Findings
Findings
The analysis of the data included the structured checklist on topic choice, informal student observations and examining student work. All of this data proved to be very informative. Some patterns emerged that helped to demonstrate the effectiveness of phase one.
Pattern 1: Pictures provided were helpful in expanding topic choice, but only when it was student-centered
When phase one first began, students were still choosing to write about their own topics, which mostly included animals or family members. This was due to the pictures I was providing. I used photographs that I thought the students would find entertaining, such as a cat falling into a fish tank and two boys who painted their whole living room white. These pictures were not something that the students could relate to or anything that interested them. Since these photographs did not appeal to their interests, they chose to write about topics of their choice, which did interest them. Once I realized that the pictures I was providing were not capturing their interest, I decided to appeal to their interests. Once I provided pictures of the characters in Frozen, the Lego Movie and the Lion King, the students were choosing to write about the pictures more than choosing their own topics. This shows that the way to increase topic choice and expand writing is to appeal to the student’s interests and everyday lives.
Pattern 2: The pictures gave struggling writers a concrete image to write on each day.
The pictures provided during phase one seemed to help the struggling writers more than the advanced students. These writers seemed to jump between topics prior to the intervention and the images presented helped to give them a solid topic to write about for three sentences, complete with a visual. During the first day of implementation one of my struggling writers who constantly writes about animals, wrote seven sentences on the same topic and made it into a story. Another student who would rush through his writing in order to color the picture ended up really connecting with the pictures of movies and cartoons. He picked to write in his journal during daily five two separate times. He also asked multiple times about what pictures were going to be provided and if we were going to do writing that day. His sentences improved in length and description. Most of the advanced writers would chose to write on their own topics on certain days because they have more concrete ideas of things to write about. They are not as focused on mechanics and spelling, so they tend to have more diverse topic choices.
Here is a sample of one of the struggling writer's journal entries prior to implementation:
The analysis of the data included the structured checklist on topic choice, informal student observations and examining student work. All of this data proved to be very informative. Some patterns emerged that helped to demonstrate the effectiveness of phase one.
Pattern 1: Pictures provided were helpful in expanding topic choice, but only when it was student-centered
When phase one first began, students were still choosing to write about their own topics, which mostly included animals or family members. This was due to the pictures I was providing. I used photographs that I thought the students would find entertaining, such as a cat falling into a fish tank and two boys who painted their whole living room white. These pictures were not something that the students could relate to or anything that interested them. Since these photographs did not appeal to their interests, they chose to write about topics of their choice, which did interest them. Once I realized that the pictures I was providing were not capturing their interest, I decided to appeal to their interests. Once I provided pictures of the characters in Frozen, the Lego Movie and the Lion King, the students were choosing to write about the pictures more than choosing their own topics. This shows that the way to increase topic choice and expand writing is to appeal to the student’s interests and everyday lives.
Pattern 2: The pictures gave struggling writers a concrete image to write on each day.
The pictures provided during phase one seemed to help the struggling writers more than the advanced students. These writers seemed to jump between topics prior to the intervention and the images presented helped to give them a solid topic to write about for three sentences, complete with a visual. During the first day of implementation one of my struggling writers who constantly writes about animals, wrote seven sentences on the same topic and made it into a story. Another student who would rush through his writing in order to color the picture ended up really connecting with the pictures of movies and cartoons. He picked to write in his journal during daily five two separate times. He also asked multiple times about what pictures were going to be provided and if we were going to do writing that day. His sentences improved in length and description. Most of the advanced writers would chose to write on their own topics on certain days because they have more concrete ideas of things to write about. They are not as focused on mechanics and spelling, so they tend to have more diverse topic choices.
Here is a sample of one of the struggling writer's journal entries prior to implementation:
Here is a sample of the same student's entry on a picture of the movie Frozen I provided after implementation:
Pattern 3: Students are using more invented spelling and complex vocabulary
During the course of phase one, I noticed that students were becoming less concerned with the errors of invented spelling and began trying to spell new words. Most of the words prior to implementation were “I like…” or “We play...” After implementation, students started using new words in their writing, especially the struggling writers. I noticed that a lot of the students were incorporating the word “because” into their spelling which was contributing to longer sentences and more detail. The students were using more diverse verbs such as “jumped,” “fell,” “will be,” “went,” and “ate.” These were words that I rarely saw in their writing before implementation. A lot of students were still utilizing “like” and “love” in their writing frequently, but when they were writing about the pictures, they seemed pushed to try to use new words to describe what was happening.
Pattern 4: Students are beginning to find their own pictures to write about
One of the more surprising findings from this phase was that students began to see that they could find pictures in books in their book bag. I noticed during the second week of implementation that students were asking me if they could write about a picture in their books that they brought from home or from their recently checked-out library book. The pictures that I had provided to them had inspired them to look in other places to get inspiration for topics. This demonstrated that they understood that these topics to write on did not have to come from their minds all the time, but can be inspired from different things around them that interest them.
During the course of phase one, I noticed that students were becoming less concerned with the errors of invented spelling and began trying to spell new words. Most of the words prior to implementation were “I like…” or “We play...” After implementation, students started using new words in their writing, especially the struggling writers. I noticed that a lot of the students were incorporating the word “because” into their spelling which was contributing to longer sentences and more detail. The students were using more diverse verbs such as “jumped,” “fell,” “will be,” “went,” and “ate.” These were words that I rarely saw in their writing before implementation. A lot of students were still utilizing “like” and “love” in their writing frequently, but when they were writing about the pictures, they seemed pushed to try to use new words to describe what was happening.
Pattern 4: Students are beginning to find their own pictures to write about
One of the more surprising findings from this phase was that students began to see that they could find pictures in books in their book bag. I noticed during the second week of implementation that students were asking me if they could write about a picture in their books that they brought from home or from their recently checked-out library book. The pictures that I had provided to them had inspired them to look in other places to get inspiration for topics. This demonstrated that they understood that these topics to write on did not have to come from their minds all the time, but can be inspired from different things around them that interest them.