Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Topic: Reader's Club and Action Research

10-second review: Ten fourth-graders who loved to read met and discussed books they had read in the past and now together. Met twice a week at lunch time. Purpose was to research the experience of reading. 29 initial applicants. 10 selected by lottery. The students were active co-researchers.


Title: “Readers Researching Their Reading: Creating a Community of Inquiry.” LT Parsons. Language Arts (March 2009), 257-267. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).


Summary: Children and teacher were co-researchers in learning about the process of reading.


Quotes: “The children felt their voices were heard and their ideas mattered.” p. 263.


“…the children re-voiced each others’ thoughts, built upon and contested ideas, and moved toward consensus.” p. 264.


“Disagreement and respect for differing viewpoints were essential to knowledge construction.” p. 265.


[As the teacher]: “…during any given session, I raised the opening question, brought us back to topic when the conversation strayed too far a-field, and summarized my understanding of the knowledge being constructed.” p. 266.


“They [the students] examined their thinking, made connections, and contributed insights as they participated in group discussions. They actively participated in coding, analysis and interpretation of data and later elaborated on, verified and clarified my final interpretation. We did indeed work together as co-researchers.” p. 266.


Comment: Interesting concept. Teacher and students worked together on research involving the students’ learning. Love it! RayS.

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