Term
Summer 2017
Capstone
Thesis
Degree Name
MALED
Primary Advisor/Dissertation Chair
Karen Moroz
Secondary Advisor/Reader One
Dawn Fedora
Peer-Reviewer/Reader Two
Betsy Saine
Abstract
The research question addressed in this capstone was: How does explicit instruction in close reading skills impact self-perception as a reader in struggling middle school students? In this project, action research was conducted over a four week period in a seventh grade suburban summer school classroom with eleven students. All of the participants were categorized as struggling readers. At the beginning of the research, students were administered a survey to gather information about their self-perception as a reader. Over the next four weeks, students received explicit instruction in three close reading strategies. During this period, students were also interviewed one on one about their learning and self-perception as a reader. At the end of the study, students completed the same reader self-perception survey. After four weeks of explicit instruction in close reading strategies, all eleven students saw gains in their reader self-perception. In their interviews students expressed that the close reading strategies gave them greater confidence and skill as a reader
Research Methodology
Action Research, Interview, Survey (attitude scale, opinion, questionnaire)
Keywords
Literacy, Motivation, Reading
Recommended Citation
Slinger, Megan, "Close Reading As A Means For Increasing Self-Perception In Struggling Middle School Readers" (2017). School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations. 4368.
https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all/4368