A Special DVD Homework Project To Assist At Risk Students with Reading Practice

Introduction Kathy Kronemeyer Work at a Reading First School Andrew Jackson Indio, California First Grade Teacher Taught for 40 years

Project This is a special project that will create a DVD that students can take home to use as homework practice on the skills that are being covered in the Houghton Mifflin Reading. The DVD will cover Spelling, High Frequency Words, Vocabulary, and Grammar skills.

Participants in Project The participants in this study are first graders. The students are 5 and 6 years old. They are Hispanic students who are classified as at-risk students. These students are identified by the school district testing. An at-risk student is one who receives a level 1, 2, or 3 on the CELDT (California English Language Development Test) a 1, 2,or 3 on the district benchmark reading test The students are from my classroom. Parents signed a paper to insure their willingness to have their child in the program.

Literature Review Introduction The discussion in this literature review will focus on the need to provide at risk students with options to practice at home the skills that they are covering in the state adopted Houghton Mifflin reading series.

Literature Review Challenges created by No Child Left Behind. Concerns with homework. Providing parent training and extra practice time for students Advantages in using technology for reading. Examples of using technology for reading.

Challenges Created By No Child Left Behind No Child Left Behind has created a high-stakes testing atmosphere that places the need for extra practice for students who are considered to be at-risk.

Concerns With Homework It is believed that homework is a way to give at-risk students more time to practice content reading skills. These students need support and if training is given to the parents then a greater child parent interaction needed to support these students will be present.

Advantages in Using Technology for Reading Paivio (1971), in his research on dual coding theory, discusses how embedded multimedia, which contains both verbal and visual content, gives learners multiple pathways to retention and comprehension of new material.

Advantages in Using Technology for Reading William Kist (2006) discusses a need to create new literacy classrooms that integrates multimedia into the program. The onslaught of new communication tools demonstrate a need for a new look at literacy development. Kist (2004) expresses the positive results that are achieved when students are able to use multimedia tools to express what they have learned, and desire to teach to others in their classroom.

Advantages in Using Technology for Reading Students reap the benefits by continued practice of the material to be covered while they practice for the final DVD they are creating. Kist explained all media would be evidenced in student reading and writing and that this would occur across the curriculum. He also stresses how each educator would have a place to create their own multimedia projects to use with their classrooms.

Examples of Using Technology for Reading The National Reading Panel stated that students who have an inadequate beginning seldom ever catch up. Sesame Street and Between the Lions are two programs that are able to reach all aspects of society and provide the young children with stimuli that would enable them to become readers. Linebarger stresses the need for more multimedia programs like Sesame Street and Between the Lions to assist students in acquiring the skills they need to be successful readers.

Decisions for the DVD I looked in the teacher’s manual to see which spelling, vocabulary, high frequency words, and grammar skills were focused on in this theme. I checked the California Standards and the blueprint for release questions to determine which standards were deemed to be the most important.

Creating the DVD I chose different programs to create each of the skills lessons in. I used a Sony DSC-H9 Camera to take the photos. Most of the pictures are mine. I used Adobe Photoshop Elements to edit the photos I took. I used Microsoft Power Point, Photostory, and Movie Maker to create the different programs for each skill.

Spelling, High Frequency Words, and Vocabulary Spelling is a highly tested item. With the spelling I hope to have the students learn to spell the words as well as read them. Learning the high frequency words enables the students to read faster. Understanding the meaning of words is essential to the comprehension of the stories.

trap trap trap

High Frequency Words

Vocabulary Theme 3 Week 1 Seasons

Grammar The students need to understand that a complete sentence has a naming word and an action word. The students need to learn that a naming word is a noun and an action word is a verb. Students need to learn the skill of adding an ‘s’ to a word to make it plural.

Read each of the sentences by the arrows. Next click on the arrow by the sentence you think is the right one. Click on the to come back to the slide. Am I A Complete Sentence?

Read the sentence and choose the sentence that is a complete sentence. Got a flower pot. Dan a flower pot. Dan got a flower pot. 1

Nouns

Verbs

Plurals

Pretest Students have been given a pretest in each of the areas to use as a beginning score. The High Frequency Word test is given 1 on 1. The rest of the tests are pencil and paper tests.

Post Test and Surveys Students will be given a post test after they have finished viewing the DVD. A comparison between the pre and post assessments will be used to decide the effectiveness of the program. Interviews of the students and parents on the use of the DVD and their opinions will also be used to decide the effectiveness of the program

Process Parents attended a training meeting on how to use the DVD with their child. They signed forms indicating that they would watch the DVD with their child every night. Students take the DVD home and watch it every night for a week. Fluency instructions and a worksheet with timer is on the student’s video. They will practice the fluency words nightly. Their parents will watch it with them to learn ways to help their child. A discussion of the results will be discussed with the parents at Family Conferences.