. As a result of improving my whole group reading instruction I have seen my students' beliefs about reading and their own reading skills positively improve, most of my students' have met their expected growth rate from Fall to Winter benchmaking periods on their FAST Reading Assessment and I have gained important information on what elements of literacy in my classroom that I can further strengthen to support student growth.