Cycle # 1 - Jesse and Nathan's Reading Progress

Exhibit 11

Finally, I am seeing some improvement in independent reading and book club conversation in the past two days. The implementation of the readers checklist and strategy lessons is indeed a helpful tool to get them both on track and somewhat accountable. This is especially evident in Nathan's case. Each day, Nathan gets excited in reading because he wants to find out how he does in reading that day. He readily has his book out and the goal of the day. Although in exhibit 11 (look at top right corner) Nathan is having a hard time sustaining his independent reading in the first attempt (he reads for 4 minutes and needs a drink), he tries harder to focus in his second attempt. The next day, February 28th, he even succeeds in sustaining 15 minutes of uninterrupted reading in one seating (see exhibit 12 below).

Exhibit 12


On the other hand, Jesse shows some improvement in book club reading; his progress is not as blatant as Nathan. A positive note is that with positive reinforcement and encouragement, he is able to set a goal with my support and scaffolding. In one strategy lesson, I show him the importance of setting a goal before reading. On February 27th, Jesse reads in 3 separate intervals (see exhibit 13 below).
Exhibit 13


The next day, February 28th, Jesse shows more blatant improvement in increasing his reading stamina. He was able to read for 10 minutes; 4 more minutes than the day before.

Field Notes and Reflection for February 29, 2008

Click on the image to view field notes.
Exhibit 10


Exhibit 10 is an observation field note that is taken during book buddy session. Even though this session does not illustrate Jesse and Nathan as independent readers, I am still very intrigued by their behavior when reading with younger peers. It is not surprising that Jesse shows limited motivation in reading. He has mentioned in his reading interview (refer to exhibit 5) that he does not enjoy books that are too easy for his level. In today's session, Jesse takes a few restroom breaks and drinking breaks. Getting him to be accountable in being a role model seems to be an uneasy task. However, this is still an interesting experiment to see how he performs during buddy reading.

Contrastingly, Nathan shows immense enthusiasm because his buddy happens to be his little sister. Obviously there is an urgency for Nathan to be responsible by being a role model in front of his sister. They share books together and take turns reading. In his reading interview (refer to exhibit 6), I remember that he mentions that his older brother is the one who reads to him daily. Now that I am aware of Nathan's ability and interest in reading to his younger sibling, I know that I should continue to encourage him to do that at home.

Field Notes and Reflection for February 28, 2008

Click on the image to view field notes.
Exhibit 9
Today, Jesse expresses his detest in book club verbally to the class. This particular comment is no doubt indicative to his reading preference. At one point, Nathan behaves in the similar manner as Jesse. During reading workshop, they both fidget with things around them, or wander their eyes somewhere in the room. My question is, how is it possible to change the structure of reading workshop into an interactive one, as suggested by Taylor and Lorimer (2003) just to suit the learning habits of these two resistant readers? If learning in a whole-class context is a challenge for them both and the majority is adapting the structure proficiently, should I just allow the two boys to get disengaged and pull them back on track during small group strategy lessons? However, this entails ongoing disengagement in whole class discussion, partnership talk, and disconnection to their own reading. What should I do to solve this enigma?

Field Notes and Reflection for February 27, 2008 - Finding out their interests

From this observation in a read aloud session, I can analyze Jesse's behavior as a listener and reader in a more thorough and critical manner. I can advocate that Jesse, seems to be frequently inattentive and unmotivated in various reading activities is in fact, listening and engaging in the character and the plot of the story, Holes by Louis Sachar. When Ms. Jane calls the read aloud session to an end, Jesse shows great disappointment by calling out, "NO!!!!". Ms. Jane then continues to read aloud another book called, The Greedy Triangle , a picture book that connects to their current content study of shapes in math.
Exhibit 8
Jesse shows continuous excitement with the character, Greedy Triangle. Nathan is more or less engaged in the same way as Jesse. His eye contact to Ms. Jane and the pictures of the book is consistent. From this, I can make some assumptions that both of them are attracted by characters that have a 'fun' personality. Stanley, the main character in Holes, is a young boy who always happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time endures multiple mishaps. Perhaps, the two boys do find some similarities between Stanley and themselves. While Greedy Triangle is also a playful character who requests Shape Shaver to help him to get his body shaved and transform him into different shapes. I have a strong feeling that both boys are engaged with these characters because of their typical "boyish" personalities that they find connections to.

Observation and Strategy Lesson # 1

Guided Reading/ Book Club: 3rd grade, two boys - Jesse and Nathan, 02/26/2008 9:25AM

Context: Teacher finished teaching point and students went back to their seats for book club. I picked out a book called The Day I saw Dad Cry and approached to the two boys at the round table in the back of the classroom.

The two boys I worked with today, Jesse and Nathan are the students whom I worked with two weeks ago in the J/K Henry and Mudge book club. Ms. Jane and I have decided that it would be more beneficial for the boys to split up and work with partners during guided reading/ book club. I am sitting between Nathan and Jesse at the round table, and as I was about to begin the book introduction, both of them started to resist reading this particular book, The Day I Saw Dad Cry by Bill Cosby. Jesse expressed to me that he was not a big fan of the Little Bill series, while Nathan was upset because he did not get to work with his friend in the original group. After settling the matters, both of them did not seem happy, but they picked up the book and started reading to themselves. Sadly, I had to stop them because I had planned to give them a strategy lesson. They did not like interruptions. Jesse said in a frustration voice, "but I know how to read this!" And Nathan ignored the comment and continued reading on his own. As a result, I had to take their books away from them and explained to them what a strategy lesson was. They started listening again to my teaching point, which was, "Good readers prepare themselves in guided reading or book club reading by having a good sitting posture and sitting comfortably in their own space." After I have given my "talk", both of them began to read again. Please note the timeline below to see how they did.

9:30
- Jesse reads for a minute and gets distracted by the people around him. He turns around often and does not focus on his reading
9:31
- Jesse is aroused by the pictures in the book and decides to share with Nathan who is sitting across from him
- Nathan responds, “hahaha… he looks funny!”
- Jesse giggles back
9:32
- Jesse and Nathan are reading
- both of them displays engagement and concentration at this time
9:32
- Jesse begins reading aloud to himself
9:34
- Nathan complains Jesse’s read aloud that he is distracting him
- Jesse does not respond, he continues reading aloud
9:35
- both boys are still reading
Nathan is finished with chapter 1 and puts the book down
9:36
- Jesse shows pictures to Nathan and is once again distracted
- Jesses finishes chapter 1 and puts his book down

Putting Strategy Lessons and Good Readers Checklist in ACTION!

Click on the image to view checklist.


In this part of the cycle, I am going to implement the use of strategy lessons and a readers' checklist. I am hoping that these two actions could enhance the boys' motivation and accountability in reading. I am going to put 3 strategy lessons in action, as well as introducing them a 'good readers' checklist'. The checklist is a clearer and more structured tool for the two boys. Based on their daily behavior and reading interview, I realize that both of them more or less dislike too much verbal instruction. Each day, I will be giving them the checklist, and they have to write down their new goal for the day. With the 'good reader's checklist', they will be able to refer to qualities of good reading on their desk. The checklist, which also happens to be a list of teaching points for my strategy lessons can hopefully enhance the boys' accountability in reading by allowing them to see their daily progress and set new goals, thus, increase their motivation level.

Finalizing my Focal Students, and Reflecting on their Reading Interviews

After one and a half weeks of thorough observation of this group of boys' reading behavior, habits and ability during morning work, read aloud, or reader's workshop, I have decided to finalize my two focal students: Jesse and Nathan.

The reasons behind this decision is that (1) Jon is an ELL student; his presence is not relevant to my research question, and (2) I believe that in order to get the boys to be concentrated in reading, there has to be less distractions for them. Having seen them in a big group last week suggests me that these boys need to be divided up and work in partnership so that each of them can focus better during book club or guided reading.

After interviewing Jesse and Nathan, I have learned a lot more about them; my knowledge of these boys are not only limited to their identity as readers, but more holistically as individual learners. Jesse expresses to me that he indeed likes to read, but he is very selective in his readings (see exhibit 6). From this interview, I have come up with some implications: (1) once he is engaged in a book, he likes to reread it as many times. This is why he can be resistant to reading new, unfamiliar books; (2) he likes to read aloud to his mother only. She is perhaps his role model in reading, and he feels comfortable reading to her; and (3) he gets annoyed when he is interrupted during reading, which is probably why he is not enjoying guided reading/ book club or conferring. I think what I need to do next with Jesse is to find some ways to introduce other genres during read aloud, and continue to encourage him to read to his teachers, as well as his siblings at home.
As for Nathan (see exhibit 7), he reacts quite differently in comparison. He also enjoys reading, but he has this negative belief that he thinks he is not a good reader. Although Nathan's behavior does not seem to be failure-avoidant, it is still worthwhile to keep this information on the account just in case this behavior does appear more frequently or more seriously in the future. Another issue that bothers Nathan as a reader is that he is simply turned-off by thick books that have a lot of text. He also expresses his dislikes with Cam Jensen (a mystery series), particularly because of the portrayal of the main character Cam, who seems to know every clue and solution of a mystery. In light of this, I wonder if Nathan's resistance in reading this particular series is due to a female main character who is portrayed as a young girl who is powerful in solving every mystery that she encounters. Bomer and Bomer (2001), describe the different lenses for reading. I am interested in knowing if Nathan is indeed using the "gender lens" to evaluate and critique texts that he reads. I am thinking of introducing different genres with characters whose behavior and action reflect the social norm, and those whose don't. This investigation can help me to find out what genre or type(s)of character can arouse his interest in reading.
For independent and guided reading, I am not sure what I can do at this moment to get him interested in conferring and discussing books with others. Getting him to sit still during reading is indeed a challenge. My next step is definitely to promote the importance of building stamina in reading through various strategy lessons that encourage and positively reinforce the expectations during reading workshop.

February 14 - Observation - J/K Book Club

Guided Reading: Small group (5 students, all boys) 02/14/08, 9:25AM

Context: Teacher finishes teaching point and students go back to their seats for book club. I go over to this particular group to do a guided reading with them. They are reading Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears.

[There is a lot going on today at the school – Mayor’s visit, picture day, and Valentine’s Day celebration in the afternoon]

As I walk over to the group, I see that all five of them are doing different things at their table. Jesse is reading a different book, and Jon and Nathan are sharing one book, but having difficulty focusing (not enough copies), Ken is reading and distracted by people around him, and only Sam is reading and ready to write his thoughts down on post-its.

I first approach to Jesse who is reading a different book and ask him to put it away. He refuses. I have at least spent more than 10 minutes to get him to put the book away and read the guided reading book like the rest of the group. At the meantime, the rest of the group members are arguing about their “goal of the day”. Sam suggests that they should read two chapters by the end of class, while Ken and Nathan disagree. I have to pause my conversation with Jesse at this point, and try to settle the disagreement. At first, none of them listen to me. They keep on telling Sam that they can read more than two chapters. So I suggest that we do a walk-through of the book together and see how many pages are in each chapter, and consider the time we have. Finally, we come to an agreement that we should read two chapters. During reading, I see that Ken and Jon are having trouble sitting still. Ken and Jesse are kicking each other under the desks. Again, I have to stop the whole group and spend some time on settling them down and talking to them about good reading posture and respect of others during independent reading time. After settling this issue, they seem to be disengaged in reading, except for Sam. Eventually, I toss out my original plan with them, and decide to have a group talk about the purpose and structure of guided reading. After the talk, I have the chance to listen to 4 of them read, except Jon because I run out of time. We manage to try out the strategy that my host teacher has taught. They use post-its to jot down their implications about the main character’s feeling and thinking.

Reading Interview - Nathan

I interviewed Nathan in the same structure. Interview questions are as well adapted from Mariotti and Homan (2001).

Exhibit 6
1. Do you like to read? Why or why not?
Yes. Because it has different characters.

2. Are you a good reader? What makes you think so?
No. Because ah… [pause] I don’t write on post-its.

3. If you were going to read a story about sharks/friendship, what would you do first?
A non-fiction book on Sharks – I can write on a post-it and see… [what are you going to write on the post-it?] I will open it and see the instructions and… I will look at the words first.
A fiction book on Friendship – I will go ask a friend to read with me and share the book.

4. What do you do when you come to a word that you do not know? What else do you do?
I will sound it out. And I point to the letter and make the first sound.

5. What do you do when you do not understand what you have read?
I will ask a teacher to help me with what’s happening in the book.

6. Name me some books you are reading at school. And at home.
School – Amber Brown, Junie B. Jones, Little Bill, and Mudge and Henry.
Home – I cannot remember.

7. How much time do you read at home?
20 minutes. [do you stop in between?] No.

8. Do you read with any young siblings, other kids, or parents at home?
My big brother reads to me and I read to my little sister. He reads to me every night.
[Do your parents read to you?] No.
[Do you like it when your big brother reads to you?] Yes.
[Do you pick the books?] No, he picks for me.

9. What do you like to do in your spare time?
Watch TV and play on the computer.

10. What are your favorite TV shows, or movies?
Nickelodean, and umm Charles In 2 and Charles In 3.

11. Are there some things about reading that you enjoy? What are they?
I like the different characters and they tell me, and umm… using dialogue and details for their actions.

12. Are there some things about reading that you don’t like? What are they?
[pause] Like Cam Jensen. Because he always think about what happens in the story. I also don’t like long books or thick books.

13. What kinds of things do you read a lot? What kinds of things do you like to read a lot?
Arthur’s books. Because Arthur is a good kid. And like me, because I am a good kid. And he goes to school like me.

14. What is the best story or book you have ever read?
Mr. Tupper and Tabby. When they go to adventure, they seem to have fun.
[So you like adventure books?] Yes.

15. What would you like to learn to make yourself a better reader?
How to do good with what’s happening in the story. Like jotting stuff down on the post-it. Read… reread the book.

16. What does “reading” mean to you?
Reading is… reading is like you do something and what’s happening in the story, and you are stuck on the word, and you sound it out.

17. Why do people read?
So they get more understanding and learn more things.

Reading Interview - Jesse

The following is a reading interview that I conducted with Jesse. The interview questions is adapted from Mariotti and Homan (2001).

Exhibit 5
1. Do you like to read? Why or why not?
Yes, because it’s so fun!

2. Are you a good reader? What makes you think so?
Yes. I am good at if I have a problem with a word, I will probably sound it out, or skip it and go back to it. Or if I have a problem with a word, my mama taught me that I can take a word and cut the word, like if I see this word [he wrote the sentence ‘first man to be winner’ on a piece of paper. He showed me how he would chunk it and sound out the beginner letter of each word to figure out the whole word] I could cut through, or put a box around the word, and say out the word, and say it all together, and then I ask myself if it sound right.

3. If you were going to read a story about sharks/friendship, what would you do first?
A non-fiction about sharks- First I will read the title, and I will look into the book. First I will look at the book and start to read.
A fiction about friendship- I will try my best to read and read a lot and try to understand it.

4. What do you do when you come to a word that you do not know? What else do you do?
If I see this word [he pointed to another sentence, ‘first man to be a winner’] if I see this sentence, and if I don’t know that, I will cut it right there, and then go figure out the next one [he cut the word ‘first’, and put a box around it. He sounded out each word]. And that’s how I get the answer.

5. What do you do when you do not understand what you have read?
I will like, I will try to figure out what to do. I will like skip it and come back to it.

6. Name me some books you are reading at school. And at home.
At school – [He took out his book bag] Junie B. Jones and Henry and Mudge Take the Big Test, and The great Tie Travel Ride.
Home- It’s about a book… about two little bears and a mama bear and dad bear. I read those a lot. Another book is about junk food. It’s a great book.

7. How much time do you read at home?
About like, I read at home like, 40 minutes.

8. Do you read with any young siblings, other kids, or parents at home?
Sometimes. I have 3 sisters. I don’t read to them though. I read to my mother.

9. Does anyone at home read to you?
My mother… everytime I go sleep, and my mother takes a bible book and read to me about God.

10. What do you like to do in your spare time?
Sports. I will do… when I go home, I will go to my friend’s home and have fun. I would like to be a sports player.

11. What are your favorite TV shows, or movies?
I just love TV! I cannot live without TV. My favorite show is Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Chowder and I got more!

12. Are there some things about reading that you enjoy? What are they?
So… I like to read books. I like a book that… I like the pictures, the writing. Some books have beautiful sentences.

13. Are there some things about reading that you don’t like? What are they?
Some stuff… if I read, and I finish all my books, I don’t feel like reading them again, it makes me very tired and boring.

14. What kinds of things do you read a lot? What kinds of things do you like to read a lot?
I like cartoon books! And all cartoon books, like Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, and Hip Hop Harry. And I don’t like baby books. All the levels, readers book, like F, G, J, K, boring! All boring.

15. What is the best story or book you have ever read?
Amber Brown, Junie B. Jones.

16. What would you like to learn to make yourself a better reader?
Read everyday, and read with my mother.

17. What does “reading” mean to you?
It makes me smarter. Cuz if I go outside, I will know which way to go. If I don’t read, I will be lost.

18. Why do people read?
To be smart.

Field Notes and Reflection for February 12, 2008

Click on the image to view field notes.
Exhibit 4


Based on the observation today (see exhibit 4), I notice that Jesse can be a passive-aggressive learner in a whole class environment. During read aloud, he often wanders around by walking to and fro the water fountain, fidgeting with his headband, and sometimes calling out loud and speaking out of turn in response to text and instructions. Taylor and Lorimer (2003) point out some salient questions in helping boys succeed, namely, 'what lessens boys' motivation and achievement?' When thinking about this in relation to my own research question, I am interested in implementing a remedy that Taylor and Lorimer (2003) refer to, by Grubb (2001), Pollack (1998), and West (2001): that boys respond to learning more effectively when they are given the opportunity and space to move around and manipulate objects. One thing that I am considering to implement is to provide numerous opportunities for interactive activities like role-playing to engage the boys to be active reading participant by raising questions and exploring matters themselves.

Revising my Research Question

After another week of observation, I find out a lot more about this group of students - their learning habits, abilities and behavior toward different types of instructions and structures. I have decided to revise my research question so that it reflects this particular group of students more relevantly. The question I had earlier, 'what are some promising strategies that could help third grade boys who are reluctant readers, to be more involved in reading fictional texts that they find disconnecting to their lives and experiences?' seem too ambitious at this time with this specific group. In addition, the question also underlies a lot of assumptions; 3rd grade reluctant readers who are boys, and who are disconnecting with texts, and who are reading fiction. At this moment, I think it is more appropriate to gear my question toward motivation and stamina.

Revised question: What are some promising strategies that could help third grade boys who are reluctant readers to be motivated in reading, and increase their stamina in reading?

Field Notes and Reflection for February 11, 2008

Click the image to view more clearly.
Exhibit 1

Exhibit 2



Exhibit 4


After observing Ms. Jane’s classroom for a week, I have pre-selected a group of boys whom I am going to work with in my research. This group of boys is all J/K readers, and they meet twice a week for book club/guided reading. Ms. Jane says to me that this particular group needs to do guided reading because a couple of them are at the level where they can carryout book club conversation with limited teacher support. Therefore, she has been doing guided reading with them so that these boys can get more attention and more explicit instruction through modeling, scaffolding, and questioning. These boys are: Sam, Jon, Nathan, Jesse and Ken.

On the side note, I feel that Ms. Jane (host teacher) really sets up her classroom well with reading and writing charts that provide useful information to her students. Her posters are all over the classroom and she even posts some salient teaching points that she has taught in the past on the wall. Charts such as, 'what is a book club?', 'what reading partners do?', and 'what is good book talk?” makes me wonder how often do these energetic boys look at them and practice them when they read. During guided reading today, Ms. Jane and I have spent a large amount of time getting this group to begin reading. As I refer to a piece of interesting fact from the Gurian and Stevens' article (2004), that boys generally have less serotonin and oxytocin; chemicals that allow humans to have the ability to maintain a bonding situation with other human beings. Having this piece of assumption in the back of my head, I am considering how I should approach this group of energetic boys in doing guided reading or book club. A possible strategy is to set them up for conversation by preparing a list of topics and issues before each class so that they receive some degree of structure and scaffolding. Another way is to break the big group into partnerships so that they have less attention for each other; each of them will only have to pay attention to what his partner says and respond to him.

In exhibit 1, and 2, Jesse is showing some unmotivated behavior during guided reading with Emily (a staff developer). Nathan, as well as other boys in the group are not in the mood to reread a section as requested by Emily. From this incident, my inference for such behavior is that this group of boys does not enjoy structured learning; where they are told to do things that are repetitive and 'boring'. Group reading may be factor that hinders that motivation and stamina in reading. Exhibit 4, on the other hand, describes Nathan's interest in reading magazine and Arthur series. This tells me that in order to elevate this group of students' motivation and stamina in reading, I should provide them a variety of reading materials for them to choose from, and break away from traditional guided reading structure (groupings, instruction, and materials).

Thinking aloud - What is my research question?

My research question for this project is, what are some promising strategies that could help third grade boys who are reluctant readers, to be more involved in reading fictional texts that they find disconnecting to their lives and experiences? The reason behind this inquiry is that back in our October meeting when I had an opportunity to begin thinking and generating ideas around the topic of Critical Literacy, I recalled many lingering questions and topics that I always care about ever since I started teaching. As I remember some of the challenging moments and students I have encountered, I began to write down topics like boys and literacy, literacy and technology, getting ADHD/ADD students to read, and literacy and art. As I was discussing and sharing these topics with my colleagues, I found that I was more engaged in telling the story of the reluctant male readers. I believed that this is the topic that perplexed me the most since getting boys to read fictional texts has always been a hurdle for me. My colleagues also suggested me that I could possibly focus on three different genres of fictional texts for each cycle: narrative, fantasy and historical. One of my colleagues also shared an article by Barnett and Rivers called Gender Myths and the Education of Boys, which has inspired me to look at this issue with a different set of lens, namely the remedial strategies in creating effective and positive learning environment for all students. Some other useful resources are some notes I have taken in one of the NCTE workshops called Boy’s Writing and Their Literacy Lives, and other empirical articles and a book called Boys and Literacy written by Maynard. Through this investigation, I will be looking thoroughly and specifically at the cultural aspect of Critical Literacy in a third grade classroom in Harlem.