TARGETED QUESTIONING
ACTION PLAN
WHAT WAS IMPLEMENTED?
Within my classroom, I conducted an hour-long guided reading block each day. There were 19 students in my class, which allowed me to craft four reading groups with five or fewer students. The small groups were created according to the Measures of Academic Progress scores and Fountas and Pinnell's Leveling System. According to Fountas and Pinnell’s Leveling System, students in group one were reading below the grade-level reading expectation, groups two and three were approaching or on target, and group four exceeded grade level expectation. During my guided reading instruction, I implemented targeted questioning using research I found during my literature review. Targeted questioning allowed me to differentiate instruction according to students’ individual reading levels and needs. I preplanned six questions for each group to practice various reading skills and improve reading comprehension. I crafted questions with the Fountas and Pinnell Reading Continuum. The questions focused on before, during, or after reading and were leveled as within, beyond, or about the text. Each set of questions had preplanned answers to determine the direction of the conversation and plan for errors. Each meeting session allowed students to practice reading skills such as activating background knowledge, making predictions, drawing conclusions, summarizing, and making connections with the text. I planned questions that were tailored to meet these expectations and foster reading comprehension skills targeted to the students' needs.
WHY WAS TARGETED QUESTIONINGÂ IMPLEMENTED, AND HOW WAS IT BEST FOR THE POPULATION?
Reading comprehension is a crucial skill students need in order to succeed in our society. Students need the ability to decode and comprehend texts at varying levels of difficulty. The students need to be able to detect the true meaning of any written text. All but one of my students showed the ability to decode words during their Fountas and Pinnell Leveling Assessment. All but five of my students successfully identified answers for within the text questions. However, most of my students struggled with about the text questions and beyond the text questions. After identifying the need for improvements, I focused my research on deepening my students' comprehension abilities. During my research, I found four reoccurring themes: positive peer interactions, student-developed questions in a flipped classroom, higher level thinking questions, and targeted questions. Targeted questioning was my main research practice chosen because it allowed the teacher to be in control of differentiating the questions within, above, and beyond the text. The teacher can identify misconceptions throughout the reading and assist students in gaining new reading skills. I encouraged aspects of positive peer interactions and higher level thinking questions throughout targeted questioning. With these skills, I was able to have a clear depiction of each student's responses and level of comprehension.
Out of the 19 students in my classroom, nine of my students were reading below the fiftieth percentile on the Measures of Academic Progress Test, and four of those nine were not reading on grade level. All but one of those nine students excelled in accuracy and fluency according to the Fountas and Pinnell Leveling System. However, all of them struggled with identifying answers to deeper comprehension questions. With this in mind, I needed to find a strategy in which my students could transfer reading skills from one text to another. They received more exposure to higher level thinking questions and were encouraged to use their reading skills throughout a passage.
HOW WERE DIVERSE LEARNING NEEDS ADDRESSED?
Throughout my class, I had various reading levels and abilities. To ensure that I met the needs of all my students, I assessed them with the Fountas and Pinnell Leveling System and Measures of Academic Progress testing. Using this data, I strategically separated each group into four guided reading groups. Each group was provided with an instructional leveled text each time we met. My smallest group contained three students that did not meet the reading expectation for fourth grade. This group is named group one. I met with this group five times a week, with four of those times being 15 minutes and one session lasting 30Â minutes. I differentiated instruction with this group to add extra support with word skill strategies and within the text questions. Although this group needed practice with all three types of questioning, I mainly focused on within the text questions. Since they struggled with identifying content within the text, they needed to master these questions first and then move to higher level thinking questions. This group also had two students that received 30 minutes of reading intervention four times a week with our district-wide reading specialist. The third student went to the special education teacher for 30 minutes every day for reading instruction. Groups two and three had students who were approaching or meeting the reading expectation for fourth grade according to the Fountas and Pinnell Leveling System. I met with both groups five times a week for 15 minutes each. Both groups had five students each. Groups two and three needed the most support with about and beyond text questions according to their benchmark. Three of the students struggled with within the text questions, but the rest of the students in each group needed more support with beyond and about the text questions. My final group, group four, exceeded the reading expectation for fourth grade. I met with these five students four times a week for 15 minutes. For their fifth day, they went to an advanced reading group. Although this group did well, these students still needed some extra support with beyond the text and about the text reading questions. The questions were targeted and designed to meet the needs of each individual student and their areas of growth. I provided books at the students' instructional level for each group. My book selections ensured that I presented students with a text that could activate prior knowledge.
ACTION PLAN CALENDAR
CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PRACTICES
Fostered Equity
In order to create an equitable and accessible learning environment, I kept high expectations for all students. I actively differentiated instruction to meet the needs and levels of the students within each group and created attainable goals for them. I met the students at their instructional level by strategically choosing texts within their reading levels. Each group was held accountable to have high participation in discussion. I used targeted questioning to get a diverse range of levels from each group. For example, I ensured that each student practiced questions that improved their individual reading comprehension without causing them to struggle. These questions were within their level, whether it was within, about, or beyond the text questioning. These strategies were modeled and practiced for all students to allow them to understand the process and be prepared to reach the goal of answering targeted questions correctly.
To accurately differentiate, I only met with my group four readers four times a week instead of five because they were above the reading expectation for fourth grade according to Fountas and Pinnell. Group two and three met with me five times a week because I wanted to ensure they stayed within grade level expectations while improving their about and beyond the text answers. In contrast to this, group one had the most targeted instruction because they did not meet the reading expectation for fourth grade. These students needed more of my attention to foster their learning and improve their reading skills, while groups two, three, and four could be successful during more independent work time.
Fostered Accessibility
Students in my classroom have accessibility to texts that they find interesting. I promoted interest for each text by activating prior knowledge and allowing them to relate their own lives to the book. Students had more choice with the books they read, as long as it met their instructional reading level. Students were also invited to ask questions about the topic and predict the text’s content. With reading levels easily defined, I was able to provide the opportunity for students to bring choice and interest into the small group texts. I also was continuously aware of my students' cultural background and understanding of a topic prior to actually reading the text.
Supported Multiple Perspectives
As a culturally responsive teacher, I provided students with the opportunity to discuss a text from a variety of perspectives and cultures. The beginning of the year was used to build relationships with each student and build a deeper understanding of my expectations for them. Social skills were a vital aspect of building classroom culture. Guided reading discussions were known to be a place where students received multiple perspectives by actively discussing their individual ideas and opinions about a text. Conversations between students were monitored to ensure that it was a supportive social climate for students to voice their individual opinions. I encouraged students to use their social skills by thanking one another for sharing and respectfully agreeing or disagreeing with a text. The invitation to the discussion was also used to help students deepen their understanding of the text and one another.
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COLLABORATION
Internal & External Stakeholders
Discussion with multiple stakeholders about action research was needed to meet the needs of the students in the classroom. Resources in my building played a vital role in the process of conducting my research. I actively discussed the progress and process with internal stakeholders, such as my principal, teaching partners, and building specialists. My principal was informed of and observed my study multiple times throughout the six-week process. We discussed the ways targeted questioning was affecting the students’ progress. My team members and I held weekly meetings to discuss how guided reading instruction was conducted in our classrooms. We discussed engaging in higher level questions, standards being assessed, and assessment strategies. I shared my students’ progress with my teaching partners during our Professional Learning Community meetings. I observed a guided reading group taught by our reading specialist within the building and discussed strategies she implemented before, during, and after reading. Since one of my students had an Individualized Educational Plan for reading, I met with the special education teacher in our building to discuss recent strengths and weaknesses in the student, so I could gain insight on skills she believed I should focus on.
The CADRE community also played a role in my ability to successfully conduct research. The CADRE professors helped guide me to ensure that I was studying research practices that would accurately depict my purpose statement and teaching strategies. CADRE classmates helped me make important decisions, such as potential research topics and choosing triangulated data points. My CADRE associate was essential throughout the process. In the beginning, I met with her to discuss the individual needs of my students and brainstormed potential areas of growth within my teaching. The conversations held between the two of us helped guide me to my purpose statement. Along with my principal, I also informed the Elementary Instructional Coach of the purpose of my study and how it was going to affect day to day instruction. Parents remained informed of my study throughout the process. Prior to the start of the action research, I informed them that I would be conducting research in the classroom to help students' reading comprehension. Then, I updated them about their individual student’s growth during parent-teacher conferences. Finally, students' progress was documented on report cards for the parents to see.