The problem
The problem is 1st grade students at Cedaredge Elementary School have a difficult time retaining information from lessons taught, particularly lessons in reading, writing and mathematics. The data in the picture below shows first grade student scores on a DIBELS Middle of the Year (MOY) reading assessment.
The problem is 1st grade students at Cedaredge Elementary School have a difficult time retaining information from lessons taught, particularly lessons in reading, writing and mathematics. The data in the picture below shows first grade student scores on a DIBELS Middle of the Year (MOY) reading assessment.
![Picture](/uploads/8/6/0/0/86003868/dibels-moy-data_orig.jpg)
The DIBELS assessment has five sections:
1. Clear Letter Sounds (CLS): Saying the correct sound for each letter.
2. Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF- WWR): Reading a word fluently without sounding it out.
3. DORF Fluency (DORF-FLU), How many words read in a passage-timed for 1 minute.
4. DORF Accuracy (DORF-ACC), How many correct words read in a passage-timed for 1 minute.
5. DORF Retell (DORF-RETELL), How many words said in a re-tell of the passage-timed for 1 minute.
*I will be analyzing data for DORF Fluency and DORF Accuracy only. (This data is under the DORF Flu. and DORF Acc. on the chart to the right.)
The cumulative score is derived by a color:
Red= Intensive (Likely to need intensive support)
Yellow=Strategic (Likely to need strategic support)
Green= Benchmark (At grade level- Likely to need core support)
The cumulative reading scores in the MOY DIBELS Benchmark assessment, showed six intensive students (red), one strategic student (yellow), and eleven benchmark students (green). Even though the cumulative score states a student is intensive, strategic or benchmark, I need to analyze the data even further to figure out where the deficiencies lie. For example there are 11 students at "benchmark," however four of those students have not met the benchmark score for DORF Fluency or DORF Accuracy.
28% of students have not met benchmark in "NWF CLS," which is Clear Letter Sounds.
12% of students have not met benchmark in "NWF WWR" which is Whole Words Read.
50% of students have not met benchmark in DORF Fluency and DORF accuracy.
This a problem because the data tells me that half of the students are below proficient in the DIBELS reading assessment. At the end of the year benchmark, all students should be reading at a first grade level. This is where my capstone project started to unfold.
Think about when you were first learning how to read...there's actually a lot to it! In Kindergarten, students are learning letter names, and sounds for those letters. By the end of Kindergarten they are starting to decode and segment words, which means being able to use visual, syntactic, or semantic cues to make meaning from words and sentences. On top of that there are over 200 sight words that don't follow any spelling pattern, that the students just need to know by sight. Feeling overwhelmed? Let's continue... Being able to decode words is crucial for beginning readers. Decoding isn’t just about sounding out words. It involves taking apart the sounds in a word, which is called, segmenting, and then blending those sounds together. Working on word recognition helps a child become a faster, more fluent reader, which is the goal. Students need to know how to segment words and break them apart. Students with specific reading challenges may need more specialized instruction.
This is complicated stuff for students who come to school and their favorite part of the day is recess! With all the information students need to know in the first few months of first grade, it poses a pretty big challenge. Knowing your students and building relationships everyday, is part of the end goal of student achievement. Motivating and encouraging them to love school is a big part factor in the big picture. In conducting research this year on how music, movement and the brain all work together, I have noted a few very important questions to ask yourself in order to reach success: Are they happy? Are they engaged? Do they want to learn? When teachers and students make an emotional connection to the subject matter, it increases the student's intrinsic motivation. When a teacher believes in them, the students make that emotional connection and it increases their self-efficacy. When a student is bored, stressed, threatened or disconnected, not much learning takes place (Whitman, Kelleher, 2016).
"Mistakes are a great way to learn!" This is a sign I have hanging in my room, as I refer to it on a daily basis. This is a very true statement when it comes to learning. Getting things wrong is a key part of memory formation. Learning, true learning, may take a while and giving students that repetitive practice as well as giving students the space in order to do it. (Whitman, Kelleher, 2016). See my action research to find out what happened when repetitive music and movements are entwined with learning and the brain.
References:
Willis, J. (2007). Review of Research: Brain-Based Teaching Strategies for Improving Students' Memory, Learning, and Test-Taking Success. Childhood Education, 83(5), 310-315.
Whitman, G., & Kelleher, I. (2016). Neuroteach: brain science and the future of education. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
1. Clear Letter Sounds (CLS): Saying the correct sound for each letter.
2. Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF- WWR): Reading a word fluently without sounding it out.
3. DORF Fluency (DORF-FLU), How many words read in a passage-timed for 1 minute.
4. DORF Accuracy (DORF-ACC), How many correct words read in a passage-timed for 1 minute.
5. DORF Retell (DORF-RETELL), How many words said in a re-tell of the passage-timed for 1 minute.
*I will be analyzing data for DORF Fluency and DORF Accuracy only. (This data is under the DORF Flu. and DORF Acc. on the chart to the right.)
The cumulative score is derived by a color:
Red= Intensive (Likely to need intensive support)
Yellow=Strategic (Likely to need strategic support)
Green= Benchmark (At grade level- Likely to need core support)
The cumulative reading scores in the MOY DIBELS Benchmark assessment, showed six intensive students (red), one strategic student (yellow), and eleven benchmark students (green). Even though the cumulative score states a student is intensive, strategic or benchmark, I need to analyze the data even further to figure out where the deficiencies lie. For example there are 11 students at "benchmark," however four of those students have not met the benchmark score for DORF Fluency or DORF Accuracy.
28% of students have not met benchmark in "NWF CLS," which is Clear Letter Sounds.
12% of students have not met benchmark in "NWF WWR" which is Whole Words Read.
50% of students have not met benchmark in DORF Fluency and DORF accuracy.
This a problem because the data tells me that half of the students are below proficient in the DIBELS reading assessment. At the end of the year benchmark, all students should be reading at a first grade level. This is where my capstone project started to unfold.
Think about when you were first learning how to read...there's actually a lot to it! In Kindergarten, students are learning letter names, and sounds for those letters. By the end of Kindergarten they are starting to decode and segment words, which means being able to use visual, syntactic, or semantic cues to make meaning from words and sentences. On top of that there are over 200 sight words that don't follow any spelling pattern, that the students just need to know by sight. Feeling overwhelmed? Let's continue... Being able to decode words is crucial for beginning readers. Decoding isn’t just about sounding out words. It involves taking apart the sounds in a word, which is called, segmenting, and then blending those sounds together. Working on word recognition helps a child become a faster, more fluent reader, which is the goal. Students need to know how to segment words and break them apart. Students with specific reading challenges may need more specialized instruction.
This is complicated stuff for students who come to school and their favorite part of the day is recess! With all the information students need to know in the first few months of first grade, it poses a pretty big challenge. Knowing your students and building relationships everyday, is part of the end goal of student achievement. Motivating and encouraging them to love school is a big part factor in the big picture. In conducting research this year on how music, movement and the brain all work together, I have noted a few very important questions to ask yourself in order to reach success: Are they happy? Are they engaged? Do they want to learn? When teachers and students make an emotional connection to the subject matter, it increases the student's intrinsic motivation. When a teacher believes in them, the students make that emotional connection and it increases their self-efficacy. When a student is bored, stressed, threatened or disconnected, not much learning takes place (Whitman, Kelleher, 2016).
"Mistakes are a great way to learn!" This is a sign I have hanging in my room, as I refer to it on a daily basis. This is a very true statement when it comes to learning. Getting things wrong is a key part of memory formation. Learning, true learning, may take a while and giving students that repetitive practice as well as giving students the space in order to do it. (Whitman, Kelleher, 2016). See my action research to find out what happened when repetitive music and movements are entwined with learning and the brain.
References:
Willis, J. (2007). Review of Research: Brain-Based Teaching Strategies for Improving Students' Memory, Learning, and Test-Taking Success. Childhood Education, 83(5), 310-315.
Whitman, G., & Kelleher, I. (2016). Neuroteach: brain science and the future of education. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
The research questions:
The following research questions were developed with a goal in mind of improving academic achievement through music and movement.
1. Can learning through music and movement improve achievement?
2. Does music and movement influence motivation in the classroom?
3. Can movement and music improve whole group learning?
4. Does a student's enthusiasm affect their achievement in the classroom?
2. Does music and movement influence motivation in the classroom?
3. Can movement and music improve whole group learning?
4. Does a student's enthusiasm affect their achievement in the classroom?