George Washington Carver Elementary

Krysta and Kaitlin

Connection to SIP One of the goals of the SIP:

To improve students’ writing (p. 12 in SIP)

We will focus on vocabulary

Throughout the SIP vocabulary was an area of weakness for all students

Grades 3-5 have limited experiences with exposure to a wide range of vocabulary (p. 4-5 in SIP)

Population Elementary students at George Washington Carver

Elementary

One 4th grade class (22)

One 5th grade class (20) now one 1st grade class (19)

Vocabulary Graffiti students compose drawings that are related to the

words they are learning

Spencer & Guillaume, 2009

The Research Edens and Potter (2001) found that students have to

select, organize and represent ideas when images are drawn by the students

Bromley (2007) found that a students’ memory is supported by drawing images because the information has to be translated from one form to another

Personal associations with unfamiliar words can also form (Hopkins & Bean, 1998-1999; Standerfer, 2006)

Implementation Introduce three vocabulary words throughout the day

in different subjects

Students will be given a new vocabulary word and asked to take out their writing journals

Students will be given 5 minutes to draw their vocabulary graffiti and then we will move on

Students will have the vocabulary graffiti for reference in their writing journals

Why Vocabulary Graffiti? Enhance students’ vocabulary, which will enhance

students’ writing (this is a goal of the SIP, p. 12)

Students will have the opportunity to use their new vocabulary words in their journals

Connecting the usage of vocabulary in the different subjects throughout the day

Spencer, B. H. & Guillaume, A. M. (2009). 35 strategies for developing content area vocabulary. Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon.

Pre/Post Test Sample question (Fourth Grade):

1. What is the definition of waterfall?

a. A steep descent of the water of a river.

b. An indentation of a shoreline larger than a cover but smaller than a gulf

c. A larger body of water.

d. A body of water surrounded by land.

Sample question (First grade):

1. leaf

Goal To have the students’ journal entries improve in the word

choice category of the 6+1 Trait Writing Model (Education Northwest, 1980s)

How will we do this? Compare previous journal entries before our implementation

of the vocabulary graffiti to journal entries after out implementation

New goal: To have the students’ knowledge of vocabulary words increase Compare pre tests and post tests

6+1 Traits Writing Model Developed by Education Northwest in the 1980s because of the

need for a better way to gather information about students’ writing

Seven qualities Ideas Organization Voice Word choice Sentence fluency Conventions Presentation

Rubric scored from 1 to 4 We are focusing on the improvement of the word choice trait

Research Questions Does vocabulary graffiti increase vocabulary usage in

journal entries?

Does vocabulary graffiti increase students’ knowledge of vocabulary words?

Data Collection PlanPre/Post Vocabulary Test

Journal Analysis using 6 + 1 Writing Traits Model

Does vocabulary graffiti increase vocabulary usage in journal entries?

N/A Compare journal entries for word choice category before and after vocabulary graffiti implementation

Does vocabulary graffiti increase students’ knowledge of vocabulary words?

See if the students’ scores increase because of vocabulary interventions

Compare journal entries for word choice category before and after vocabulary graffiti implementation

Timeline for each group member Give pre test on Monday, October 18th

Implement vocabulary graffiti throughout the weeks of October 18th, October 25th, and November 1st

Give post test on week of November 1st

Pre-Post Test Findings: 1st Grade

Mean of pretest Mean of posttest p-value

(n=17) 64.68235 81.35294 0.008265

Pre-test Post-test

Student A 100 100

Student B 50 33.3

Student C 100 100

Student D 50 83.3

Student E 33.3 100

Student F 83.3 100

Student G 33.3 83.3

Student H 50 83.3

Student I 0 66.6

Student J 83.3 100

Student K 83.3 83.3

Student L 33.3 33.3

Student M 83.3 100

Student N 83.3 83.3

Student O 83.3 100

Student P 83.3 83.3

Student Q 66.6 50

Pre-post Discrimination Index

Question 1 0.88-0.82 =0.06

Question 2 0.65-0.24 =0.41

Question 3 0.71-0.59 =0.12

Question 4 0.82-0.65 =0.17

Question 5 0.94-0.82 =0.12

Question 6 0.88-0.76 =0.12

Distracter AnalysisQuestion 1

D = 0.06 A B* C DUpper 8 Students

0 8 0 0

Lower 8 Students

2 6 0 0

1st Grade Discussion

Students enjoyed connecting words to pictures

Vocabulary graffiti proved effective for circling the picture in relation to the vocabulary word

Students excited when they got to do the same test again

Examples of Student work

Vocabulary words Gullible

Bizarre

Mysterious

Juvenile

Enthusiastic

Magnificent

Obedient

Lush

Repulsive

Feeble

Pre-Post Findings: 4th Grade N= 21 students

Pre-test M Post-test M p-value

86.5 91 .0475

Student pre-test Post-Test

Nekiaya 80 100

Qwanisha 80 100

Margaret 90 100

Abreona 90 100

Matthew 100 100

Reginald 100 100

Colin 100 100

Tonazja 90 100

Kabir 0 90

Karina 100 90

Mya 100 90

Jordan 100 90

Janae' 90 90

Alonzo 70 90

Davon 90 90

Troyele 80 80

Austin 90 80

Jashen 90 80

De'Quan 60 80

Keith 50 70

Item analysis- post test

Item P NC Item A Item B Item C Item D

1 0.9 19 *19 0 1 1

2 0.9 19 2 0 *19 0

3 0.9 19 1 *19 1 0

4 0.8 16 4 *16 1 0

5 0.95 20 1 *20 0 0

6 0.95 20 1 0 0 *20

7 0.9 19 1 1 *19 0

8 0.95 20 *20 0 0 1

9 0.9 19 0 0 2 *19

10 0.85 18 1 *18 1 1

Distracter analysis

Item 3 Answer 1 Answer 2 * Answer 3 Answer 4 Omit

p=.9, D-= -.20

Upper 11 Students 3 8 0 0 0

Lower 11 Students 1 10 0 0 0

“Which of these men would you consider “feeble”?

4th GradeDiscussion Students enjoyed this activity

Hands on

Group work

Significant difference between scores on pre/post test

The post-assessments for was too easy- consider rewriting

Does vocabulary graffiti increase students’ knowledge of vocabulary words? Vocabulary graffiti does increase students’ knowledge

of vocabulary

Students’ scores in both 1st grade and 4th grade on the vocabulary posttests improved significantly

Does vocabulary graffiti increase vocabulary usage in journal entries? We were not able to look into this research question

because of a switch in placement

Not enough information in the journals in 1st grade

To keep consistent across grade levels, we decided to not use the 6+1 writing traits model to compare journal entries

Implications Confounding variables

Original research design was compromised due to extenuating circumstances

Next Steps Incorporate into first grade curriculum

Tweak design of delivery of vocabulary graffiti

Vocabulary graffiti is a fun, engaging activity that should be used to directly instruct vocabulary