Shirley Lawrence

John B. Russwurm

Fourth Grade

P.S. 197

shirls5150@aol.com

Webquest:

A.R.E.

A Reading Exprience

Introduction:

Most children in the grade four classrooms are having problems in applying comprehension skills. Many of them do not master the concept of miscue. Miscue is the concept of how children deal with mistakes in their reading, such as, omission, semantics, syntactic and phoneme. Therefore, when they are reading they do not re-read the passage to fully understand what they are reading and in that case their comprehension skills are very weak. This is particularly a problem because of lack of phonetic and comprehension skills in the primary grades. This causes problems when the children are taking the statewide E.L.A. (English Language Arts) tests when many of them are low function readers. They lack the ability to read and understand lengthy passages especially where prior knowledge does not exist with what they are asked to comprehend.

TASK:

You have been asked by the school reading coach to research the problem of failure on the statewide test in your elementary school and to help her design a prevention program. She wants you to design a prevention program for the third and fourth graders to help the student overcome their reading problems or difficulties. After she approves the program you have designed you will give a final presentation to the Principal. To do this you must use the following six-step public policy approach and refer to the resources. You will also make a recommendation to all of the third and fourth grade classroom teachers as well. You will form a group of four other students to help you with this task.

PROCESS:

First You will:

Meet with other members of the group and talk about the project. Go on the internet (see resources below) and look for miscue analysis program. Then the group will design their own miscue analysis program to find out the level that children are reading and to observe how they deal with the problem of their miscues.

Next You will complete the following six steps: (Each step is linked to a worksheet that you will complete one by one.)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

After you have completed the six steps:

Once the committee has gathered their research they will formulate a school based parent intervention program to present first to the reading coach. After she has approved your prevention program idea you will present it to the Principal

What you will do last:

Meet with the Principal to discuss proposed school based parent intervention program and possible implementation of said program.

RESOURCES

Phonemic:

http://migrantmedia.com/prel/index.html

Reading Programs as a Prevention:

http://www.educationnews.org/Letter-from-Reading-Researchers.htm

http://www.perry.k12.ny.us/elementary-middle%20school.htm

EVALUATION:

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Contribute
Research & Gathers Information	Does not collect any information that relates to the topic.	Collects very little information--some relates to the topic.	Collects some basic information--most relates to the topic.	Collects a great deal of information--all relates to the topic.
Share Information and Identifies Causes	Does not relay any information to teammates.	Relays very little information--some relates to the topic.	Relays some basic information--most relates to the topic.	Relays a great deal of information--all relates to the topic.
Evaluates policy	Does not hand in any assignments.	Hands in most assignments late.	Hands in most assignments on time.	Hands in all assignments on time.
Take Responsibility
Fulfill Team Role's Duties	Does not perform any duties of assigned team role.	Performs very little duties.	Performs nearly all duties.	Performs all duties of assigned team role.
Participate in Program Design and Develop Solutions	Does not speak during the group meetings.	Either gives too little information or information that is irrelevant to topic.	Offers some information--most is relevant.	Offers a fair amount of important information--all is relevant.
Share Equally	Always relies on others to do the work.	Rarely does the assigned work--often needs reminding.	Usually does the assigned work--rarely needs reminding.	Always does the assigned work without having to be reminded.
Value Others' Viewpoints
Listen to Other Teammates	Is always talking--never allows anyone else to speak.	Usually doing most of the talking--rarely allows others to speak.	Listens, but sometimes talks too much.	Listens and speaks a fair amount.
Cooperate with Teammates	Usually argues with teammates.	Sometimes argues.	Rarely argues.	Never argues with teammates.
Make Fair Decisions and Select Best Solution	Usually wants to have things their way.	Often sides with friends instead of considering all views.	Usually considers all views.	Always helps team to reach a fair decision.
				Total

ELA STANDARDS:

E3c- Prepare and deliver individual presentation.

E2a- Produce a report of information

E1c- Read and comprehend informational materials

E1d- Demonstrate familiarity with a variety of public documents

E1e- Demonstrate familiarity with a variety of functional documents

E3b- Participate in group meetings

E4a- Demonstrate an understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work

CONCLUSION:

By completing this PPA Webquest, you have now learned how to identify disruptive behavior and research policies and programs. As a Public Policy Analyst, you have identified the causes of the problem, provided evidence, researched the current policies, and creative an intervention program. As a result of this project, you have learned to create a school based parent intervention program.