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Bridging the literacy gaps in Pre-Kindergarten with Mini Lessons

Method

Research Questions

This research sought to answer the following questions. With the main focus of Pre-Kindergarten programs being on literacy ad school readiness, what are the factors that hinder children from excelling in literacy? To what extent do mini lessons influence letter recognition and letter sound knowledge in Pre-K students? How if at all do mini lessons help close the achievement gaps in Pre-Kindergarten classrooms?

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this study was to close the achievement gap for select students by using mini lessons. The evidence was shown in informal and formal assessments. Mini lessons allowed students who are English language learners (ell), those who struggle to focus in large groups and those who benefit from slower paced instruction to gain baseline exposure before the main lesson was taught to the entire class.  Mini lessons help students gain a better understanding of the subject being introduced or taught. Mini lessons can cause and increase in child engagement as students who have understanding are more likely to participate in group lessons.

Research Design

The was a mixed method experimental research design performed in a Pre-Kindergarten Classroom at an Elementary school in Chapel Hill North Carolina.

Participants

This study took place in a classroom of 4 and 5 year old students.  I selected 8 students who scored the lowest on letter recognition and letter sound assessments. The study group consisted of five females (3 four year olds and 2 five year olds) and three 5 year old males. Five of the 8 student’s home language is English, 2 come from Spanish speaking homes and 1 student comes from a Karen speaking household.  The parents identified the student’s race on an information form. Out of the 8 students 4 students identified as white, 2 students identified as black, 1 identified as multi-racial and 1 identified as Asian.  Three of the 8 students attended Pre-k the previous year.

	AGE	Gender	Ethnicity	Home Language	Race	Previous Years in Pre K
AN	4 yrs.	F	Hispanic	Spanish	White	1
PT	5 yrs.	F	Hispanic	Spanish	White
AM	4 yrs.	F	Hispanic	English	Multiracial	1
ANG	5 yrs.	M	Non-Hispanic	English	White	1
JN	4 yrs.	F	Non-Hispanic	English	Black
MB	5 yrs.	F	Non-Hispanic	Karen	Asian
JX	5 yrs.	M	Non-Hispanic	English	White
JO	5 yrs.	M	Non-Hispanic	English	Black

Setting

This study took place in a Pre-K classroom of fifteen 4 and 5 year old students. The classroom was a one bathroom Modular Cabin located at an elementary school in Chapel Hill North Carolina. The classroom had one Teacher and one teacher assistant. This classroom had a combination of Head Start and Tuition placed students. Childcare subsidies were also accepted. The typical school day is 8:00am - 2:30pm. Children arrived, were greeted by teachers and classmates, and entered into play. The Teacher offered a 5 minute morning meeting after center time. Children ate breakfast in the cafeteria before cleaning up and brushing teeth.  Students participated in whole group Literacy lesson and then transitioned to learning activities in centers. The focal classroom had the following centers: blocks/building; dramatic play; art/drawing; books/library; discovery/science; manipulatives / table toys; sand & water; music & movement. Learning continued for children as they played outside or participated in vigorous indoor play for an hour. After outdoor play there was a whole group lesson in which the weekly theme was taught. Students ate lunch, rested on cots, and then began departure routines before they went home.

Independent Variables

The independent variable of this study was Mini lessons. Mini lessons were given to a treatment group prior to whole group literacy lessons on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Mini lessons were taught by the classroom teacher at the round table in the science center. They consisted of a letter song, texture letter card, large sound card, keyword poster,  exit ticket, Bingo, Keyword puzzle, followed by students receiving an award. This independent variable differed from the typical school day in that students in the treatment group were given a preview of the focal letter that the whole group would only interact with once that day.

Dependent Variable

The dependent variable of this study was Literacy scores of letter recognition, and letter sound knowledge. The scores were measured by students identifying letters and letter sounds on an alphabet assessment template sheet. Students were assessed individually by the Teacher and Teacher Assistant during center times.

Materials

Table

Chairs

Letter of the day song link/ laptop

Textured Letter Card and prop

Large sound Card

Key word puzzle- and storage box

Crayons

Pocket Chart

Easel,

Bingo cards and chips

“Table time” surveys

Individual letter assessments

Stickers

Keyword Poster

Alphabet assessment template sheet

Procedures

Mini lessons are one way to lessen literacy gaps. This study began with the teacher giving a pre-assessment of letter recognition and letter sound knowledge prior to any interventions. The teacher simply told students we are going to have table time together. During center time I invited the four students of the treatment group over to the round table. On Mondays I began the small group by playing a 1 minute letter of the day song on my laptop facing the students. They were allowed to watch, sing along and talk if they decided during the song. After the song ended I closed the laptop and placed it out of child view. I held a Textured letter card of the lowercase focal letter and introduced the letter; “This is a (letter name”) “letter name” and instructed students “Repeat after me”. The students repeated the letter name.  I traced the letter card with my index finger and said the letter name. Instructed students “Trace the letter and say “letter name”.  I passed the Texture card to the student on my right. Each student traced the textured letter and said the name of the letter. We passed the textured letter card around the table counter clockwise. When each child had finished exploring the card I propped it behind me on a shelf.  I then held up the large sound card. I pointed to the upper case letter and said “This is an upper case letter name and this is a lower case letter name. I said the letter, word, and sound. For example I held the large sound card and said “a – apple- /a”.  I instructed the students to repeat after me. The students repeated “a – apple – a” simultaneously. I placed the large sound card in the pocket chart. I pointed to the keyword poster which was hung beside me on the left side where each student could see it. I instructed students” I’m going to point to the letter and name it when I point to you, you all will repeat. “I pointed to each letter of the alphabet in order and the students repeated after me from A-Z. Students were instructed to take a breath after every six letters. “Take a breath, and release”. To conclude the circle students were given a letter match exit ticket. I instructed them. This is an uppercase letter “A” .Find the lowercase “a” and color it in.  Students colored in a square and whether right or wrong I gave them a check on the paper and a sticker as a reward. On Wednesdays I followed the same steps as Monday, when I place Wednesday’s large sound card in the pocket chart I placed it beside the Previous letter. These mini lessons lasted approximately 8 minutes.

On Fridays I invited the four students of the treatment group over to the round table. I played the letter of the day songs from the week.  The texture cards from the week and upper lower case letter triangles were placed on the table for child exploration. Once all students were seated and the songs were over, I removed the texture cards and letter triangles from child view. I held the Large Sound Card from Monday and asked “What letter is this?”  I paused for students to answer. I responded appropriately“Correct this is the letter “___”. Students were instructed to repeat the letter- keyword- and sound after me.  I returned the card to the pocket chart. I held the large sound Card from Wednesday and asked “What letter is this?” I paused for students to answer. “Correct this is the letter “__”.Students were instructed to repeat the letter- keyword- and sound after me. I placed the card back in the pocket chart.

I held up a table time survey sheet and asked “How did you feel about the table time we’ve had this week? “If you felt happy color the happy face, if you felt medium color the medium face, and if you felt sad color the sad face.  The students colored the survey sheets and handed them to me. I complimented the students. “You have been doing such a great job learning letters and sounds that we are going to play a game of BINGO. “ I placed a bingo card (with 8 letters on it) in front of each student and provided them with 8 chips.  I instructed the students “When you hear me call out a letter you cover it with a chip. If you get four letters in a row you win, and everyone will have a chance to win”. I called out letters starting with the letters we have already addressed in mini lessons. I called each letter twice and then paused. I covered the letter on my master letter sheet and students covered their letters.  When a student won I instructed them to call out their letters to me and I then gave them a sticker and they went back to centers. On the second, fourth, and sixth Friday students from the treatment and control groups were assessed on their letter recognition of lowercase letters. Each student was called over individually to sit with the teacher or teacher assistant at the round table.  On the round table in front of the student was a Letter assessment template which had the 26 lowercase letters of the alphabet randomly arranged. On the right side of the practitioner there was an individual letter assessment checklist. Teachers instructed “I’m going to point at the letter and you tell me the name of the letter”. As the practitioner pointed at a letter, the student named it.  The teacher kept the checklist out of view of the child and checked off each correct letter and placed a smile beside the wrong letter.

Analysis Plan

The teachers began by recording the pre assessment scores of the letter recognition and letter sounds for the treatment and control groups. The teachers calculated the scores of the post assessments of both the treatment and control groups. The Individual child letter sound scores were also calculated for both groups. The Teachers calculated the total pre assessment scores and the total post assessment scores for the treatment group and for the control group. Scores were compared. The teachers calculated the percentage of letter recognition growth for both groups and compared them. The teachers calculated the percentage of letter sound knowledge growth for both groups and compared them. The teachers calculated individual growth of all 8 participants and attempted to correlate letter recognition and letter sound growth to pre assessment scores. The teachers calculated total attendance of students in both groups in attempts to correlate growth to attendance. The table time student survey responses were collected and entered into one dated chart. The survey responses were calculated into percent of satisfaction by week and overall satisfaction score throughout the study. Total Growth comparisons were analyzed for male and female groups. Student scores were also compared by home language.

To ensure validity the teacher used triangulation of the student satisfaction data collected from the table time survey, and the data from the letter recognition and letter sound assessments and compared the results. All data was examined using quantitative and qualitative analysis