Increasing Reading Comprehension of Fourth-grade Language Arts Students

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2018-05-16

Department

Program

Masters of Education

Citation of Original Publication

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of student-led choice as a motivational strategy to aid in the increase of reading comprehension among average fourth-grade learners. The measurement tool used was assessments from “Units of Study for Teaching Reading” by Lucy Calkins (Calkins & Ehernworth, 2015). This study involved the use of a pre-and posttest design. The results of the pretest confirmed the groups did not differ to begin. The control group consisted of ten students who were not given a choice of selecting novels in small guided groups. The experimental group consisted of ten students who were all given the choice of novels in small group on two occasions during the unit. Students in both groups were of comparable level of reading comprehension based on Fountas and Pinnell levels, county-wide assessments, and the pretest results. The post test was given after reading two novels of their choice to determine the impact of the intervention. The experimental group had comparable scores to the control group. The implications and recommendations for future research are discussed. Further research is necessary to determine the most effective motivational strategies to increase reading comprehension.