1. READING HABITS OF SECOND
GRADERS
Action research to determine the best method of
encouraging autonomy in second grade students
while improving their choice and independent
reading of library books.
Kristy Dallas Alley
901-262-5451
U00056393
2. RESEARCH QUESTION
How can I encourage autonomy
while guiding and improving the
reading habits of my second
graders?
3. PROBLEM CONTEXT AND RATIONALE
Who am I as a professional?
Bachelor of Arts in English from Rhodes
College
Completed K-12 Language Arts certification
alongside undergraduate work
Fifteen years as a secondary English teacher
Currently a first-year librarian in an elementary
school
4. PROBLEM CONTEXT AND RATIONALE
Current work and action research setting and
context
Urban elementary school
542 students in pre-K-5
Approximately 2/3 African-American, 1/3 Hispanic,
fewer than 10 Asian and white children combined
96% of students received free or reduced lunch
Many Hispanic students speak no English upon arrival
Many Guatemalan families speak dialects that do not
exist in written form, have never been literate
5. SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS
84 second-grade students in four
homerooms
Each homeroom visits the library
once a week for 30 minutes
59 African-American students
25 Hispanic students
54 males, 30 females
6. PROBLEM CONTEXT AND RATIONALE
How my question relates to my work context
This group of students had never been allowed to check
out books, which I did not know at the start of the school
year
Second grade is plagued with behavior problems that
make free checkout and reading time difficult
There was a pattern of students checking out certain
books they could not read because of a “cool” factor
I wanted to find a method of helping students choose
books with the maximum autonomy while still
encouraging them to pick books they could really read
and enjoy
7. PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE BASE
“School library collections are not merely
extensions of classroom book collections or
classroom teaching methods, but rather places
where children can explore interests safely and
without restrictions. A minor’s right to access
resources freely and without restriction has long
been and continues to be the position of the
American Library Association and the American
Association of School Librarians.”
Best practice: Allow students to select books in the least
restrictive environment possible
8. PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE BASE
Lance & Hofschire
(2012)
From 2005 to 2011,
student reading scores
on standardized tests
improved in schools
that gained or retained
a school librarian
National Assessment of
Educational Progress
(2008)
States that gained
school librarians from
2004-05 to 2008-09
showed greater
increases in 4th grade
reading scores than did
states that lost
librarians during this
time period
9. PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE BASE
SYSTEMS OF DETERMINING READABILITY
PROVE INCONSISTENT
Lively &Pressey (1923)
Created the first widely
used readability scale
for books
Basis of systems used
by schools nationwide
from 1923 through the
present day
Based on the
“vocabulary burden” of
a given book
Vogel & Washburne
(1928)
Combined the Pressey
method with analysis of
sentence structure,
paragraph structure,
weight of book, and
type face to place
books at a specific
reading grade level
10. PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE BASE
Lexile Levels
Heavily associated with new Common Core Standards
Measures “text complexity” based on a combination of
factors
Lexile bands do not match closely to previous
readability systems and tend to be more demanding
Lexile is criticized for its inability to account for content,
resulting in placing books like Steinbeck’s Of Mice and
Men at a grade 3-5 level
11. LEARNING THEORIES
Amritavalli (2012):
Learner autonomy and
leaner-chosen texts
Guthrie&Alvermann
(1999): Engaged
readers
reading is best learned when a
child shows interest in reading
and when every child chooses
the text which is at the right
level of challenge and interest
for that child
Joint functioning of motivation,
conceptual knowledge, and
social interactions during
literacy activities
12. DEVELOPMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUR
LEARNERS
The students in my sample are in the
stage of concrete operations according
to Piaget’s four stages of learning.
Beginning to understand the
difference between genres and
types of books
13. PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE BASE
Key Ideas and Details Ask and answer such
questions as who, what,
where, when, why, and how
to demonstrate
understanding of key details
in a text
Recount stories, including
fables and folktales from
diverse cultures, and
determine their central
message, lesson, or moral
Describe how characters in
a story respond to major
events and challenges.
TN Department of Education
Reading Standard
Students should be able to
14. PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE BASE
Craft and Structure Describe how words and phrases
(e.g., regular beats, alliteration,
rhymes, repeated lines) supply
rhythm and meaning in a story,
poem, or song
Describe the overall structure of
a story, including describing how
the beginning introduces the
story and the ending concludes
the action
Acknowledge differences in the
points of view of characters,
including by speaking in a
different voice for each character
when reading dialogue aloud.
TN Department of Education
Reading Standard
Students should be able to
15. PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE BASE
Integration of Ideas Use information gained from
the illustrations and words
in a print or digital text
to demonstrate
understanding of its
characters, setting, or plot.
Compare and contrast two
or more versions of the
same story (e.g., Cinderella
stories) by different authors
or from different cultures.
TN Department of Education
Reading Standard
Students should be able to
16. PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE BASE
Range of Reading and
level of Text Complexity
Read and comprehend
literature, including
stories and poetry, in
the grades 2–3 text
complexity band
proficiently, with
scaffolding as needed
at the high end of the
range
TN Department of Education
Reading Standard
Students should be able to
17. PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE BASE
American Association of School Libraries Standards
for the 21st Century Learner
Standard 4: Pursue Personal and Aesthetic Growth
Students should read, view, and listen for pleasure and
personal growth; read widely and fluently to make
connections with own self, the world, and previous
reading
seek information for personal learning in a variety of
formats and genres; connect ideas to their own interests
and previous knowledge and experience
organize personal knowledge in a way that can be called
upon easily
18. ACTION PLAN
Over the course of six weeks, I experimented with
three different methods of conducting checkout with
second graders in the library, with the goal of
determining which method resulted in the highest
number of students reporting that they read all or
most of their book on their own and that they
enjoyed the book.
Methods included
Completely unrestricted access to every book in the
library with no guidance
Unrestricted access to all books, but with strong
guidance
Narrowly restricted access to books only within Lexile
bands recommended for second grade
20. DATA COLLECTION
Research journal to record observations about
student responses and behavior during the
research
Pre and Post survey about general reading habits
and feelings regarding library books
Book-specific survey correlated to the method of
checkout used when the book was obtained
ATRIUUM (circulation software system) reports
confirming specific titles checked out each week
21. FINDINGS
Students expressed a preference for the checkout
method that combined book talks and facilitated
access with freedom to choose any book.
The preferred method resulted in the highest
percentage of students reporting that they read all
or most of their book that week.
The preferred method was the only one that
resulted in zero “I didn’t read my book” responses
for the week.
Student responses about their favorite type of book
changed significantly between the pre and post
surveys.
22. EVIDENCE: PRE SURVEY
I like checking out books:
I read my whole book by
myself
The books that I choose are
usually
My favorite books are
Yes 97.26%, No 2.74%
Always: 50.68%; Usually: 36.99%;
Sometimes: 9.59%; Never: 2.74%
Too hard for me to read by myself:
13.89%; Just right: 47.33%; Really
easy: 38.89%
Picture books with just a few words
on each page: 29.17%; Picture
books with a lot of words: 31.94%;
Chapter books: 38.89%
Question Response
23. EVIDENCE: POST SURVEY
I like checking out books:
I read my whole book by
myself
The books that I choose are
usually
My favorite books are
Yes 98.65%, No 1.35%
Always: 61.33%; Usually:
14.67%; Sometimes:
22.67%Never: 1.33%
Too hard for me to read by
myself: 15.07%; Just right:
52.05%; Really easy: 32.88%
Picture books with just a few
words on each page: 45.33%;
Picture books with a lot of words:
32%; Chapter books: 22.67%
Question Response
24. EVIDENCE: PREFERRED CHECKOUT METHOD
I like it when
We can check out
any book with no
suggestions
33.33%
We can check out
any book but Ms.
Alley tells us about
special books
47.22%
We can only
choose books from
the tables 19.44%
25. EVIDENCE: BOOK SPECIFIC SURVEYS
I read all/most of my book
Method one
unrestricted
90.15%
Method two
unrestricted w/
book talks 91.05
Method three
restricted to my
selections 81.95
26. EVIDENCE: BOOK SPECIFIC SURVEYS
I read my book by myself
Method one
63.89%
Method two
72.06%
Method three
76.71%
27. EVIDENCE: BOOK SPECIFIC SURVEYS
I really liked this book
Method one
74.65%
Method two
79.41%
Method three
77.46%
28. CONCLUSIONS
This action research was helpful in determining the
best method of checkout for my second graders. I
feel that this information can also be applied to
other grade levels.
Participation in the surveys had the unintended but
desirable consequence of giving the students a
sense of agency in the way they chose and read
their books.
Conducting the book talks for a few books at once
forced me to skip reading whole chapters and
instead focus on just giving a few details to hook
students’ interest, and the students were better able
to stay focused and attentive.
29. VARIABLES TO THE STUDY
The second week of the study was spring break, so
I could not collect any data that week.
Suggestions from book talks I gave prior to this
research influenced student book choice.
30. NEXT STEPS
Going forward, I plan to spend more time at the
beginning of the school year helping students
become oriented to library procedures and
expectations so that checkout options will not have
to be limited by behavioral problems.
I also plan to use book talks systematically
throughout the year to focus on different genres
and formats of books in the library.
I am looking forward to sharing the results of my
research with the community of librarians in my
school district, as well as my principal and the
teachers at my school.
31. FUTURE RESEARCH QUESTIONS
How can I better connect with kindergarteners at
the start of the school year to help them transition
both in and outside the library?
How can I better engage my most reluctant
readers, especially in fifth grade?
32. REFERENCES
Amritavalli, R. (2012). Helping children become
readers. Language and Language Teaching. 1 (1).
Clausen-Grace, N. & Kelley, M. (2009-2010). Facilitating
engagement by differentiating independent
reading. The Reading Teacher, 63, (4) pp.313-318.
Defining text complexity. (2013). The Lexile Framework for
Reading. Metametrics.
DuBay, William H., (ed.). (2002). The classic readability
studies. Impact Information.
Guthrie, J.T. & Alvermann, D.E. (1999). (Eds). Engaged
reading: Processes, practices, and policy implication.
New York: Teachers College Press.
Fry, E. (2002). Readability versus leveling. The Reading
Teacher, 56, (3) pp. 286-291.
Killeen, E. (2012). Precious children. Teacher
Librarian, 39(4), 60.
33. REFERENCES
Krashen, S. (2001). The lexile framework: Unnecessary and
potentially harmful. California School Library
Journal, 24(2): 25-26.
Lance, K., & Hofschire, L. (2012). Change in school
librarian staffing linked with change in CSAP reading
performance, 2005 to 2011. Denver, CO: Colorado S
State Library, Library Research Service.
Lane, K. & Marks, R. (2008). Is there a positive
relationship between public library services and early
reading success? School Library Journal.
Paris, S. (2002). Center for the Improvement of Early
Reading Achievement: Measuring Children's Reading
Development Using Leveled Texts. The Reading
Teacher, 56, (2) pp. 168-170.
Position Statement on Labeling Books with Reading Levels.
2011. American Association of School Libraries.
34. REFERENCES
Ray, M. (2012). A blip in a word cloud--unless we
act. Teacher Librarian, 39(4), 56+.
Standards for the 21st century learner. (2007).
American Library Association
Supplemental information for appendix A of the
common core state standards for English
language arts and literacy: New research on
text complexity. (2012). Council of Chie
State School Officers.
Tap the school library to bring a wider world to
students. (2012, March-April). American
Teacher, 96(4), 4.