Effects of Read-Aloud on Reading Achievement

Laura Thompson

Title 1 Reading Teacher

First Grade

Forrest W. Hunt Elementary

Rutherford County

Background

• To assist in reaching a diverse group of students, I want to use a variety of instructional strategies.

• I decided to study the effects of read-aloud as an effective instructional strategy.

Background• The National Reading Panel (2000) found that first graders who

were given phonics instruction showed improvement in their ability to decode, spell and comprehend text. The research also shows that fluency is an important component of reading comprehension. Increased vocabulary knowledge impacts the development of reading skills and is crucial in reading aloud where it can be learned incidentally in context.

• In Becoming a Nation of Readers (1985), the Commission on Reading emphasizes the importance of reading aloud to children. They found that reading aloud builds the knowledge required for success in reading and that the benefits are even greater when the child is actively engaged in the lesson, learning and talking about the letters and words. Reading aloud to students draws their interest toward reading and provides a model of good oral reading.

• Henry Blok (1999) presents in his article a meta-analysis of reading aloud at school based on ten studies. He found that “reading to smaller groups and younger children results in stronger effects.” He also found stronger effects of read-aloud in studies with trained teachers as well as in those in which the books were carefully chosen.

Research Question

• What effect does reading books aloud to students have on their overall reading achievement?– Achievement includes phonics, word

recognition, comprehension, fluency and attitude toward reading.

• 5 Title I students– 3 girls, 2 boys– First grade, age 6– 3 Caucasian, 1 African American, 1 Hispanic– 80% Free/Reduced lunch

• This group visits the Reading Lab from

1:30 – 2:00 each day.

MethodParticipants

• I read books aloud to students for 30 minutes a day 2-3 days a week.

• Books were selected using the following:– Caldecott Award list– The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease– Appropriate holiday and seasonal books– Emphasis on specific instructional skill

MethodIntervention/Instruction Procedures

• I implemented four instructional strategies:– Highlighting in a big book or on a chart– Highlighting on individual sheets featuring

quoted text from the book– Interactive Reading– Guided Reading lesson

• I also included some read-aloud books for enjoyment and entertainment each week.

MethodIntervention/Instruction Procedures

• Highlighting in a big book or on a chart– Is Your Mama a Llama by Deborah Guarino – Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell

• After reading the story, students found and highlighted specific high frequency words and beginning consonants on the big book or chart.

MethodIntervention/Instruction Procedures

• Highlighting on individual sheets featuring quoted text from the book– The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt– Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

• After reading the story, students found and highlighted specific high frequency words and beginning and ending consonants.

MethodIntervention/Instruction Procedures

• Interactive Reading– Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox– The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of

Anything by Linda Williams

• After reading the story, students participated in a second reading by taking the part of a character or acting out the motions.

MethodIntervention/Instruction Procedures

• Guided Reading Lesson– Storm is Coming by Heather Tekavec– Duck on a Bike by David Shannon

• After reading the story, I conducted a guided reading lesson on a leveled book pertaining to the same topic.

MethodIntervention/Instruction Procedures

• Enjoyment/Entertainment– In a Dark Dark Room and Other Scary Stories by

Alvin Schwartz – Shake Dem Halloween Bones by W. Nikola-Lisa – A Dark, Dark Tale by Ruth Brown– Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber– Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very

Bad Day by Judith Viorst– Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak– The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon

Scieszka

MethodIntervention/Instruction Procedures

• Phonics– Weekly informal assessments

• Alphabet• Initial Sounds• Final Consonant Sounds• Consonant Blends and Digraphs

• Word Recognition– Pre and post SORT-R3 scores– Weekly informal assessments

• Rutherford County Kindergarten Words• Rutherford County First Grade Words• 100 Instant Words

MethodData Collection

• Comprehension– Pre and post Running Record retell accuracy– Anecdotal notes from observation

• Fluency– Pre and post fluency test counting words per minute

• Interest– Pre and post student interest inventory– Anecdotal notes from observations

MethodData Collection

• After completing weekly assessments, I entered data on each student’s Reading Lab Personalized Education Plan.

• I filed assessments categorically.

• I entered all quantitative data into bar graphs to show the amount and frequency of growth.

• I used anecdotal notes to determine revisions for lesson planning.

MethodData Analysis

• The students showed growth in all assessed areas of phonics.

ResultsPhonics

50.8 52

15.6

26

9.8

15

4.6

11.2

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

Alphabet Intial Sounds Ending Sounds Blends/Digraphs

9/25/2006 11/7/2006

• The students showed growth in all assessed areas of word recognition.

ResultsWord Recognition

23.4

26

02468

101214161820222426

Kindergarten

9/25/2006 11/7/2006

27

54.8

05

1015202530354045505560657075

First Grade

9/25/2006 11/7/2006

42.2

60

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

100 Instant Words

9/25/2006 11/7/2006

• Students showed growth on Running Record assessments including their ability to adequately retell the story.

ResultsComprehension

5

7

01

01

2

4

01

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Ru

nn

ing

Rec

ord

Lev

el

AS JE KR MR SM

9/7/2006 11/7/2006

• The oral reading fluency of all students improved.

ResultsFluency

44

66

22

56

11

34

15

3036

55

05

1015202530354045505560657075

wp

m

AS JE KR MR SM

9/26/2006 11/7/2006

• All students had a positive attitude toward reading and being read to.• Instruction did not negatively affect their attitude.

ResultsAttitude Toward Reading

0

1

2

3

4

5

Nu

mb

er o

f S

tud

ents

Loves Likes Kind of Likes Does not Like

Do you like for someone to read to you?

Sept. 2006 Nov. 2006

• Reading aloud to children is an appropriate strategy for improving reading achievement.

• Teachers need to use diverse strategies to teach the same skill.

• Every student responds differently to various methods of instruction.

• Schools need to be open to the use of multiple instructional strategies.

• Reading aloud is appropriate for all students at all grade levels.

Discussion

• I plan to incorporate reading aloud as an instructional strategy.

• I would like to explore what percentage of my instructional time should be spent using the read-aloud strategy.

• I plan to continue to monitor the progress of this group of students to see if their rate of achievement changes as I decrease the intensity of the strategy.

Future Direction

• Anderson, R.C., Hiebert, E.H., Scott, J.A., & Wilkinson, I.A.G. (1985). Becoming a Nation of Readers: The report of the

Commission on Reading. Washington, DC: National Institute of Education.

• Blok, H. (1999). Reading to Young Children in Educational Settings: A Meta-Analysis of Recent Research. Language Learning, 49(2),

343- 371.• National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report

of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

• Nelley, E., & Smith, A. (2002). Rigby PM Benchmark Kit. Barrington, IL: Rigby.

• Slosson, R. (2002). Slosson Oral Reading Test (Rev. ed.). East Aurora, NY: Slosson Educational Publications, Inc.

• Trelease, J. (2006). The Read-Aloud Handbook. (5th ed.). New York: Penguin Books.

References

• Brown R. (1981). A Dark Dark Tale. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.• Fox, M. (1998). Hattie and the Fox. New York: Bradbury Press.• Guarino, D. (1989). Is Your Mama a Llama? New York: Scholastic Inc. • Henkes, K. (1996). Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. New York: Greenwillow Books.• Howitt, M. (2002). The Spider and the Fly. New York: Scholastic Inc.• Lovell, P. (2001). Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon. New York: Scholastic Inc.• Nikola-Lisa, W. (1997). Shake Dem Halloween Bones. New York: Scholastic Inc.• Schwartz, A. (1984). In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories. New York:

Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.• Scieszka, J. (1989). The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! New York: Scholastic Inc.• Sendak, M. (1963). Where the Wild Things Are. New York: Scholastic Inc.• Shannon, D. (2002). Duck on a Bike. New York: Scholastic Inc.• Tekavec, H. (2002). Storm Is Coming. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.• Viorst, J. (1972). Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. New

York: Scholastic Inc.• Waber, B. (1972). Ira Sleeps Over. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.• Williams, L. (1986). The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. New York:

Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.

ReferencesRead-Aloud Books