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Context and Rationale

“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a

spark.”

– Victor Hugo

Learning to read is about listening and understanding as well as

working out what is printed on the page. Through hearing stories, children are

exposed to a wide range of words. This helps them build their own vocabulary

and improve their understanding when they listen, which is vital as they start

to read. It is important for them to understand how stories work too. Even if

your pupil does not understand every word, they will hear new sounds, words

and phrases which they can then try out, copying what they have heard. A

child's reading skills are important to their success in school as it will allow

them to access the breadth of the curriculum and improve their

communication and language skills. In addition, reading can be a fun and

imaginative time for children, which opens doors to all kinds of new worlds for

them.

It used to be a widely held belief by prominent literacy theorists, such

as Goodman (1967), that learning to read, like learning to talk, is a natural

process. It was thought that since children learn language and how to speak

just by virtue of being spoken to, reading to and with children should naturally

lead to learning to read, or recognize words. Now we know it is not natural,

even though it seems that some children “pick up reading” like a bird learns to

fly. The human brain is wired from birth for speech, but this is not the case for

reading the printed word. This is because what we read—our alphabetic script
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—is an invention, only available to humankind for the last 3,800 years

(Dehaene, 2009). As a result, our brains have had to accommodate a new

pathway to translate the squiggles of our letters into the sounds of our spoken

words that they symbolize. This is seemingly a simple task, in actuality, a

complex feat.

Lugait Central School is an institution meant to provide quality

education to learners at all levels. It is fast growing school located on the

west part of Misamis Oriental in Region X. It is composed of 41 teaching and

non teaching personnel and pupils population of not less than 1200 during the

start of this School Year 2018-2019. As an equally supportive and excellent

school, it has its own flaws and problems. An annual assessment of reading

PHIL-IRI was conducted by the class advisers to the pupils and results show

that there are pupils who have not yet mastered their needed skills in reading.

Thus, the school initiated this study to help and improve learners with difficulty

in reading. This research study is concern with the skills in recognizing word

and its fluency and is limited to identifying problems and strategies that can

developed the fluency skills of the pupils in recognizing word. Though this was

already being tackled by some researchers but then debate of its reasons still

exist. Furthermore, we can agree that comprehension is dependent upon

some sort of construction, evidence suggests that comprehension involves

decoding, fluency, vocabulary knowledge, knowledge of the ways text is

organized, knowledge of the word, and strategies for fostering and monitoring

comprehension. However, word recognition is a prerequisite to reading

comprehension.
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Action Research Questions

1. What is the reading level of the pupils?

2. What are the thoughts and feelings of the participants about reading?

3. What are the problems of the participants in word recognition?

4. What innovation and strategy will be formulated to address the

problem?
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ACTION RESEARCH METHODS

In the journey with the participants, the researchers followed and

adhered to the protocols and procedures of a quantitative-qualitative

research. Thus, this part discusses about how the researchers went through

with this quanti-quali research. It includes participants of the study, gathering

data methods and data analysis.

Participants of the Study

The participants of the study were limited to the Kindergarten to Grade

Five pupils of Lugait Central School. The study was limited to twenty-two (22)

sample participants who were identified from the pre-test result of the PHIL-

IRI. These (22) participants then, were observed and interviewed by the class

advisers and researchers through the suggested strategy that this study

accomplished.

Gathering Data Methods

The researchers used the Phil-IRI to identify the reading level of the

participants. Phil-IRI is an informal reading inventory composed of graded

passages designed to determine the individual students’ performance in oral

reading, silent reading and listening comprehension. These three types of

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assessments aim to find the students’ independent, instructional and

frustration levels. Thus, individual interview was also employed. Interviews

allow for a deeper insight into the actual experiences of the participants of this

study. They also provide the avenue and opportunity to clarify themes

(Merriam, 1998; Neuman, 1997; Polit & Hungler, 1995). Participants name

and photos will be recorded and kept with utmost confidentiality. The

researchers conducted a group interview to get commonalities and recorded

their responses.

Data Analysis

In discovering the problems of the participants of this study, the

researcher employed descriptive research design anchored on action

research. It implies the used of frequency to identify the number of pupils who

had reading problems. In addition, interview was used to code the problems

experienced by the pupils with regards to word recognition prior to reading

fluency. Considering that qualitative research data collection methods are

time consuming; therefore, data usually collected from a smaller sample.

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Discussion of Results and Reflection

This part contains the results of Phi-IRI and discussions of information

shared by the participants of the study as well as the analysis and discussions

of the themes that emerged from the descriptions of their experiences.

Table 1. Reading Level of the Pupils

Grade Level Pre-Test (NR) Post-Test (NR)

Kindergarten- A 0 0

B 1 0
C 1 0
Grade I-A 0 0
B 0 0
C 2 1
D 1 1
E 1 1
Grade II-A 0 0
B 1 0
C 2 1
D 2 2
Grade III-A 0 0
B 1 0
C 1 1
D 2 2
E 2 2
Grade IV-A 0 0
B 0 0
C 0 0
D 1 0
E 1 1
Grade V-A 0 0
B 0 0
C 1 0
D 1 0
E 1 0
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TOTAL 22 12

Reading Level of the Participants

Table 1 shows the result from the Phil-IRI. There are twenty-two (22) non-readers

from the Pre-Test. These pupils were unable to recognized words. The 22 participants

have already undergone reading remediation from their class advisers during the first

semester. Among the 22 participants there were 12 pupils who needs more reading

reinforcement as shown from the post-test result, thus, the latter were interviewed and will

be continuously remediated by the class advisers together with their parents. Moreover,

this result showed that reading problems do not reside only in the classroom but needs

reinforcements at home.

Word Recognition and Fluent Reading as a Difficult Experienced Resulting to

Negative Feelings, Thoughts and Actions

Reading as we thought is such a basic thing, conversely it is the most

important which everyone needs to develop as part of a person’s daily life,

whether he is in school, the workplace, or just simply at home. Nevertheless,

while most can read beautiful flowering poetry, not everyone is equipped with

the skills to weave beautiful words together in order to create a striking sound.

Moreover, the beauty of learning the heart of basic skills in reading starts at

home. Every parent has the responsibility to teach every child to learn basic to

advanced methods of reading.

For the participants, word recognition and fluent reading in English

language is very difficult. As the researchers starts to ask the pupils how do

they feel when they are asked to read they tend to be intimidated and afraid in

the thought of not reading it correctly. They feel nervous thinking that they
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don’t belong especially when most of their classmates can read. Most of

them quoted “maulaw mi mam ky dili pami kusog mubasa ug dili pa pud kayu

namu mabasa ang uban kanang mag-uban nga ch-, br-, -sw ug uban pa.”

These are the reasons why they sometimes refuse to read when ask to.

Parental Involvement, Absenteeism, Technology and Reading by

Pleasure as Problems Encountered by the Participants

Reading is not a new scuffle to teachers. Several studies showed

different reasons why children are not able to recognize words correctly.

Absenteeism is the most common problem faced by the teachers. As we

talked to the participants, some say, “tudloan man ko sa akung mama” but

then some would answer “pasagdan raman ko sa amu”, “sige man kog

absent”, dili mi magbasa”, “ako uban teacher ky ako ra Lola walay mutudlo

nako ky trabaho si mama ug papa”. Then, there are those who said:

“magbasa rami diri sa eskwelahan sa balay ky dili”, “hinay mi mubasa ky

nakabalik man mi ug eskwela ug wala mi ga practice ug basa sa balay”, “ug

sigi pud mi dula ug computer”. With the statements of the participants, this

shows evidences that absenteeism and parental involvement directly

influence the reading abilities of the pupils.

Most of the study participants also explained that reading something

they like motivates them. As quoted, “ganahan mi mubasa ug kanang sayun

mam ug kanang ganahan sad namu parihas anang kingkoy kanang daghan

ug pictures”. This employs that teachers should also consider what their

learners like to read. Due to the eagerness and courage of the teachers to

teach their learners everything they need to know, we sometimes forgot the

area of interests of our pupils, so let us consider the diversity of learners.

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It explains the root cause and analysis of the problems. In addition, the

researchers found 2 factors that directly links to the problem. The teaching

process and parental involvement. For the teaching process, lack of

resources, limited preparations and creative strategy, used of whole word

method and emphasis on repetition method explains the cause of the problem

while lack of parents follow up at home and no reading hour comprises

parental involvement. Based on the root cause. The following were the

consolidated causes that will be given full precedence: Lack of resources and

limited preparations resulted to cramming and inadequacy of reading

materials to be given to the learners, lack knowledge on phonemes, resulting

to repeating the words and the tendency is the pupils were memorizing the

words, parents don’t usually teach their children at home, pupils were not

motivated because they are reading out of their area of interest and pupils

who needs special care.

In conclusion the researchers recommended the following solutions to

the problems. Provide the teachers the necessary equipment, strategic

reading materials and learning video on phonemes and frequent monitoring

for progress through home visitation. Provide different learning videos and

materials on reading and introduce interactive activities like singing, reciting

rhymes and short poems dialogs conversation and games based on their area

of interest. Then, encourage the teachers to provide scaffolding and

differentiated activities to each group of different needs. Thus, this study

introduces Project SAM-I.

Innovation, Intervention and Strategy

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Pupils who are successful in developing effortless word recognition

have an easier time reading, and this serves as a motivator to young readers,

who then proceed to read a lot. Pupils who struggle with word recognition find

reading laborious, and this serves as a barrier to young readers, who then

may be offered fewer opportunities to read connected text or avoid reading as

much as possible because it is difficult.

Stanovich (1986) calls this disparity the “Matthew Effects” of reading,

where the rich get richer—good readers read more and become even better

readers and poor readers lose out. Stanovich (1986) also points out an

astonishing quote from Nagy and Anderson (1984, p. 328): “the least

motivated children in the middle grades might read 100,000 words a year

while the average children at this level might read 1,000,000. The figure for

the voracious middle grade reader might be 10,000,000 or even as high as

50,000,000.” Imagine the differences in word and world knowledge that result

from reading 100,000 words a year versus millions!

As teachers, it is worthwhile to keep these numbers in mind to remind

us of the importance of employing evidence-based instructional practices to

ensure that all students learn phoneme awareness, decoding, and sight word

recognition—the elements necessary for learning how to succeed in word

recognition. Still, parents are the most important educators in a child’s life –

even more important than their teachers. Even before they were born, babies

learn to recognize their parents' voices. Reading to the baby from birth, even

for just a few minutes a day, gives them the comfort of hearing the voice and

increases their exposure to language.

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Project SAM-I (Simplified reading Aids Merge with Interactive activities

and ICT) is an innovation effort embedded in the enterprising initiative of the

Lugait Central School’s school head Mr. Samy T. Igloria by conducting the

school wide search for the Lugait Central School Campus Models for School

Year 2018-2019. The proceeds of which included the purchased of printers to

be stewarded by the grade level chairmen. The provision and utilization of

these printing facilities greatly aid the LCS Research Team and Reading

mentors, to design, print and reproduce reading materials (e.g. flash cards.

accordion, small books, flyers, reading activity sheets) for the benefit of the

target learners for them to be reading ready and be at par with their peers.

These learners singled out from all sections across grade levels who were

having difficulty in leveling up their reading skill, therefore unable to meet the

expected reading competencies, are the beneficiaries of Project SAM-I. A

crucial element of Project SAM-I is its Innovation, Intervention and Strategy

which involves the three-pronged approach to help solve the reading

problems of the school pupils who are at the bottom line in the reading

proficiency hierarchy.

The Project SAM-I three-pronged approach program begins with 1. The

survey, the introduction for teachers to designed reading aids (printed and

reproduced by the printers out of the LCS Campus Model proceeds) and

actual reading-based remedial instruction with a supplemental home reading

hour (a bonding-through-reading time between pupil and parent/guardian

when the pair gets to read or study the assigned reading homework of the day

right in the comforts of their own homes) which is followed by 2. The

assessment of the target pupils’ reading progress as well as their proficiency

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level and finalized with 3. The home visitation, interview and monitoring of the

target learners by their reading mentors to check the progress of their reading

skills, find out the level of satisfaction of both the pupils (enrolled in Project

SAM-I) and their parents or guardians and consequently for the mentors to

evaluate and assess the overall impact of Project SAM-I to the pupils’ attitude

towards reading in particular and to learning in general.

The first prong out of the three pronged approach of the project is the

initial step of the ladder which includes a survey among Lugait Central School

pupils with reading difficulties, a brief orientation to the various reading

materials and the actual reading centered remedial instruction. This first

strategy addresses the concerns as to why the target pupils have prevalent

problems with reading as reflected by the results of the survey. During the

survey, the target pupils or respondents are able to voice out the reasons that

lead to their loss of interest, absence of enthusiasm and the apparent lack of

love for reading. The results of the survey serve as a compass as to what

direction the researchers will be primarily taking as well as the manner to

which style should the mentors apply in dealing with these pupils as well as

what values, virtues and vulnerabilities should be taken into consideration by

the reading mentors during the process of the remedial reading instruction.

The second prong is the assessment and evaluation of the pupils’

reading progress and proficiency levels. This follows right after the end of the

remedial reading instruction period. A reading test is administered among the

target learners (all 22 learners) by the reading mentor assigned to them. A

reading mentor could evaluate at most 4 pupils under her care. She is to let

the pupils take the final assessment or test. The scores of the pupils will
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gauge the progress the pupils had made all throughout the period of

instruction. The result of the test enables the mentors to determine what

essential additional actions could be taken and what recommendations could

later be pursued.

The third and final point of the three-pronged approach of the SAM-I

Project pertains to a more personal connection between mentor and pupil in

the form of home visitation, interview and monitoring. The home visitation is

done during the remedial reading instruction period. The reading mentor visits

the pupils’ domiciles informally to check how his or her home reading hour is

going. The mentor conducts an interview via casual conversation with the

pupil and the pupils’ parent or guardian. She or he asks what trials and

triumphs the reading pair have met and takes note of the feedback the pupil

and parents give. The mentor comes back in any other day in two occasions

to monitor the reading pair.

A rewards system is also incorporated in the implementation of the

project. The pupil who exceeds expectations and showed glowing

improvement in his or her reading skill is awarded the Most Improved Reader

title. He or she is given a certificate plus a storybook donated by the LCSTA,

SPG or LCS Alumni Association. The pupil awardee’s parent is awarded Most

Improved Reader Parent and is given a certificate and another gift.

The innovation, intervention and strategy specifically designed for

Project SAM-I sincerely followed through in its way to help achieve the

objective and goals of the LCS community and particularly aims to address

the concern of those pupils who lagged behind the reading school population
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and more importantly provide them the opportunity to improve their reading

skill and learning capabilities and keep up with the pace of the rest of the

reading school children of Lugait Central School.

Action Plan

This strategic research action plan provides a road map for decisions

about the direction of institutional initiatives and the selective allocation of

institutional resources. While identifying specific strategic research areas, we

recognize the importance of foundational areas of research that underlie the

strategic theme.

Table 2. Action Research Work Plan

Activity Output Responsible Due Date Resources/

Person Budget
Conduct of Phil- Results of Phil-IRI Class Advisers August
IRI 2018
Drafting action Draft of project Researcher, August 14,
proposal. proposal School Heads 2018
Submission of Submitted Action Researcher, August 15,
Action Research Research School Heads 2018
Proposal to the Proposal to the
Principal’s Office Principal’s Office
Presentation of Presented Action
Researcher, As schedule
Action Research Research School Heads, by the
Proposal Proposal Division Division
Personnel Office
Conduct Conducted an Researcher, September
interview interview Participants 25, 2018
Submission of Submitted Action Researcher, As schedule
Completed AR Research School Heads, by the
Division Division
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Personnel Office
Presentation of Presented Action Researcher, As schedule
Action Research Research School Heads, by the
Division Division
Personnel Office
Dissemination, Disseminated, Researcher During In-
utilizing and utilized and service
archiving archived Training
completed action completed action
research research.

References

Dehaene, S. (2009). Reading in the brain. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Goodman, K. (1967). Reading: A psycholinguistic guessing game. Journal of

the Reading Specialist, 6, 126-135. doi:10.1080/19388076709556976

Holstein, JA &Gubrium, JF. (1994). "Phenomenology, Ethnomethodology

and Interpretive Practice" In NK Denzin and YS Lincoln
(eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research. pp. 262-272.

Merriam, S.B. (1996).Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in

Education (pp. 6-15). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers

Neuman, W.L. (2006).Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative

Approaches. Boston: Pearson.

Polit, D.F. & Hungler, B.P. (1995). Nursing Research: Principles and
Methods: Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.

Stanovich, K. E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of

individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research
Quarterly, 21, 360–407. doi:10.1598/RRQ.21.4.1
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Financial Report

CATEGORIES AMOUNT

Printers: 4 x P 11, 000.00 44, 000.00

Laminators: 2 x P 2, 500.00 5,000.00

Acetate: 1 x 950.00 900.00

Other Expenses: 1, 000.00

Total Amount: P 50, 900.00

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