Differentiated Reading Centers and Phonics Skills

1. Differentiated Reading Centers and Phonics Skills Pamela Chapin 4-10-09

2. Research Question • How will applying differentiated reading centers affect first grade student's phonics skills? 

3. Problem • Many first-grade students struggle with decoding. • Immense range of instructional needs in classroom. • Research was based on differentiated reading centers using selected word families and blending onsets and rimes. 

4. Phonics Instruction • The National Reading Panel found that phonics instruction is more effective than not including phonics instruction in teaching reading (Armbruster, Lehr & Osborn, 2003).  • It has been found to significantly improve children's word recognition and spelling. 

5. Phonics Instruction • One approach to phonics instruction is onset-rime phonics instruction.  Children learn to identify the first letter or letters before the vowel (onset) and the sound of the rest of the word (rime). 

6. Phonics Instruction • Identifying and making oral rhymes or word families is another approach to phonics instruction.  • With phonics instruction, children notice the letter/sound patterns in initial consonants and consonant clusters and in the rime, which consists of a vowel plus any following consonants, such as -ake, -ell, -ook. 

7. Phonics Instruction • "For phonics instruction to support the reading progress of all your students, it is important to work in flexible instructional groups and to pace instruction to maximize student progress (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2003, p.x.)." 

8. Differentiated Instruction • Differentiated instruction is a set of strategies that will help teachers meet each child where they are when they enter the classroom and move them forward as much as possible. 

9. Differentiated Instruction • Research has indicated that all individuals do not learn in the same way.    • Differentiated instruction presents an effective means to address learner differences, incorporate current brain research, and support multiple intelligences and different learning styles. 

10. Differentiated Instruction • "Differentiated instruction focuses on whom we teach, where we teach, and how we teach.  The primary goal is to ensure that teachers focus on processes and procedures that provide effective learning for varied individuals" (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006, p. 3). 

11. Differentiated Instruction • "The core of differentiated instruction is flexibility in content, process, and product based on student strengths, needs, and learning styles" (Levy, 2008, p.x.).  • Content is what the teacher wants a student to learn.  • Process is how a teacher instructs and how the student learns.  • Product is the way students show how they have learned.

12. Differentiated Instruction • When implemented effectively, differentiated instruction can be a solution to managing mixed-ability classrooms, reducing boredom, increasing motivation, improving behavior, and can help to close educational gaps. 

13. Participants • A first grade class consisting of nine females and eight males were chosen to be participants in this study.

14. Methodology • Pre-test over word families and blending onsets and rimes • Mid-test identical to pre-test, without differentiating • Post-test identical to pre-test, with differentiating

15. Methodology, cont. Research for Four Weeks Daily Whole Group Reading Instruction  Daily Follow-up Reading Centers • 25-minutes in length • Groups of 2 or 3 • Leveled by need, based on the mid-test

16. Results of First-Grade Students

17. Results of Female Students

18. Results of Male Students

19. Conclusion • Due to the immense range of instructional needs in classrooms today, teachers should use differentiated instruction.  • One of the goals of differentiated instruction in reading is to provide students the support in specific problem areas, such as phoneme segmentation and blending, onset and rime, and letter-sound correspondence. 

20. Conclusion, cont. • To summarize all data, 17 students took the test.  There were no students who scored a 100% on the pre-test.  Two out of 17 students scored a 100% on the post-test.  Sixteen out of 17 students scored a 70% or above on the post-test. 

21. Conclusion, cont. • Since there was a moderate increase in first-grade student's test scores, it would be beneficial to continue using differentiated reading centers that were implemented in this research project.   

22. Works Cited • Anderson, K. (2007, Spring). Differentiating instruction to include all students. Preventing School Failure, 51(3), 49-53.  • Armbruster, B. B., Lehr, F., & Osborn, J. (2003, June). Put reading first: The research building blocks for teaching children to read (2nd ed.). Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement. • Carolan, J., & Guinn, A. (2007, February). Differentiation: Lessons from master teachers. Educational Leadership, 64(5), (44-47).  • Dahms, M., Geonnotti, K., Schilk, J. N., Passalacqua, D., Wetzel, A., & Zulkowsky, M. (2008, November 8). The educational theory of Lev Vygotsky: An analysis. In G. K. Clabaugh & E. G. Rozycki, Eds, New Foundations. Retrieved from http://www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Vygotsky.html • Ellis, E., Gable, R. A., & Gregg, M. (2008, Winter). REACH: A framework for differentiating classroom instruction. Preventing School Failure, 52(2), 31-47. 

23. Works Cited • Levy, H. M. (2008, March/April). Meeting the needs of all students through differentiated instruction: Helping every child reach and exceed standards. The Clearing House, 81(4), 161-164.  • Mueller, J. (2005, July). The authentic assessment toolbox: Enhancing student learning through online faculty development. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 1(1).  • Protheroe, N. (2007, November/December). Differentiating instruction in a standards-based environment. Principal, 87(2), 36-40.  • Tomlinson, C. A. (1999). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.  • Tomlinson, C. A., & McTighe, J. (2006). Integrating differentiated instruction and understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.