developing elementary students' vocabulary knowledge through effective classroom read-aloud pr

69 Pages·2012·0.47 MB·English

EFFECTIVE READ-ALOUD PRACTICES: DEVELOPING
ELEMENTARY STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE
THROUGH EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM READ-ALOUD
PRACTICES

Kezia Lane Cooke-Brown

A project submitted to the Faculty of Education
In conformity with the requirements for
the degree of Masters of Education

Queen’s University
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
(May 2012)

Copyright ©Kezia Lane Cooke-Brown, 2012
Abstract
The Ontario Ministry of Education (2003a, 2003b) mandates a daily teacher-led oral reading,
known as a “read-aloud”. A read-aloud is an oral delivery of a written text that involves teacher
modeled or facilitated reading comprehension strategies before, during and after the reading
(Ontario Ministry of Education, 2003a). Providing students with new vocabulary is a purpose for
reading-aloud that is outlined in the “Early Reading Strategy: The Report of the Expert Panel in
Early Reading in Ontario” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2003b). As an integral part of literacy
education, reading-aloud lacks specific instructional guidelines in key reading documents, and
thus has the potential to vary in delivery and effectiveness.

The identification of vocabulary as a subcomponent skill of, and correlate to, reading
comprehension (Biemiller, 2005; Oullette & Beers, 2001; Wise et al., 2007) is the justification for
focusing on students’ word knowledge. A literature review on the connection between
vocabulary and reading comprehension will demonstrate the research significance for using a
read-aloud to develop student vocabulary.

A literature review describing read-aloud practices demonstrates that specific classroom practices
correlate with increased vocabulary development. These recommendations will be used to create
a framework with which teachers can use their Ontario Curriculum Expectations as the
foundation for their instruction, while ensuring a clear focus on the development of their student’s
vocabulary knowledge.

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Acknowledgements
Completing my Masters in Education at Queen’s University has been a journey.
The countless late nights and over consumption of caffeine over the past two years is over
shadowed by the lessons I have learned and the many wonderful people I have met along the way.

To my classmates, who seemed to take up permanent residence at Starbucks and the Grad
Lounge, thank you for the laughs and camaraderie over the years. I could not have picked a more
dynamic and compassionate cohort to complete my journey with.

To my professors, for the endless hours you spent supporting an English Major in her curious
quantitative quests. With a smile on my face, I always seemed to leave your offices with more
books and more questions. Lesly Wade-Woolley, Don Klinger and John Kirby deserve my
utmost gratitude. I am endlessly inspired by them and appreciated how they challenged me over
the years.

Elizabeth Lee, I am forever grateful to have had your guidance and expertise during this journey.
You challenged me, provided me with the tools to be successful and allowed me to grow. I have
learned so much from you and am appreciative every day in my teaching for the many lessons
you have taught me.

My family and loved ones deserve the most gratitude of all. Their understanding and support
over the years has made my journey possible. They have waited patiently for me to ‘finish just
one more journal’ or ‘write one more page’. They have reminded me, when I questioned it
myself, that indeed I was capable of completing this journey.

These past two years have left me more knowledgeable and passionate about my career. They
have brought with them lasting friendships and life lessons. I am forever thankful to those who
supported me and made this experience possible.

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Table of Contents
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................ iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................................ iv
LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................................ vi
LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER 1................................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 2................................................................................................................... 2
LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................... 2
Ontario Ministry of Education Expectations..................................................... 2
Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension......................................................... 5
Review of Read-Aloud Studies......................................................................... 10
Application to Classroom Practice.................................................................... 16
Curriculum Design............................................................................................ 19
Text Selection.................................................................................................... 25
CHAPTER 3................................................................................................................... 29
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................. 29
REFERENCES............................................................................................................... 31

APPENDICES.............................................................................................................. 34
Appendix A: Unit Planning Template.......................................................................... 34
Appendix B: Lesson Planning Template...................................................................... 35
Appendix C: Backwards Design Unit Planning .......................................................... 36
Appendix D: Figure 2 Beck, McKeown and Kucan (2002)......................................... 38
Appendix E: Lesson 1.................................................................................................. 39
Appendix F: Lesson 2.................................................................................................. 43
Appendix G: Lesson 3.................................................................................................. 47
Appendix H: Lesson 4.................................................................................................. 51
Appendix I: Lesson 5................................................................................................... 55
Appendix J: Lesson 6 .................................................................................................. 58
Appendix K: Figure 1 Wiggins and McTighe (1998).................................................. 62
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v
List of Figures
Figure 1: Wiggins and McTighe (1998) .................................................................. 61
Figure 2: Beck, McKeown and Kucan (2002).......................................................... 37

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List of Tables
Table 1: Differences between vocabulary pre and post-tests means ......................... 12
Table 2: Combined means for storybook comprehension tests .................................. 13
Table 3 Mean gains in number of vocabulary words between pre and
post-vocabulary tests .................................................................................... 16

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Chapter 1
Introduction
The Ontario Ministry of Education (2003a, 2003b) mandates a daily teacher-led oral reading,
known as a “read-aloud”. A read-aloud is an oral delivery of a written text that involves teacher
modeled or facilitated reading comprehension strategies before, during and after the reading
(Ontario Ministry of Education, 2003a). “A Guide to Effective Instruction in Reading:
Kindergarten to Grade 3” links the practice of reading-aloud to students, to promoting a love for
literacy (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2003a). Providing students with new vocabulary is a
purpose for reading-aloud that is outlined in the “Early Reading Strategy: The Report of the
Expert Panel in Early Reading in Ontario” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2003b). As an
integral part of literacy education, reading-aloud lacks specific instructional guidelines in key
reading documents, and thus has the potential to vary in delivery and effectiveness.

Beck and McKeown (2001) observed read-aloud practices in kindergarten and grade one
classrooms and identified patterns in the language and behavior of teachers and students. During
read-alouds, it was observed that teachers clarified unfamiliar vocabulary and asked recall
questions that directly followed an event or story detail. Students responded to recall questions
with interpretations based on their own prior knowledge. Beck and McKeown (2001) conclude
that these read-aloud practices do not effectively develop vocabulary or support students’
comprehension of the text.

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This literature review will describe instructional practices used in read-alouds to develop student
vocabulary. The identification of vocabulary as a subcomponent skill of, and correlate to, reading
comprehension (Biemiller, 2005; Oullette & Beers, 2010; Wise et al., 2007) is the justification for
focusing on students’ word knowledge. A literature review on the connection between
vocabulary and reading comprehension will demonstrate the research significance for using a
read-aloud to develop student vocabulary. It will include a clear Ontario Ministry of Education
definition of a read-aloud and expectations of teacher practice. Finally, for the purpose of making
practical recommendations to Ontario classroom teachers on best instructional practices, a review
of read-aloud studies will be conducted. The combination of these literature reviews will
culminate in a discussion that will determine how instructional practice impacts vocabulary
acquisition for elementary students. A literature review on backward design will be included as
the curriculum design method with which teachers can integrate read-aloud practices into their
planning, while ensuring cohesion between language curriculum expectations, assessment and
lesson plans.

An appendix with a fully planned primary reading unit will follow the literature review to
demonstrate how to use backward design planning to integrate subcomponent reading skills and
Ontario curriculum expectations in the classroom. This appendix will be an example for Ontario
classroom teachers and will link the practical methodology to the proceeding literature review
that highlights the effect of reading-aloud to vocabulary development.

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Chapter 2
Literature Review
Ontario Ministry of Education Expectations
The Ontario Ministry of Education requires read-alouds to occur daily in elementary school
classrooms (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2003a; Ontario Ministry of Education, 2003b). To
identify the purpose of read-alouds in the Ontario classroom, as well as, to establish standards in
practice for the Ontario teacher, a review of elementary reading publications produced by the
Ontario Ministry of Education was conducted.

The expert panel on early reading in Ontario’s “Early Reading Strategy” report defines reading
and outlines the goals of reading instruction: “Reading is the process of constructing meaning
from written text. Effective early reading instruction enables all children to become fluent
readers who comprehend what they are reading, can apply their knowledge and skills in contexts
and have strong motivation to read.” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2003b. p. 13). This report,
and the other reading publications reviewed (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2003a; The Ministry
of Education, 2004) detail comprehension as a combination of reading comprehension skills and
vocabulary. This integration of comprehension skills with vocabulary knowledge is explained in
“Literacy for Learning: The Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy in Grades 4 to 6 in Ontario”
(2004): “In order to maintain a high level of comprehension when reading lengthy or complex
texts students need to build a rich and diverse vocabulary, use word-solving strategies while
reading, develop an awareness of word choice and language usage in text, and read with fluency.”
(p. 74).
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