ira 2007sharon delgado & julie honeycutt1 guys read/gals read after-school book clubs to improve...
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IRA 2007 Sharon Delgado & Julie Honeycutt 1
Guys Read/Gals Read
After-School Book ClubsTo Improve Reading Fluency
Sharon DelgadoJulie Honeycutt
Baltimore County Public [email protected] [email protected]
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Guys Read/Gals ReadAfter School Books
Clubs
Who We Are• Study Group Of K-5
Teachers
• Jacksonville Elementary School Baltimore County, MD
21131
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Guys Read/Gals ReadAfter School Books
Clubs
Our Teacher Research Project
Supported By
NEA Learning &
Leadership Grant
SoMIRAC Teacher-
Researcher Grant
Ongoing…
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Teacher Research Team Hypothesis
Gender Specific materials (books) and activities (stressed vs. non-stressed) will have a positive effect on student performance.
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Data Collection: Our Two Instruments Evolved
Teacher Instrument Collected data about student “engagement” as
indicated by observable behaviors, i.e., eye contact, asking/answering
questions, piggy-backing on peers’ responses
Student Instrument Collected students’ reactions to the club activities and materials.
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Data Collection: On the Instruments Students:
Gave individual feedback regarding stressed/non-stressed activities
Used a PIN numbers to ensure confidentiality
Responded after each activity Wrote individual comments Starred favorite activity
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Book Selection Criteria
Research suggested certain gender preferences Boys prefer informational
text; regarding fiction, they prefer narrative with strong active plots and characters
Girls prefer narrative texts that explore relationships between characters
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3rd Grade Book Choices A Child’s Visit to Glacier Bay
(informational text; female main character)
Class Clown (humorous fiction; male main character )
Cam Jansen: The Snowy Day Mystery (mystery; female main character)
Sir Lancelot, Where are You? (historical fiction; male main character)
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4th Grade Book Choices
Stone Fox (Realistic Fiction; Male Protagonist)
How to Eat Fried Worms (Humorous Fiction; Male main characters)
Music of the Dolphins (Adventure; Female main character)
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Why Did We Focus on Stress vs. Non-Stress?
Recent research studies indicate that boys & girls respond differently to stress. For example, Leonard Sax, MD PhD states, “A competitive approach may enhance learning in many boys and impair learning in some girls.” Why Gender Matters, 2005
Thus, we designed our activities to test Sax’s theory. We wanted to discover if his findings had REAL implications for the teaching/learning process in the classroom.
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Student Activities Selection: Focus On Stress vs. Non-Stress
STRESSED Activities Included:
*Competition *Timed Answers *Response Limited to First Correct Answer *Only a few big prize winners
* Opportunity for Vertical Thinking
NON-STRESSED Activities Included:
*Multiple answers*No time restraints*Team approach
*No consequences for errors
*Many small prize winners
*Opportunity for
Horizontal Thinking
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Activities – Stressed Much?
Fly-swatter Game Computer
Competition Memory Game Dare to Eat Sled Race Food Alphabet Game
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Non-Stressed Activities – Chill Out Already!
Open-Ended Discussions Scrapbook Page Word Searches Visualization withMusic Teacher Read-Aloud Choose Your Own Ending Surveys “Reading” Pictures
Instead of Words
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Results of The Study
Although we had hoped to do a true Experimental Investigation, we realized the subjective nature of the study leaned toward Ethnographic Research. We endeavored to collect hard data that could readily be measured. Our study did reveal patterns that proved to be pertinent to what we do in the classroom.
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Findings -So What?
Did our Hypothesis (Gender Specific materials and activities will have a positive effect on student performance.) hold true?
Girls seemed to prefer:
leading their own discussions
“piggybacking” on others’ ideas as they were looking for meaning in the text
activities involving connecting relationships
Boys seemed to prefer:
fast activities with immediate feedback
action and physical movement
thinking quickly providing limited to the
point answers
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Our research continues….
This year our Book Clubs Continue to be Gender Specific Continue to include a variety of
discussion strategies Continue to include stressed & non-
stressed activities Ask students to commit to one
book instead of three books. Are open to Grade Two & Five
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For References, Sample Instruments, and Additional
InformationEmail:
[email protected]@bcps.org