Day 1

Today was my first day I had the students respond in their reading response journal independently.  I drew a random reading response prompt from my pile and went with it (How would you feel if...).  Students were asked to respond to this prompt based on the book we were reading in small groups.  Two of the students were very concerned with having to do extra work compared to the other students in their reading group, but I explained to them that this would take place of another center during reading workshop (this made them feel better). 

Overall, I was somewhat disappointed with the responses because they were VERY short and simplistic.  None of the 4 participants went deep into the text they were reading.  Hopefully once I begin writing back to them every other day, they will better see what is expected and be more motivated to put more effort into their responses!

Happy Snow Day!

Well the snow day changed the schedule of my project just a little, but I think I am still going to be able to start on Monday!  Luckily through the craziness of the short week (including the 100th day celebrations), I was able to get all four of my students DRA tested and get the consent/ assent forms signed.  The students are all SO excited to be my special reading helpers over the next few months.  Here we go... this is going to be an interesting ride.  Let the data collection begin!

Research Question and Tentative Calendar

Ready or not... It is time to get going!  The fun will begin tomorrow and I am nervous about how everything will turn out since this is my first action research project!
Research Question:  What will happen when reading response journals are used during Reading Workshop?

Month	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Jan 2013	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
	20 Preparing for Action Research Project	21 NO SCHOOL	22 -Send Letter of Consent home to families -DRA test participants	23 -Students fill our letter of assent -Complete DRA testing	24 -Discuss RRJ expectations with students	25 -Practice RRJ entry as a group (model what is expected)	26
	27 WEEK 1 (with prompt given)	28 Respond to students 1 & 2	29 Respond to students 3 & 4	30 Respond to students 1 & 2	31 Respond to students 3 & 4	1 Respond to students 1 & 2	2
Feb 2013	3 WEEK 2 (randomly choose prompt)	4 Respond to students 3 & 4	5 Respond to students 1 & 2	6 Respond to students 3 & 4	7 Respond to students 1 & 2	8 NO SCHOOL	9
	10 WEEK 3 (randomly choose prompt OR complete independently)	11 Respond to students 3 & 4	12 Respond to students 1 & 2	13 Respond to students 3 & 4	14 Respond to students 1 & 2	15 Interview 1 (tape record) Respond to students 3 & 4	16
	17 WEEK 4 (complete independently)	18 NO SCHOOL	19 Respond to students 1 & 2	20 Respond to students 3 & 4	21 Respond to students 1 & 2	22 Respond to students 3 & 4	23
	24 WEEK 5 (complete independently)	25 Respond to students 1 & 2	26 Respond to students 3 & 4	27 Respond to students 1 & 2	28 Respond to students 3 & 4	1 Interview 2 (tape record) Respond to students 1 & 2	2
Mar 2013	3 WEEK 6 (complete independently)	4 Respond to students 3 & 4	5 Respond to students 1 & 2	6 Respond to students 3 & 4	7 Respond to students 1 & 2	8 Respond to students 3 & 4	9
	10 WEEK 7 (complete independently)	11 Respond to students 1 & 2	12 Respond to students 3 & 4	13 Respond to students 1 & 2	14 Interview 3 (tape record) Respond to students 3 & 4	15 NO SCHOOL	16
	17 No new data will be collected beyond this point	18	19	20 Round Table Presentations	21	22	23
	24	25	26	27 School Based Presentation	28	29	30
	31	1	2	3	4	5	6
Apr 2013	7	8	9	10 MMP Presentations	11	12	13
	14	15 Final Research Paper	16	17	18	19	20
	21	22	23	24	25	26	27
	28	29	30	1	2	3	4