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Running head: STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN THE SECONDARY CLASSROOM 1

Teacher Action Research Project:

Improving Student Engagement in the Secondary Classroom

Shannon Wymer

North Carolina State University

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN THE SECONDARY CLASSROOM 2

Introduction to Action Research Project

Student engagement and connecting to students has always been an area of my

teaching that is a struggle for me. I think early in my career, since I was younger, I try hard

not to fall into the friend role, so my aloofness was misunderstood by many students. I also

have a sarcastic and dry sense of humor coupled with a no-nonsense attitude towards class

time, which puts up a barrier between my students and me. As I have matured as a person

and teacher, I have become more aware of my sarcasm and curbed it as well as included

more of my passion for teaching and learning into the classroom. Still, this attitude change

on my part has not achieved the levels of student engagement and connection that create

the optimal classroom environment.

The engagement and connection this school year has also been impacted by the

nature of my position. Currently, I am in an interim position returning to work in Johnston

County, North Carolina where I taught previously from January 1998 until June 2002. I was

not hired until the school year had already begun, so my students had a week of a day-to-

day sub. Then, I started the job and was expected to start where the other ninth grade

teachers were in the curriculum with little or no introduction period. I took some time to

try and build a rapport with students, but I don’t believe it was enough time. As the

semester has progressed, we learned that the teacher I am filling in for has resigned her

position. This news actually created more uncertainty in my classroom than I expected.

Students suddenly had questions about what would happen now that the “regular” teacher

had resigned. I assumed that this would not impact these students since they had been told

from the first day that the “regular” teacher would not be returning this first semester.


Since we are on the block schedule, this meant that these students would never meet the

“regular” teacher. My theory is that perhaps the students were holding back and not trying

to form an attachment because they did not expect me to be teaching at the school long-

term. Even now, the position I have is not long-term, and when students ask about what

happens after Christmas and next semester, I cannot answer their questions definitively.

What I have told students is that for the time I am teaching them, they will get my best, and

I will strive to help them learn using the best strategies I know.

Besides the uncertainty of my position, the changes in education over the past

decade are impacting my ability to engage and connect with students. I am teaching ninth

graders who are just entering high school. These students were all born in the late nineties

and have never known an educational system that was not governed by the rules of No

Child Left Behind (NCLB). The culture of NCLB has brought many changes to this county

since 2002 including the elimination of a second freshman English course and the

institution of common assessments and a Scope and Sequence that provides little flexibility.

Ironically, the introduction of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has not

dramatically changed the curriculum taught, which is also effecting student engagement in

my opinion.

The Research Question

As a result of the precarious nature of my position as well as the challenges of the

curriculum, I decided to research the question “How can I engage students within the

context of a fixed curriculum and common assessments?” This question became my focus

when I realized that it wasn’t just the unique start to the school year or my students’ past

educational experiences that were affecting student engagement. The fact that the


curriculum is set by my county administrators as well as the use of common assessments

forces my students and myself into a curriculum that feels removed from real world

applications. So, I chose a guiding question that would focus on student engagement within

the confines set forth by the county administrators.

Rationale

The curriculum of the county is not going to change in the foreseeable future, but

the students are not engaged in the learning process. In writing my research question, I

identified student engagement early in the process as a problem. I focused my study on my

third block class, which is my most challenging class. There are numerous discipline issues

ranging from disrespect to the teacher and other students to disruptive behavior that stop

the learning process. It seemed that a core group of students were controlling the class

because they were not engaged. Another portion of the class did not seem to be instigating

the issues, but they would go along with the disruptions once they started. A third, and

smaller, portion of the class want to learn and not be in a disruptive class, but they are not

the assertive portion of the class.

Looking for a way to bring these three distinct groups together seemed to be a tall

order, but it was a necessary step in order to have a functioning classroom where learning

and teaching could take place.

I started the school year focusing on the discipline issues by communicating with

parents of disruptive students and all the parents in the class as well. I tried multiple

seating charts to minimize disruptions. Students were sent to our Choices program for the

class period. I also tried conferencing with students individually to try to put an end to the

disrespect and disruptions. All of these methods had a minimal amount of success. It was


clear to me as teacher that just addressing the disciplinary nature of the problem would not

solve the ultimate problem, which was that learning was not taking place due to student

behavior that I was convinced stemmed from a lack of engagement.

Literature Review

To start the literature review, I first wanted to determine what impacted student

engagement. Student engagement can be viewed as the interaction between the teacher,

the student, and the content (Corso, Bundick, Quaglia, & Haywood, 2013). It is the

interactions between these elements that create student engagement (Corso et al., 2013).

Corso et al. (2013) maintain that the interaction between student and teacher form the

relationship while the interaction between student and content forms the relevance and

the interaction between the teacher and content forms the expertise. It is when the

relationship, relevance, and expertise intersect that student engagement results (Corso et

al., 2013). This view of student engagement makes the most sense to explain the issues in

my classroom. It is my feeling that the relevance Corso et al. describe is missing for many of

my students since they either do not interact with the content or do so only minimally.

However, I am not sure which elements of their relationships are missing, and, of course,

the difficulty may be that the elements missing for each student may be different.

The student center approach to teaching appeared often in many articles about

student engagement, and this seemed to be what my students needed. They certainly like

to have their say in the classroom as the many outbursts and students talking indicated.

But, I wasn’t exactly sure what student centered would or could like in my classroom since

I was also being told my the school and county administration that I had to teach the same

works of literature in the same ways as the other ninth grade teachers. I was also dealing


with the large class size and fast pace demanded by our county scope and sequence that

make student engagement more difficult (Toshalis & Nakkula, 2012). Despite the

difficulties, I knew that I needed to find some approach to make the class more student

centered.

In the literature I read certain aspects of engagement and motivation were

mentioned often. Choice, collaboration, and control (Gambrell, 2011; Toshalis & Nakkula,

2012) seemed to be leading contenders for ways to increase student engagement and

motivation. Knowing that the novel unit was our next unit of study, I began to look for ways

to include student choice, collaboration, and control into this unit of study. When I found

out that I was allowed by the department to teach any approved ninth grade novel for the

unit, I knew that I could offer choice, but how could I do that best that would also include

collaboration and control? While my first experiences with literature circles had not been

good ones, all the articles I was reading mentioned them as a strategy, and when I went to

the English Companion Ning (www.englishcompanion.ning.com), teachers from all over the

country also said this was a strategy that worked well in their classrooms. It was this

information that led me to re-examine literature circles.

I had some limited experience with literature circles, but my experience was based

on someone else, usually another teacher telling me what they did in the classroom. I knew

for this strategy to work, I needed to go to the source. So, I read the seminal text Literature

Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs & Reading Groups by Harvey Daniels, a noted leader

in the literature circle movement, in order to plan my own unit of study. According to

Daniels, literature circles are “small, peer-led discussion groups whose members have

chosen to read the same story, poem, article or book. . . [where students prepare for


discussion by making] notes to help them contribute to the upcoming discussion, and

everyone comes to the group with ideas to share” (p. 2). This basic definition of literature

circles was one I liked and understood, but I still had questions. First, I did not like the idea

of role sheets, which are usually associated with literature circles because in my

experience, students merely read what is on their sheet and never really discuss and talk

with each other about what they have read. Second, I had qualms about what to do about

students who do not prepare for the discussion, which is essential to a successful

discussion.

After reading the text, my questions were answered, and I had a plan for my three-

week unit of study. I would give students the choice between three approved novels,

Anthem by Ayn Rand, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper

Lee, after giving students a book talk and chance to review each of the books. Students

would write down their choices for the literature circles, and I would form groups based on

student requests. Instead of role sheets, I was asking students to complete reading journals

for each section of reading. I decided that we would have five discussion days during the

three-week unit and asked each group to determine how much reading they would do in

preparation for each discussion day. As groups discussed their reading, I would observe the

discussion. Students who did not complete the reading journal would not be allowed to

participate and would lose the points for that assignment. At the end of the unit, there

would be an assessment, but I would also ask students to give feedback throughout the unit

via informal reflections at the end of the discussion days and the unit.


Methodology

Data Collection

My first step in the action research process was to collect data from students about

their feelings about the course. In order to do this, I asked students to write me a letter

detailing what changes they would like to see in the course. This first step helped me to

understand where there were gaps in engagement. Armed with this knowledge, I searched

for a teaching strategy that would address those gaps and help me to meet the goals of my

curriculum.

My second step was to ask students to complete a sociogram survey. A sociogram is

a way to visually chart the relationships in a classroom. To create the sociogram, I created a

survey (Appendix A) based on others that I found during my research. Because the

students in my class seem to have strong positive and negative relationships, I included

both types of questions on my survey. Once all students had completed the survey, I was

able to use Socio File Creator (Banerjee, 2013) to create the sociogram.

As a result of student feedback and my research, I determined that literature circles

would be a good first intervention to improve student engagement. During the literature

circles, I observed students and collected data during those observations in the form of an

evaluation sheet. Students were also asked to reflect upon the literature circle process

throughout the unit using questionnaires. Throughout the unit, I also kept a reflection

journal to free write after each class session.

My last collection of data relates to student behavior and grades. I kept track of the

discipline referrals during this time to see if there were any changes in student behavior

since I theorized that greater engagement should lead to less discipline referrals. Along


with the discipline referrals, I also kept data to track of student grades as a way to gauge

engagement again working on the theory that if students were engaged, they would

complete more work.

Data Analysis

Students wrote a letter to me on October 23, 2013 replying to my question about

what strategies they would like to see incorporated into the classroom. I informally tallied

these results since students worded this many different ways. This tally was put into a list

format for me to refer to as I continued my research and planning for the unit. In general,

students said that they wanted to have more group work and a variety of activities.

The sociogram survey results were collected during class on October 24, 2013 with

students who were absent completing the survey when they returned to class in the

following days. The results were tabulated using an Excel spreadsheet and charted using

Socio File Creator (Banerjee, 2013). The results were tabulated into three graphs

(Appendices B, C, and D). Some students included more than the three nominations

allowed on the survey. In these cases, I used only the first three nominations listed on the

survey form.

Observation data from the literature circle meetings was typed up using Microsoft

Word and then coded and analyzed by myself. These observations were used during the

unit to make changes to the literature circle meetings.

Student reflections were coded and analyzed to find common themes and topics of

discussion in a similar manner to the observation data. Similarly, the free writings I

completed during the unit were also coded in analyzed in the same manner.


Discipline issues were actually unable to be analyzed because while there were

referrals during this time period, they were not on days when we were working on our

novel unit. Since there were many more factors than just subject matter involved in the

incidents, I could not draw any conclusions from this piece of data.

To analyze grades for the unit, I made charts of student grades for each reading

journal assignment as well as for the final assessment. Since the reading journals were

graded for completion first, those grades were expressed as a fraction of those who

completed the assignment to the total number of students in the class. The reading journals

were also collected at the end of the unit and graded for content using a rubric (Appendix

E) given to the students after the first reading journal was due. The final assessment was a

quote identification test asking students to identify and explain five quotes and their

significance to the work (Appendices F, G, H).

Findings

Sociogram

The sociogram findings explained what I had suspected. There were definite groups

in the class of popular, strongly disliked, ignored, and middle students. I based the idea of

the students who are popular in general based on who students would choose to sit with at

lunch, which was question number one on the survey. The survey also revealed who would

work well in a group setting, which was important to know for the literature circle groups. I

also wanted to know if the students recognized the skills of fellow students by asking

whom they would ask for help in class.

The sociogram results confirmed my observations that my popular students were

two girls, Analiese and Amaria, and one boy, Ty. These three students were also my social


talkers, but they do respond to my interventions and reminders to stay focused. The same

diagram (Appendix A) indicates a group of students that I was having trouble

understanding, and that is the controversial students. These students are either liked by

their classmates or disliked, which could potentially create issues. So, I was careful to try

and keep these students in groups with others who viewed them positively. Appendix A

also confirmed that there were two students who were strongly disliked in the class, which

made placing them in a literature circle group difficult.

Interestingly, when the question of who students would choose to work with in a

small group was posed, only one of the popular students was still a popular choice.

However, three of the controversial students from the Appendix A diagram are still

controversial choices, reinforcing that these three students needed to be grouped carefully.

And, again, the two disliked students were again not picked to be in small groups.

In trying to determine how students view others with the third question about who

to ask for help, I was again encouraged that my observations were correct. The students

picked two students, Natalie and Hana, who have high grades in the class as well as

students who do not cause discipline issues in the class. It was interesting to see that one of

the students, Jewel, who was disliked in the earlier diagrams move to the controversial

position signifying that students do realize that she understands the class material, but

they do not like her. Unfortunately, the other disliked student, Taylor, remained disliked in

this diagram as well.

Grades

The first data point for grades is the amount of students who completed their

reading journals and were able to take part in the literature circle discussions. Some


students would be excused from the assignment if they were absent that day or, in the case

of the first assignment, absent when the assignment was given. I have tabulated those in

Table 1. The table shows that students completed the assignment at a high rate for the first

due date, but that the percentage did drop as we continued through the unit.

Table 1 Students Reading Journal CompletionsDate of Reading

Journal Assignment

Total Number of Students

Number of Students

Completing Work

Number of Students

Incomplete Work

Number of Students Excused

October 31 28 22 6 0November 4 29 17 8 3November 7 27 18 6 3

November 12 27 17 10 0

The final grade for reading journal content revealed that again grades were not

illustrating engagement and certainly no motivation. The class average on the reading

journal content assignment was 60%. In Table 2, I have shown the grade distribution for

the assignment. Half of those students, six, in the failing (F) category did not even turn the

assignment in. These students were also the large majority of the students who did not

complete the reading journals during the unit of study as well. The other students in the

failing category were missing some of the reading journals, so they did not have all of the

required elements. As with the reading journal completeness, there is a large percentage

who did not do what was required, which again shows low levels of motivation.

Table 2 Grade Distribution for Reading Journal Content GradesGrade A B C D F

Number of Students

2 6 6 1 12

The novel test as a grade might be the better indication of student engagement since

all students had to take the test. The higher grades illustrate a deeper level of thinking and

understanding of the novel; however, lower grades would illustrate less actively thinking


about the text. When grading I also noticed that while students seemed to show deeper

thinking in their group discussions, they were not necessarily showing those thoughts in

their writing. Many were assuming aspects of the writing rather than explaining all aspects

of their answer. As a result, the grades are more an illustration of the ability to express

themselves in writing rather than an illustration of their understanding and thinking about

the novel. Therefore, I found these grades did not impact my understanding of the unit, but

they did illustrate where I needed to help students improve their written expression.

Observations

The observations during the unit are those that I took note of in my free writings

after each class as well as observations of students during literature circle meetings. During

the observation of each literature circle, I completed an observation sheet (Appendix I) that

allowed me to make notes of student behaviors as well as whole group behaviors. For the

thinking skills, I was noting how students illustrated that they were thinking about the

novel and using the text to support their ideas. When observing social skills, I was looking

for good discussion habits, which we had talked about prior to the first literature circle

meeting.

On the first meeting date, I observed two groups. Both groups illustrated thinking

skills. In the group discussing Speak, Analiese read from the text to remind group members

about a certain part of the book that she was questioning and Amaria also reminded group

members about a specific example from the book saying “Remember when the boy . . .” to

start her discussion. In the group discussing Anthem, I also saw evidence of using thinking

skills. Austin used examples of language from the book to try and figure out the time setting

for the book as well as to explain the use of “we” versus the use of “I” in the book. Troy


showed thinking skills by making a personal connection between the book and his life.

However, during both group meetings, the discussion did stall rather quickly, so I asked

discussion questions to restart discussion. While I did not formally observe the other

groups this day, I did note that many were finished discussing before the time allotted.

Since discussion in the groups was short the first meeting, I reinforced for students

how to continue discussion before the second literature circle meeting. I also gave students

a handout of actions they could take during a discussion to keep the ideas flowing. During

the second literature circle meeting, I observed three groups, but one observation was

shorter than the others. I observed one group discussing Speak that did eventually

illustrate thinking skills during discussion, but they were reluctant to discuss at all while I

was observing. I made note that they seemed reluctant to discuss with me observing in

order to try and watch from afar. This reluctant group was a smaller group made up of

Autumn, Cynthia, and Thomas. I also observed another group of three discussing Speak that

seemed equally reticent to discuss. However, unlike the other group that seemed to want to

talk about anything but the book, this group seemed unwilling to talk in general. This group

was comprised of Carolina, a limited English speaker, Kathryn, and Natalie. I did make note

that I felt this was a dysfunctional group, but I couldn’t figure out what exactly caused the

problem. The third and shorter observation was of the group discussing To Kill a

Mockingbird. This group seemed anxious to talk about the book, and unlike the other

groups, had the problem of talking over each other rather than listening; although, the

talking over others was mostly Jewel interrupting others when she had an idea. This

behavior of wanting her ideas to be shared and recognized immediately is also why she is

disliked by many students in the class.


Since the second literature circle meetings were also stilted discussions, I provided

students with discussion questions to help their third meetings. During this literature circle

meeting, I observed three groups including two that I observed during meeting two. The To

Kill a Mockingbird group was missing one member this time, but they still talked over each

other quite a bit. However, as a group they all demonstrated thinking skills and a deep

understanding of the text by using textual evidence to discuss characters and motivations

rather than just plot events. I also observed the Speak group that included Autumn, Cynthia,

Thomas, and Ty. The group attempted to use the discussion questions to talk about the

book; however, they were also off-topic quite a bit and enjoyed jokes with sexual innuendo.

Once I had moved on to observe other groups, both Autumn and Thomas tried to leave the

group to go talk with other members of the class. These students were redirected to their

group, but I could tell this group was no longer discussing the book once I had moved away.

The Anthem group of Austin, Kayne, and Troy was the most functional group with give and

take between members and thinking skills demonstrated by all members. This group also

moved the discussion from plot questions to look at motivation and theme by asking

questions such as “Is our society really equal?”, “Is the society in Anthem really equal?”, and

“I wonder if Equality still feels scared.” In order to answer these questions, the group

members also used textual evidence to support their answers.

During the last literature circle meeting time, I attempted to observe each group for

at least some portion of the discussion. The group of Autumn, Cynthia, Thomas, and Ty

again seemed unfocused on the novel. They were relying on the discussion questions to

talk and giving only superficial answers. The Speak group of Carolina, Natalie, Kathryn,

Maritza, and Ana seemed stilted and unsure what to say much like the first observation of


this group. Again, I wondered if cultural differences and language difficulties were to blame

since both Carolina and Ana just tested out of the ELL program and Maritza is Hispanic. In

another Speak group, Amaria, Analiese, Noah, and Luis had a somewhat productive

discussion with Noah and Luis only speaking to answer questions directed at them. Amaria

and Analiese discussed the idea of the difference between the court of law and personal

opinion quite well using textual evidence and prior knowledge to elaborate and explain. In

the last Speak group of Wilder, Raul, Summer, Tiffany, and Haley, they also relied on the

discussion questions by asking a question and answering superficially and then moving on.

While the To Kill a Mockingbird group normally has a spirited discussion, during this class

period, there were clearly two pairs talking rather than one group. Samantha and Hana

were discussing together while Jewel and Victoria were talking to each other. I sensed that

there was some disagreement with Jewel that resulted in this split, but I could not confirm

this suspicion.

In all, I noticed that while the classes seemed hectic on discussion days, the students

were largely engaged in their groups. I also noted that the students who were unable to

participate did not like being separated from the class or being told to stay focused and

quiet.

Reflections and Evaluations

At the end of the third literature circle discussion, I asked students to write on a

sheet of paper what they have learned so far during the unit and what I can do to improve

the unit. The comments from the students about what they learned focused on three main

areas: communication skills, learning about the book, changes in perceptions about others.


For communication skills, students said that they learned how to function better in a

small group. Haley said, “I learned great communication skills. I really like literature circles

because you get to know and hear what other people think about the book.” Raul also said

that literature circles helped him by learning “there are many way to discuss one book in a

group and get along.” Kathryn, who was part of a group I considered dysfunctional, said,

“I’ve learned to communicate with others and keep up a conversation with classmates.”

While I didn’t observe get strides for Kathryn and her communication skills, I do know that

she is rather quiet during class, so from her point of view, participating at all may have

been a big step.

Many students commented that talking with others about the book helped them

understand the book better or answer questions that they had. Carolina, one of my limited

English speakers, said, “By getting in groups you get [k]now whats going on or how they

feel about it.” She also mentioned that doing the reading journals helped her better

understand the book and feel prepared for discussions. Amaria, one of the more popular

students in the class, said, “I’ve learned that I understand the book’s topics more when I’m

in a group.” Kayne, one of my neglected students, said, “Working in groups and talking

about the book helps me understand parts to the book better.” It seems that the group

aspect of the unit was popular and beneficial.

The changes in perception about reading and their fellow students show true

growth for some students. Tiffany, who has struggled in my class, said, “I have learned that

reading is actually more fun then I thought and the novel unit is a better grade for me.” She

was correct that her grade did improve during the unit, and she was an enthusiastic

participant during discussions. Austin, who is a capable if sometimes lazy student, also


found the units to be enlightening. He said, “I’ve learned that you can’t judge a book by its

cover or people and books. Anthem seemed like a book without much detail and too short

but it’s very good and people look like troublemakers but actually can do their work.”

Austin’s appreciation for his fellow classmates is a step in the right direction to help

students see beyond appearances and accept differences. While not many students had

these same break-through moments, none of them said they disliked the unit.

The biggest complaints in the evaluations were not being in groups with friends,

having to complete the reading journals, and limited time to read and work on the novel in

class. The not being in a group with friends was not a huge negative to me because I wanted

students to learn to work with those outside their comfort zone, but it did surprise me that

one of these comments came from Ty, who is one of the more popular students in the class.

The complaints about the reading journals seemed more a complaint about having to do

the work at all. Typical comments were like Natalie who said, “I don’t like doing the reading

entries because I like to read on my own time not having to read to a certain page.”

Students were told that they could read ahead, but they had to not spoil future plot events

during discussion times. Another typical response about the reading journals came from

Analiese who said, “You could take out the journal entries because they aren’t very fun and

don’t help me learn the book any better.” The comment about the entries not being fun

seems most telling. The requests for more time to do the work at school also seemed to be

more about not wanting to do work at home since students were given at least twenty

minutes to read on days that literature circles did not meet. During the reading time though

many students had to be redirected back to the task at hand. Instead of reading on these

days, many wanted to talk or try to put their heads down and sleep.


Discussion

Implications for My Teaching

I do believe that the literature circles gave students the choice, control, and

collaboration that they want in a classroom. I would not say that the unit was an

unqualified success as clearly there were students who were not engaged based on the

grades and observations of group discussions. For some of these students to complete the

work, it will take more than one unit to entice them back into the classroom. One aspect I

would like to know more about was why these students chose not to participate. I know

one student, Justin, said he didn’t understand Anthem and neither did his mother. Once he

made that decision, it did not seem to matter what help or resources I offered, he was not

going to read the book. I am not sure that his point of view was true for the five other

students who did not complete the reading journals. I think understanding why these five

students chose not to engage in the unit may be the key to really engaging all students, but I

also think it was a lack of motivation. There seems to be a current of just not wanting to do

work that overwhelms students. Every assignment and part of any unit that I teach to these

students is met with complaints of “This is hard” or “I am going to fail.” I can tell students

that they are capable and try to encourage them, but I believe they need some success

before they will believe me. Unfortunately, the ninth grade curriculum as it is written in my

county is not set up to build confidence. The pace is fast and pieces of literature are difficult

for struggling readers. Plus, we are dealing with limited resources that mean there are not

enough books to send home with students forcing much of the reading to be done in class.

The limited resources were one main reason I chose the literature circle approach because

by using multiple texts, I had enough for everyone to take home. Overall the students


seemed to enjoy the unit, and I felt that they did learn more by reading the book and being

in charge of their own learning. This is will be a strategy that I will use again in the

classroom.

Implications for Others

I do believe that for the other teachers in my PLC this study shows that the students

are capable of reading and thinking at a deeper level when given the chance. I also think

that the unit is a way to read an entire novel within the three-week timeframe that our

county scope and sequence demands. The other teachers in my PLC do not read the entire

novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, due to the lack of time and resources. While I would not say

that every student read the novel he or she chose, I do believe that most students read the

novel and have a better understanding of comprehending and thinking about a novel.

I also think that the study illustrates that giving students control and a chance to

collaborate increased engagement and student learning. Students liked the unit as a whole

and discipline referrals on literature circle meeting days were nonexistent. Complaints

about due dates and such were handled easily because the students themselves set the

reading deadlines.

Certainly the amount of observations and student data collected gives teachers,

parents, and students information about the student’s reading, discussion, and thinking

skills. By completing the reading journals, there is evidence of student thinking and reading

skills while the observation of literature circles provides information about discussion and

thinking skills. In a time when administrators and parents want more data, I believe that

this data is more telling about a student’s abilities than a standardized test ever could be.


What I Have Learned

The literature circle was not a strategy that I wanted to use based on past

experiences, but once I read the original plans and ideas for literature circles, I understood

that this is a strategy that could work in my classroom. It gives students the choice and

control that I like to give them as well as the collaboration that my students wanted. The

days of literature circle discussion were hectic, and I do know that more instruction still

needs to take place to increase reading comprehension and discussion techniques.

I learned that for some students it is going to take more than one unit or one

intervention to make a difference in their motivation and engagement. I refuse to lessen my

expectations in order to make it easier for students, but I will continue to look for strategies

to help them succeed in the classroom and hopefully increase their motivation and

engagement. I think that literature circle approach was a good first step since it was a unit

that increased student grades for many of my students, but I am still concerned by the large

number of students who are not doing the most basic parts of the work.

The strict scope and sequence and belief that all teachers must teach the same thing

at the same time is not in the students’ best interest. I know this from my observations this

semester, but I think more research needs to be done to have the data for administrators to

agree. When resources are stretched too thin so that students do not have access to taking

books home and reading on their own at the secondary level, problems will persist. In

order to be better readers, students need to read often and from a variety of materials

(Gambrell, 2011). I feel that my students are not reading enough on their own to truly

develop better reading skills, but the literature circles are a way to incorporate more

reading without giving up lots of classroom time. However, classroom time must be


devoted in the beginning to teach students how to discuss and how to prepare for

discussions.

I believe that more research into the better way to structure a curriculum to meet

student and curriculum needs would be a valuable research for the future. The Common

Core State Standards can be met in a variety of ways, but teachers seem a bit hesitant to try

new ideas and meet the needs of students. The idea of relevancy is one that has been

discussed quite a bit in engagement and motivation literature, and I feel that this is an issue

to study in connection to curriculum. Is the current curriculum relevant to today’s student?

As the curriculum is being taught and approached in my county, I believe the answer would

be no. The literature circles were a good first step, but I would want to restructure the

entire curriculum to give students choice, control, and collaboration throughout the course

rather than just one unit of study.


References

Banerjee, R. (2013). Socio File Creator: Robin Banerjee’s Sociogram Tools [Software].

Available from http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Users/robinb/socio3.html

Corso, M. J., Bundick, M. J., Quaglia, R. J., & Haywood, D. E. (2013). Where student, teacher,

and content meet: student engagement in the secondary school classroom. American

Secondary Education, 41(3), 50-61. Retrieved from

http://proxying.lib.ncsu.edu.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/index.php?url=http://

search.ebscohost.com.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=f6h&AN=89935759&site=ehostlive&scope=site

Daniels, Harvey (2002). Literature Circles: Voice and choice in book clubs & reading

groups. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Gambrell, L. B. (2011). Seven rules of engagement: what’s most important to know about

motivation to read. The Reading Teacher, 65(3), 172-176. doi: 10.1002/TRTR01024

Rust, F., & Clark, C. How to do action research in your classroom. Retrieved from

http://teachersnetwork.org/TNLI/Action_Research_Booklet.pdf

Toshalis, E. & Nakkula, M.J. (2012). Motivation, engagement, and student voice. Education

Digest, 78(1), 29-35. Retrieved from

http://proxying.lib.ncsu.edu.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/index.php?url=http://

search.ebscohost.com.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=f6h&AN=82981814&site=ehost-live&scope=site

http://proxying.lib.ncsu.edu.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/index.php?url=http://search.ebscoh

http://proxying.lib.ncsu.edu.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/index.php?url=http://search.ebscoh


Appendix A

Mrs. Wymer Block ______

Your Full Name ________________________________________________________________

Answer each question by listing the code (#) for the students you are choosing.

Which three kids in this class would you most like to sit with at lunch?

__________ __________ __________

Which three kids would you want to work with in a small group on a project?

__________ __________ __________

Which three kids would you ask first to explain something to you?

__________ __________ __________

Which three kids in this class do you like the least?

__________ __________ __________

Classmate Names and CodesHaley A. 1Carolina B. 2Analiese B. 3Troy B. 4Justin B. 5Raul D. 6Noah C. 7Jesse D. 8Victoria H. 9Ty H. 10Amaria J. 11Summer L. 12Thomas M. 13Cynthia M. 14

Kayne N. 15Anthony R. 16Austin R. 17Kathryn R. 18Tiffany R. 19Samantha S. 20Wilder S. 21Natalie S. 22Maritza V. 23Ana V. 24Hana W. 25Taylor W. 26Jewel W. 27Autumn W. 28

Running Head: STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN THE SECONDARY CLASSROOM

Appenix B

Sociogram survey results based on questions one and four.

Key for results Double headed blue arrow represents reciprocated positive nomination Black single headed arrow indicates an unreciprocated positive nomination Green circles indicate popular students who received large numbers of positive

nominations and low numbers of negative nominations Orange circles indicate controversial students who received large numbers of

positive and negative nominations Pink circles indicate neglected students who received low numbers of positive and

negative nominations Gray circles indicate rejected students who received low numbers of positive

nominations and high numbers of negative nominations

25

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN THE SECONDARY CLASSROOM

Appendix C

Sociogram survey results based on questions two and four.






26


Appendix D

Sociogram survey results based on questions three and four.






27


Appendix E

Reading Journal RubricMrs. WymerEnglish I

A

Notes demonstrate a variety of thinking skills throughout the journal Demonstrates a deep understanding of the novel’s plot and the elements of the

novel including characterization, theme, symbolism, and author’s craft Illustrations if used are detailed and fully explained using color and creativity Uses complete sentences Organized using the required format

B

Notes demonstrate some variety in the thinking skills but typically rely on only one or two per journal entry

Demonstrates a basic understanding of the novel’s plot and the elements of the novel including characterization, theme, symbolism, and author’s craft

Illustrations if used are detailed and explained without color and/or creativity Uses complete sentences Organized using the required format

C

Notes demonstrate little variety of thinking skills relying on one or two for all entries

Demonstrates understanding of the novel’s plot but little understanding of the elements of the novel including characterization, theme, symbolism, and author’s craft

Illustrations if used are basic but explained fully without color and/or creativity

Uses mostly complete sentences Organized using the required format

D

Notes demonstrate no variety of thinking skills using the same one throughout all the entries

Demonstrates basic understanding of the novel’s plot but no understanding of the elements of the novel including characterization, theme, symbolism, and author’s craft

Illustrations if used are basic and not explained completely and do not use color

Uses primarily fragments with the occasional complete sentence Organized using the required format

F

Notes demonstrate no thinking skills beyond plot summarization Demonstrates little understanding of the plot of the novel Illustrations if used are basic and not explained at all Uses only fragments and incomplete thoughts Not organized using the required format

28


Appendix FEnglish IMrs. WymerAnthem Quote Identification Test

For your test, you will need to complete three steps for each quote. You need to complete the three steps below for FIVE of the quotes below. Be sure to write in complete sentences and proofread your work before turning it in.

1. Identify who is the speaker of the quote 2. Explain what the quote is saying literally by giving the background information for what

is happening in the story at this point.3. Explain how the quote is significant to the story.

1. “It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think”

2. “There is fear hanging in the air of the sleeping halls, and in the air of the streets. Fear walks through the City, fear without name, without shape. All men feel it and none dare to speak.”

3. “We know not what we are saying. Our head is reeling. We look upon the light we have made.”

4. “Many men in the Homes of the Scholars have had strange new ideas in the past . . . but when the majority of their brother Scholars voted against them, they abandoned their ideas, as all men must.” 5. “[I]f this should lighten the toil of men . . . then it is a great evil, for men have no cause to exist save in toiling for other men.” 6. “I wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning.”

7. “The sacred word: EGO”

29


Appendix GEnglish IMrs. WymerSpeak Quote Identification Test

For your test, you will need to complete three steps for each quote. You need to identify FIVE of the quotes below using the three steps listed. Be sure to write in complete sentences and use textual evidence to support your answer.

1. Identify who is the speaker of the quote 2. Explain what the quote is saying literally by giving the background information for what

is happening in the story at this point.3. Explain how the quote is significant to the story.

1. “I am Outcast.”

2. “It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.”

3. “How can I talk to them about that night? How can I start?”

4. “I open a paperclip and scratch it across the inside of my left wrist. Pitiful. If a suicide attempt is a cry for help, then what is this. A whimper, a peep? I draw little windowcracks of blood, etching line after line until it stops hurting.”

5. "‘You don't like anything. You are the most depressed person I've ever met, and excuse me for saying this, but you are no fun to be around and I think you need professional help.’"

6. “I have survived. I am here. Confused, screwed up, but here.”

7. “Let me tell you about it.”

30


Appendix HEnglish IMrs. WymerTo Kill a Mockingbird Quote Identification Test

For your test, you are going to need to complete three steps for each quote. You must write a complete quote identification for FIVE of the quotes below. Be sure to use complete sentences and textual evidence in your answer.

1. Identify who said the quote 2. Explain what the quote means literally by telling what is happening in the story at that

point.3. Explain how the quote is significant to the story.

1. “I never deliberately learned to read, but somehow I had been wallowing illicitly in the daily newspapers.”

2. “For a number of reasons. The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold my head up in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem to do something again.”

3. “If your father’s anything, he’s civilized in his heart. Markmanship’s a gift of God, a talent . . . I think he put his gun down when he realized that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things.”

4. “You’re not gonna change any of them by talkin’ right, they’ve got to want to learn themselves, and when they don’t want to learn there’s nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their language.”

5. “But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal – there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court” 6. “Atticus Finch won’t win, he can’t win, but he’s the only man in these parts who can keep a jury out so long in a case like that. And I thought to myself, well, we’re making a step – it’s just a baby-step, but it’s a step.”

7. “Mr. Underwood simply figured it was a sin to kill cripples, be they standing, sitting, or escaping. He likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children.”

8. “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.”

31


Appendix I

Literature Circle Observation Sheet

Group Name _______________________________________________ Date ___________________________

Name Prepared? Participated? Thinking Skills Social Skills

Y N Y N

Y N Y N

Y N Y N

Y N Y N

Y N Y N

32

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