Date of Award

5-2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

College/School

College of Education and Human Services

Department/Program

Early Childhood, Elementary and Literacy Education

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

Tina Jacobowitz

Committee Member

Susan Wray

Committee Member

Katrina Bulkley

Abstract

Research shows that reading comprehension is enhanced if the reader constructs meaning by making connections to the text. Connections may be made between readers and their background knowledge and/or between readers and other texts they have read. The purpose of this action research project was to determine if teaching students how to make these two kinds of connections would enhance their comprehension. To this end, a metacognitive strategy called Making Connections was implemented and taught to the students during their normal reading lessons. Data were collected through interviews with the students about this strategy, observation charts that recorded their connections, student feedback on lessons and activities that involved this strategy, weekly comprehension test scores, and a research journal log. At the conclusion of the study, data were analyzed to see what kinds of connections students made, how they felt about the strategy, and whether it improved their reading comprehension. A major finding of this study was that the students had a greater understanding of the stories they read and discussed in class.

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