Improving the Skills of Early Reading Through

8/14/2019 Improving the Skills of Early Reading Through

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IMPROVING THE SKILLS OF EARLY READING THROUGH BINGO n P-CHART

By :NORAIDA BINTI IDRIS

Sekolah Kebangsaan Rimba Terjun82000 Pontian, Johor.

ABSTRACT

This research was carried out to help the pupils to improve their reading at the early stage. Basicallywhen conducting this research, I have been wondering on how to find the solutions to make these

pupils improve their early reading. All teachers know that pupils become successful readers bylearning to use a range of strategies to get at the meaning of a text. In line of using phonic approach,where this system of teaching pays special initial attention to helping children see the relationshipsbetween the sounds of English and the letters or combination of letters that produce them. ( At first,isolated sounds are learnt and then the skill of putting the sounds together to form whole words istaught). Using two techniques, firstly BINGO , that is specially-designed games are use in teaching

phonics. Secondly, P-CHART ( pocket charts ) which made on a smaller scale to help effectivereading where most of the activities described for class work can be transferred to use with individual

pocket charts with teacher providing help to the individual pupil. I found out that this action researchhas helped me in assisting the pupils especially in preparing them for future education.

1.0 REFLECTION ON PREVIOUS TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS

Since I started teaching English Language for Year 1 Bestari, it was quite a surprised to see thatsome of the pupils, could neither know nor recognise simple words. When given a simple text,they were unable to read fluently. They were eager to learn English but when asked, theirreasons varies. Some said that they do not understand English at all, some were not confident ofthemselves and most do not read enough in English. I found that their English vocabulary werelow and limited.

In my opinion, for pupils to improve their level of confidence and reading skills, they should begiven proper exposure. Keeping this in mind, BINGO n P-CHART could help them to achievecommunicational reading.

2.0 RESEARCH FOCUS

This research is focusing on early reading skills from identifying words and simple text reading.This would involve word recognition and sight word skills. As it involves a lot of repetition, theactivities that would be conducted should be able to attract pupils attention and arouse theirinterest. If pupils early reading problem could not be solved, the pupils will face lots of difficultiesin their day to day lesson and in the future. So, I decided to expose and introduce Improving TheSkills Of Early Reading Through BINGO n P-CHART to my target group.

3.0 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES :

3.1 General Objective

To improve the early reading skills among pupils.

3.2Specific Objectives

1. To give pupils opportunity to use old and new words to make sentences of their own and readsentences to others.

2. To propose a technique of teaching to reduce the problem of reading in order to help pupilsget a sense of achievement reading a whole book .


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4.0 TARGET GROUP

The target group consists of 6 pupils from Year 1 Bestari. This group of pupils is a weak languageproficiency group. One of their main problem is they do not know English and initially, teacherhas to teach them the target words in a spoken context or introduce written words with visual orauditory support such as pictures, tape, action, mime, etc.

5.0 ACTION IMPLEMENTATION

5.1 PROBLEM OBSERVATION

5.1.1 ObservationI made an observation on pupils during the teaching and learning process. This target group was

evaluated during reading session that is conducted every week.

5.1.2 Pre-assessment Oral TestThe pre-assessment oral test are used to assess these target group of pupils on their literacy. It

was done before the action plan and pupils have to read words and simple text.

5.1.3 InterviewIn an informal interview, I have identified the problems of why these 6 pupils of my target groupcould not read.

5.2 Analysis of the Problem

5.2.1 ObservationEnglish Language has been said as a tough subject. Most pupils find it difficult due to the lack ofinterest and communication in English. Moreover, they have little environmental support forlearning to read English. Many ways and techniques have been adopted to teach reading but, thepupils tend to forget and find difficulties when reading a text even though a line of phrase.Subsequently , this would lead to a short attentions spans, where they get bored very quickly.

5.2.2 Pre-assessment Test

Result of the Pre-assessment Oral Test

GRADE NUMBERS OF PUPILS

A -

B 1

C 3

D 2

Based on the results from the Pre-assessment Oral Test, there was no pupil

scored A, one of them scored B, three pupils scored C. Two pupils did not developword attack skills and understand sequence. Hopefully, by conducting thisresearch, I will help the pupils in improving their reading skills.

5.2.3 Interview

Pupils Respond On Reading Skills

PupilsRespond

Percentage / Number of Pupils( % )

Yes No

Do you like English subject ? 83.3 16.7

Do you like to read English book ? 33.3 66.7


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Is English difficult ? 100 -

Do you know how to read ? 33.3 66.7

Do you know to read English book ? 16.7 83.3

Do you like to listen people reading? 66.7 33.3

Do you like to listen people reading in English? 16.7 83.3

Do you happy if you can read English very well? 66.7 33.3

Based on the interview conducted, 5 out of 6 pupils like to learn English but all(100%) said that English is hard. Therefore, they do not like to read and listen topeople reading in English. Most of the pupils like to learn English but only 2 pupilslike to read English book. 4 pupils said that they are happy if they can read English.It showed that most of these pupils have interest and want to learn English.Therefore, there should be methods and strategies that can attract this people tolearn reading.

5.3 Plan in action

1. There were two activities planned to implement the action research on improving the pupils

reading skills.

1st Activity Phonic Approach

2nd Activity Crossword Puzzle

3rd Activity Pocket Chart

2. Materials used in the activities

Phonics book Laptop and LCD Pocket chart Manila card for individual pocket chart Sentence strips

3. The instrument for Observation

Oral Assessment Form Results from activities carried out.

5.4 Implementation and Observation / Evaluation

5.4.1 Implementation of Activity One Phonic Approach

Through this activities, once a pupil has learned the phonemic elements, he can obtain thepronunciation of the printed words by assembling the sounds together in blended sequence.Thus, when he gets the pronunciation of the word, he will understand what he has read.

Generally in this activity, I will make sure the pupils has a good listening vocabulary and able tosee and hear difference in letters and sounds. Pupils also are exposed to sight words reading.Reading using sight words is like using an escalator or lift. I could see pupils have enjoyed thepleasures of reading through such a faster way.

Steps that I used to teach phonics are:

Introduce units of sounds starting with the short vowel sounds.

Introduce the consonants ( eg. l, c, m, r )


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Teach pupils to sound combinations of consonants and vowels they have learnt. Eg. /ra/ /ru//ri/ /ma/ /mu/ /mi/, etc.

Teach pupils to join syllable together to form simple words.

Eg. m an m at f all d igc an c at t all b igf an f at w all w ig

Observation

Results of the activity

Grade A B C D

No. ofpupils/Percentage 1 16.7% 3 50% 2 33.3% - -

This activity has given them a lot of improvement. Now, they can read and say the wordscorrectly. Even though it took a long period of time and processes, it was worth it

ReflectionFrom the result shown above, it was found out that 1 pupil scored A, 50% of them scored B with2 pupils scored at least C. In teaching phonic to pupils, it is vital that pupils are taught to use theword level strategies effectively.

Teaching phonics involves understanding a lot of aspects. Different teachers have different typesor ways of teaching them. The only important thing is a mere outline of important aspects ofprocedure. I use a few books on phonics teaching, so that I could teach my pupils effectively. Inmy opinion , phonics needs to be taught systematically but often it is not. This will leads toconfusion.

5.4.2 Implementation of Activity Two BINGO

As phonic training involves a lot of repetition and repetition can make a phonic lesson boring. Icould see this when my pupils start complaining and told me as if they have learnt much.Because of this, I specially designed a game to teach them reading. It involve word recognitionskills that included the sight word skills and word attack skills. Sight word skills enable thepupils to recognize words instantly. Word attack skills enable the pupils to recognize unfamiliarwords. The pupils were very happy if they can solve the crossword puzzle and such games wasfun and they were very excited.

Observation

. Results of the activity

Grade A B C D


C T

P N


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From this activity, I found that all the pupils were able to recognise words easily. The pupils wereinterested playing this game and they had fun.

ReflectionThe pupils showed a vast improvement in reading. From the result, it showed that 2 pupils got

A, 3 pupils got B, only 1 got C and none got D. It can be concluded that the second activity wasable to help the pupils to remember what they have previously learnt . This activity is such tostrengthen their knowledge and memory.

5.4.3 Implementation of Activity Three- P-Chart

In this third activity, I have decided to help the pupils improving their reading by giving them wordcombinations, phrases and simple text to read. So, I prepared a small pocket chart for each of thepupil. Most of the activities described for class work, can be transferred to use with theirindividual pocket chart.

Observation. Results of the activity

Grade A B C D


From this activity, I found that these pupils are getting better each day. It helped them inimproving their reading skills.

ReflectionThe result from the activity showed that all students have got better result. So, it can beconcluded that this activity was able to help the pupils in development reading However, moreactivities need to be given to them in order to achieve better improvement in their readings. Icould say that I am satisfied with their improvement.

5.4.4 Post Test

Differences Between Pre-assessment Oral Test and Post-assessment Oral Test

GRADE NUMBERS OF PUPILS NUMBERS OF PUPILS

A - 2

B 1 2

C 3 2

D 2 0

TOTAL 6 6

Based on the differences between pre-test and post test results, there were anincreasing numbers of pupils who got A, B and C and none pupil failed in the test. Itshowed that the pupils have improved very well after going through all the activities.

5.5 Reflection on the Research

From this action research, I found that as a teacher I need to versatile the techniques andstrategies in conducting lessons to the pupils. The most important thing in teaching is trying to


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find the simplest and fun ways that suits the pupils level and ability. This would lead to thesuccess of the teaching and learning process and in the end help the pupils in acquiring thelanguage.

From this action research also, I can say that all the activities that I have already done, the pupilshave improved their early reading skills. Learning to read in English is not as difficult if pupils canread in their own language. It is just that teacher teaching situation is the most important factorwhen deciding how a teacher should teach reading.

As an English Language teacher, I must always be aware of the needs of the pupils and knowhow to use the most suitable and meaningful materials in the teaching and learning process.

6.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

Based on my action research, I believe that these three strategies can be adopted andadapted in early reading. The most important thing is how to capture pupils attention andinterest in learning to read. It would be next to impossible to teach pupils to read when theyare not interested. So part of the English teachers job in teaching reading would be to createa positive attitude to reading among the learners. Furthermore, get pupils to involve inactivities which make them aware of how interesting a book can be. Example by reading (as

opposed to telling ) stories and making available many books with interesting pictures andfacts about things children would naturally be interested in. I should also make the pupilsenjoy learning about new things and stimulate their curiosity.

REFERENCES

Andrian Doff.(1995).Teach English: A Training Course for Teachers.Cambridge UniversityPress.

Nesamalar Chitravelu, Saratha Sithamparam, Teh Soo Choon. (2005).ELTMethodology:Principles and Practice.Penerbit Fajar Bakti.

Slattery,M,Willis,J(2001).English for Primary Teachers.Oxford University Press.

Rohayati Printing,Assoc.Prof Dr.Mohd Amin Embi.(2005).e-Xra:Express Reading Approach.X-ra Center.

Eliani Nik Nawi, Othman Ahamad(2003).Read Easy Phonics.Onestop Language andComputer Consultancy.

Judith Sim.(2002)Phonics Picture Dictionary.Penerbitan Pelangi.

APPENDICES

Implementation of Activity 1Phonic Approach

Introduce units of sounds starting with the short vowel

sounds.

Introduce the consonants ( eg. l, c, m, r )

Teach pupils to sound combinations of consonants and

vowels they have learnt. Eg. /ra/ /ru/ /ri/ /ma/ /mu/ /mi/,etc.


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Teach pupils to join syllable together to form simple

words.

Examples:

m an m at f all d ig

c an c at t all b igf an f at w all w ig

INTRODUCE PUPILS WITH :

Letter sound

Eg : A ant B bag C cat

Words with Short Vowel a

Eg : rat hat cap pan

Words with Short Vowel eEg : bed leg hen pen

Words with Short Vowel i

Eg : dig pin tin sit

Words with Short Vowel o

Eg : dog hot pot hop

Words with Short Vowel u

Eg : tub mud bug cup

Words with Initial Consonant BlendsEg: clap clip flag crab

Words with Final Consonant Blends

Eg : desk milk belt lamp

Words with Initial and Final

Consonant BlendsEg : stamp stand plump

cramp

Words with Final Double

ConsonantsEg : bell smell kiss cuff

Words with Silent e Long a

SoundEg : blade cake grape

plate

Words with Silent e Long i

Sound

Eg : slide file five kite

Words with Silent e Long o

SoundEg : hoe toe hose rose

Words Sights

a

an

he

I in

is

it

of

this

that

the to

was

and


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Implementation Of Activity Two

The words used in this game are those words that pupils learnt from previous activity (Activity 1 ).Some words are new words, so teacher has to teach them the target words in a spoken contextor introduce written words with visual or auditory support such as pictures, tape, action, mime,etc.

Example:

APPENDIX D

Implementation of Activity Three

This is a fat catThe pin is in the tin

That is a blue cap

A rat is in the tin

This pocket charts were made on a smaller scale to help effective reading where most of theactivities described for class work can be transferred to use with individual pocket charts withteacher providing help to the individual pupil.

The pupils were able to read as they have already gone through Activity One and Activity Two.The sentences given consists of those old and new words that they have learnt and through wordrecognition skills that included the sight word skills and word attack skills.

CAT

Improving the Skills of Early Reading Through

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