Data Collection Source 1: Student Voice

 To inform my inquiry, I will be using three methods of data collection about my students needs. I have so far noticed that my students are stuck between reading ages 9 and 10 and that they struggle to independently comprehend the basic information from the story; it is very hard for them to summarise the main events. 

To delve deeper to determine what might be holding them back, I will use their summative reading tests from term 1 (PAT), a formative assessment and student voice. In this post I will focus on my collection of student voice. 

I gathered student voice data in two ways: online via a Google form and in discussion. I know that some students articulate themselves better through speech, but others might be shy to tell me their true feelings in person.

My google form questions were:

• What are your hobbies and interests?
• How do you feel about reading? 
• How often do you read outside of class? (multi-choice: once a week, once a month etc.)
• What do you like reading about?
• What do you find challenging about reading. 

In class I asked the students:

How do you feel about reading? 

What kind of books would you like to read next?

What things in class do you enjoy doing?

B1:  This student expressed that he doesn't really like reading as he feels his strength is in maths. Interestingly, he was the only student who shared a book series that he likes and has chosen to read in his class SSR time. He likes to read adventure stories, comics or books with pictures and stories about families. He doesn't mind reading in a quiet place when it is a story he likes. He expressed that he understands mostly what is happening in his chosen comic book but sometimes gets stuck with tricky words. He sometimes reads outside of literacy class time.

G1: This student shared that she doesn't mind reading, but it is not her favourite subject. She would like to read more about sports and different places. She shared that she finds it tricky to understand some stories and struggles to make sense of new words. English is her second language, so it makes sense that vocabulary would be particularly tricky for her. 

G2: This student expressed that she quite likes reading, but does not read outside of learning times. She thought of several things that she would like to read about; different countries, animals, comics and about famous people. She expressed that she finds making sense of new words tricky. 

B2: This student is very reluctant and takes a long time to read a text or complete activities. He expressed that his favourite subject is maths and that he enjoys sports. He said that he doesn't mind reading, but he does not read for fun. He would like to read spy stories. He said he finds understanding the story and sounding out words challenging. 

G3: This student shared that she enjoys reading, which reflects her attitude in class. She thought of several topics she enjoys reading about, including about sports, comics and adventures. This student shared that she reads regularly outside of class and particularly enjoys reading comics online. She shared that she finds understanding some parts of the story tricky, "like what we talk about in class". I believe that she is referring to the conversations we have that involve inferencing. 

B3: This student can be reluctant at first, but he is starting to share more of his ideas in class. He expressed that he sometimes enjoys reading depending on his mood. He enjoys reading comics and occasionally reads them outside of class time. Over the course of this term I have already noticed his ability to summarise the main events/ information within a text has improved. He said he needs to work on understanding new words. 

B4: This student is a very reluctant reader. He shared that he does not enjoy schoolwork, but likes playing with his dog or gaming.  He has very poor attendance so he finds it very difficult to engage with our learning as he might attend once a week. He expressed that he never reads for pleasure and would like to read books about cars in class. He said he finds it hard to imagine what is happening in a story and is put off by big words.

Trends

- Pictures

Most of the students enjoy reading comics or books with pictures. I asked about this and they  said that it makes the book more interesting and easy to understand.

- Not reading for fun

Most of the students rarely read outside of class time 

- Prefer other subjects

None of the students expressed a love of reading - the majority shared that they prefer other subjects.

- Vocabulary

All of the students mentioned getting put off or struggling to understand new or big words. 

I wonder how much these student's confidence in reading has been knocked in the past. As a follow up question, I am going to ask the students if they think that they are good at reading.