Action Research Project

Brittany Ort
Research Question
What is the impact of graphic
organizers on students’ reading
comprehension of science content
area text?
Terms Used in Action Research
• Graphic organizer- an aid which visually depicts the relationship between
concepts and is designed to enhance reading comprehension (Shaw, S., Nihalani, P.,
Mayrath, M., & Robinson, D.H., 2012)
• Reading comprehension- an intentional process where the reader constructs
meaning from the text through thinking and engagement with the text (Reutzel,
D.R. & Cooter, R.B., 2019)
• General academic vocabulary- words which frequently appear in language
and are found in a variety of disciplines (Reutzel, D.R. & Cooter, R.B., 2019)
• Technical vocabulary- specific terminology which is related to a particular
domain such as science (Ardasheva, Y., Newcomer, S.N., Firestone, J.B., & Lamb, R.L., 2017)
• Scientific text- writings which include general academic vocabulary and
technical vocabulary through scientific terminology
Why Graphic Organizers?
• Reading comprehension tool
• Used in every content area
• Many different types= concept map
• Visually depict information from text
• Helpful for visual learners
• Makes explicit implicit connections
• Can incorporate many different comprehension strategies in a graphic organizer
• Summarizing
• Generating questions
• Identification of story structure
• Vocabulary knowledge
• Identification of main ideas and supporting details
Why Scientific Text?
•
My concentration is in math and
science for middle school
• Wanted to research a strategy
which I could incorporate into
future instruction
• Based on literature reviews and research,
scientific text includes:
• general academic vocabulary
• technical or domain specific vocabulary
• Implicit connections, few logical connections=
make inferences
(Roman, D., Jones, F., Basaraba, D., & Hironaka, S., 2016)
Methodology- Hypothetical
• Participants: 20-30 eighth grade students from one school
• Read independently
• Literature reviews included information about middle school students and scientific text
1. Read 1st preselected text- Mount Pinatubo and the Ring of Fire (ReadWorks, 2013)
2. Complete comprehension assessment related to the text
3. Read 2nd preselected text- Long-term Monitoring of the Hudson River (American Museum
of Natural History, 2015)
4. Complete Graphic Organizer during and after reading 2nd text
5. Complete comprehension assessment related to the text
6. Compare assessment results
 • 2 scientific texts chosen have:
Scientific Text- Readworks • Similar word count
• Similar Lexile level
• 1st: 1150L
• 2nd: 1120L
• Lexile within grade level range

(ReadWorks, 2013)
Comprehension Assessment- Readworks
• Questions related to:
• Vocabulary
• Identification of the main idea
• Determining and providing supporting
details
• Making inferences
• Questions connected with
information for comprehension
assessments in my literature reviews
(Sam, D.R. & Rajan, P., 2013)
• Resource I chose for the scientific text
provided text with comprehension
questions and answer keys

(ReadWorks, 2013)
Graphic Organizer
• In the organizer students write:
• Topic
• Main question
• Notes in the form of a Concept Map
• Vocabulary
• Questions
• Summary
• Chosen because it includes multiple
comprehension strategies
• Summarizing
• Generating questions
• Identification of story structure through
identification of main ideas
• Vocabulary knowledge
Findings
• Increase in the percentage of students who correctly answered the
comprehension assessment questions after using the graphic organizers
• (Sam, D.R. & Rajan, P., 2013) and (Knight, V.F., Spooner, F., Browder, D.M., Smith, B.R., &
Wood, C.L., 2013)
• Vocabulary should not have hindered a student’s reading comprehension
• Graphic organizer incorporated vocabulary
• Graphic organizers have been a successful tool for promoting students’ scientific language
• (Mercuri, S.P., 2010)
• When looking at the students’ completed graphic organizers, should have
noticed that students could extract the main details from the text
• Students could explicitly demonstrate understanding of details contained in the text
• (Roman, D., Jones, F., Basaraba, D., & Hironaka, S., 2016)
Recommendations
• Graphic organizers are a tool for reading comprehension, but they are not the
only strategy
• Reading comprehension is best supported through the use of multiple strategies
• Oral or written retell, activation of prior knowledge, questioning, reciprocal teaching
• (Reutzel, D.R. & Cooter, R.B., 2019)
• Teachers should incorporate more vocabulary-based instructional practices
• Connection between vocabulary understanding and reading achievement
• (Ardasheva, Y., Newcomer, S.N., Firestone, J.B., & Lamb, R.L., 2017)
• Graphic organizers benefit students the most when they accompany effective
pedagogical practices
• (Knight, V.F., Spooner, F., Browder, D.M., Smith, B.R., & Wood, C.L., 2013)
• Future research:
• Larger sample size
• Expand definition of scientific text or study science articles versus science textbook reading
comprehension
• Research different types of graphic organizers- students could create their own
Infographic
References
American Museum of Natural History. (2015). Long-term monitoring of the Hudson River. Retrieved from https://www.readworks.org/article/Long-Term-
Monitoring-of-the-Hudson-River/e8003352-04d5-4289- 87668d7bd017ce7b#!
articleTab:content/vocabularySection:decline/questionsetsSection:2658/answerKey:false/
Ardasheva, Y., Newcomer, S.N., Firestone, J.B., & Lamb, R.L. (2017). Mediation in the relationship among EL status, vocabulary, and science reading
comprehension. The Journal of Educational Research, 110(6), 665-674.
Knight, V.F., Spooner, F., Browder, D.M., Smith, B.R., & Wood, C.L. (2013). Using systematic instruction and graphic organizers to teach science concepts to
students with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disability. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 28(2), 115-126.
Mercuri, S.P. (2010). Using graphic organizers as a tool for the development of scientific language. Gist Education and Learning Research Journal, 4(1), 30-49.
ReadWorks. (2013). Mount Pinatubo and the Ring of Fire. Retrieved from https://www.readworks.org/article/Mount-Pinatubo-and-the-Ring-of-
Fire/3d0036cc-d11d-449a-ac45-9989db214acd#!questionsetsSection:593/answerKey:true/articleTab:content/
Reutzel, D.R. & Cooter, R.B. (2019). Teaching children to read: The teacher makes the difference. NY,NY: Pearson.
Roman, D., Jones, F., Basaraba, D., Hironaka, S. (2016). Helping students bridge inferences in science text using graphic organizers . Journal of Adolescent &
Adult Literacy, 60(2), 121-130.
Sam, D.R. & Rajan, P. (2013). Using graphic organizers to improve reading comprehension skills for the middle school ESL students . English Language
Teaching, 6(2), 155-170.
Shaw, S., Nihalani, P., Mayrath, M., & Robinson, D.H. (2012). Graphic organizers or graphic overviews? Presentation order effects with computer- based text.
Educational Technology Research and Development, 60(5), 807-820.