What teaching strategies can I use to motivate my 3rd grade literacy class?

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(1)WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. Facultad de Educación Departamento de Inglés. What teaching strategies can I use to motivate my 3rd grade literacy class? Tesis para optar al Título Profesional de Profesor de Inglés de Enseñanza Básica y Educación Media. Por Trinidad Cáceres Zegarra Profesor Tutor Mary Jane Abraham Santiago, 2015. 1 .

(2) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 2 . Abstract This Action Research proposal was based in a 3rd grade class at Bondi Public School, in Sydney, Australia, and it deals with the search for teaching strategies that motivate students in the English class. Some topics such as project-based methodology are covered to support the intervention that answers the research question. For this purpose, it is proposed the use of Kamishibai theatre as a teaching resource that motivates students, adapts to different learning styles, and covers all language skills. The results of this Action Research proposal may help preservice teachers and English teachers to find strategies that motivate students into their class, in primary school contexts. Key words: Motivation, Project-Based Methodology, Kamishibai, Action Research..

(3) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 3 . Resumen Esta propuesta de Investigación Acción se basa en una clase de tercer año de la Escuela Pública de Bondi , en Sydney, Australia , y se trata sobre de la búsqueda de estrategias de enseñanza que motiven a los estudiantes en la clase de Inglés . Algunos temas como la metodología basada en proyectos son cubiertos para apoyar la intervención que responde a la pregunta de investigación. Para este propósito, se propone el uso de teatro Kamishibai como recurso didáctico que motiva a los estudiantes, se adapta a diferentes estilos de aprendizaje, y cubre todas las habilidades del lenguaje. Los resultados de esta propuesta de Investigación Acción pueden ayudar a profesores en formación y a profesores de inglés para encontrar estrategias que motiven a los estudiantes en su clase, en contextos de enseñanza primaria . Palabras clave: Motivación , Metodología Basada En Proyectos , Kamishibai, Investigación Acción..

(4) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS? Table of Contents Introduction. 5. Context. 5. Problem. 9. Research Question. 11. Rationale. 11. Literary Review. 13. Methodology. 17. Data Collection Instruments. 17. Action Plan. 19. Data analysis. 19. Intervention proposal. 24. Conclusions. 29. References. 29. Appendix. 33. 4 .

(5) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 5 . Introduction School motivation is a vital predictor of students’ wellbeing and success, especially in primary school; it can even be used to predict their future level of academic success. Particularly in the English area and the English as a Foreign (EFL) and as a Second Language (ESL) teaching is not only about aiming at proficiency results, but also about getting students involve and responsible for their learning. So what happens when you face a classroom that has clearly the potential to go through cognitive challenges regarding the literacy in English, but whose attitude is completely uninterested toward the class? And most importantly, what are the factors that are preventing me as a facilitator to deliver a truly motivating class? This research is meant to serve as a personal and professional research to find solutions, through an Action Research proposal, to an issue most current teachers face in this area, which is finding teaching strategies to motivate students, and consequently, to effectively deliver, a Literacy class that is significant and relevant to their development. Because of the nature of this research, the methodology includes data collections methods to explain the backgrounds of the issue, but without implementing the action plan proposed as it is based in my last practicum hold in a foreign context, in the Professional Experience for International Students course from Australian Catholic University. Context Bondi Public School is a primary school located in the Bondi area of Sydney, capital of the New South Wales state, Australia. It was in this area, one of the richest of the city, where a stone building was erected in order to create the school more than 130 years ago. The population of the Bondi district increased, and the extension of the tramway encouraged settlement and business, however, public schools and pre-schools of Australia do not accept students until there is proof of a permanent address within the area..

(6) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 6 . There are more than 400 students enrolled at the school, divided in 5 classes. One class in Early Stage (Kindergarten) 4 Year one classes, 3 Year two classes, 4 Year three classes, 2 Year four classes, 1 Year five class and 1 Year six class. Staff is around 20 head teachers, a librarian, one music teacher, a philosophy teacher, a part time ESL teacher, a Reading Recovery teacher, 3 support teachers, an Italian teacher and a Mandarin teacher. All teachers meet the professional requirements for teaching in the New South Wales state public schools. The school facilities include extensive grassed playgrounds with sun shaded play equipment, classroom accommodation for all classes with at least three internet connected computers in each class, dedicated rooms for Italian, Music, Reading Recovery, English as a Second Language, Learning Difficulties and Art. Besides of a library, a computer laboratory, an assembly hall and a parent run healthy canteen. Likewise, all classrooms are provided with material and resources students and teachers may need (books, students’ notebooks, data and projector, computers connected to Internet, speakers, and art supplies) Even though Bondi School is a public institution which funding is subsidized by the Australian government, the school has developed other ways to raise funds in order to improve their facilities, programs and the learning experiences they offer to the community, which says a lot about a school culture were parents, staff and students are highly connected as a community. In order to do this, the school implemented a model of parent involvement with classes from all stages, working together as a community to organize and run events. The educative program of the school must follow the standards provided by the Australian Curriculum for primary schools. The latter sets unified national standards to improve learning.

(7) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS? outcomes for all Australians students. It is meant to be the base for future learning, growth and active participation of students in the Australian community. In relation to the content descriptions and achievement standards, the Australian Curriculum sets four main official learning areas for primary schools including English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and Social Sciences. The curriculum also provides general capabilities students have to meet within the different areas of learning, which include literacy and numeracy, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability, critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability, ethical and intercultural understanding. The school project is based on unified prevailing priorities that all public schools of New South Wales must achieve. On the one hand, raising standards and levels of educational achievement, and on the other hand, the provision for quality education for all and the care and safety of the students in its charge. In the case of Bondi Public School, the priorities are represented by: •. Enhance student achievement by providing a challenging, caring and supportive learning environment that is: •. Safe and secure. •. Inclusive. •. Free from bullying, harassment, intimidation and victimization. •. Recognize and value each child's academic, social and emotional potential.. •. Value and model tolerance and acceptance.. •. Develop a school atmosphere based on trust, fairness and respect.. •. Promote a positive, supportive and effective learning community.. •. Promote Quality Teaching and Learning.. 7 .

(8) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 8 . When parents enroll their children at the school they enter into a partnership with the school staff to support these expectations and the sub-rules, which are outlined in a matrix that is displayed in all classrooms and is explicitly taught to students. The matrix clearly outlines the expectation for students in different environments in and outside the school. The subject of this research is a third grade of this school (3W). This class is composed by 22 students of 9 years old average. As I already stated before, most of the class live in the nearby neighborhoods around the school, and there are not major social issues that affect students of this class. This class is guided by one head teacher who holds the main subjects, including Literacy, my area of intervention. The methodologies and teaching resources the head teacher uses are characterized by a practical/student centered approach, where concrete material in learning experiences is constantly present. The latter goes from the use of Ipads and Educative Legos and building simple machines for the science class, to the use of EdModo (an educative online platform) for communication between parents, students and the teacher. Furthermore, the school has a garden and kitchen project called the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program that relates intrinsically with this experiential methodology. In this program, all children, including 3W, get involved in the growing, harvesting, preparing, sharing and learning about food, all at the school. There is a direct link between the garden, the kitchen and the table, as they cook what they grow, to finally sit at group tables were are encouraged to share with each other and think about the food they are eating. These activities are embedded in the curriculum as a compulsory part of the school's program, were 3W dedicated around 2 hours per week to them. The main aim is to provide students with positive food experiences that can lead them to a lifetime habit of healthy eating, thought I could tell that the benefits of the program can be seen in the present. On the one hand, there are academic skills enhanced as children learnt how to.

(9) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 9 . measure, calculate and problem solve, expand their vocabulary and language skills and learn about new foods and cultures (most of them were wondering whether we had the same plants back in Chile) However, the most successful part was the social skills that were enhanced as they learn to work cooperatively, share resources, respect each other and to see teachers in a different learning environment. Classroom management seemed also skillfully achieved by the head teacher, which allowed individual and team work to be easily performed by the students, so that the role of the host teacher and me, was mainly to give instructions, and clarify doubts and key concepts regarding the task. In addition, I got involved into 3W by the second semester, which meant routines and instructions were clearly delivered and followed by the students. Regarding English, my area of intervention, year 3 students spend a minimum of 300 minutes (5 hours) per week on English. For 3W, these hours were divided in the different skills that acquiring a language requires, which meant sub-blocks in which children worked in silent reading, creative writing, grammar and spelling exercising, and active listening and storytelling, were the head teacher reads for them a book that goes along the topic of each unit. Consequently, my head teacher and I decided that it would be most suitable for me to work in the Literacy class, specifically in the text structure and organization area required by the Australian Curriculum in English for Year 3. Problem When we talk about Literacy we talk about a set of tangible skills – particularly the cognitive skills of reading and writing – that are independent of the context in which they are acquired and the background of the person who acquires them (UNESCO 2005, 149).

(10) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 10 . The literacy class is a 45 minutes space to specifically work on, among other things, writing using joined letters that are clearly formed and consistent in size, rereading and editing texts for meaning, appropriate structure, grammatical choices and punctuation, likewise creative writing, and spelling correction through dictation, all of the above according to the class proficiency level. One issue about these types of activities is that there is an important amount of individual work required to perform them successfully, as in most of them correction can only be done by the teacher. After observing a few classes, I decided to base my first intervention on a writing class, using the textbook the children used and the resources available for this purpose (interactive board, dictionaries) However, it was only after the very first minutes of delivering instructions that I realized there was a major difference between what I had observed and my class. Very quickly, an important amount of the students got distracted, and a few of them even showed disruptive behavior, which distracted their classmates as well. Another important percentage oddly finished the task (writing using joined letters) in few minutes, but it was by the moment of checking I realized they had a messy sketch where you could hardly read a word. Plus, some students complained they did not want to work on their textbooks but to use other material, while others used the classroom computers to check Internet. Even though I was very disappointed and wondering what could have provoked this change of attitude in the students, my first answer was that I was a completely different person for them, so it was my job to build a relationship with the class. Though, by the end of my third Literacy class with them, I realized the dynamic of my class was not improving, but even worse, Literacy class had escalated to a space were they would talk, do and write whatever but what was asked..

(11) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 11 . Research Question Consequently, I decided to try with a dictation activity for my next class, and everything was different in that class. Firstly, my head teacher had a conversation about discipline and misbehavior in the Literacy class with the children before it started. Secondly, I started using Dojo points (an educative webpage that helps the teacher with attendance and class rewards/penalties), and thirdly even though this dynamics kept them on their sits performing the activities, I had to be honest and ask myself: Are my students genuinely engaged? Or are they just doing what it is expected? I knew many teachers settle and think a class is effective by checking if students follow the rules, sit quietly in class, raise their hand to speak and so on, so I could easily stick to this dynamic for the rest of the classes. However, I had seen this class highly motivated in other learning instances, thus doing more than what is expected from them, so I realized I should not take conformity and compliance for motivation. If I wanted a genuinely effective class, then students needed to be intrinsically motivated. In consequence, the question that I consider will lead me to find a solution for this problem is: What teaching strategies can I use to motivate my 3rd grade literacy class? Rationale The reasons why I am doing this research are based on a professional need of problematize my own teaching practice. The last practicum in my preservice formation was highly challenging because of the latter. As an English teacher, there is a different teaching approach to EFL and native speakers students, even though both have a proficiency level that can be improved, I realized the factors that may work for an EFL context would not necessarily work for this.

(12) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 12 . context, which immediately lead me to the need to figure out what was preventing me from delivering my class effectively. Holding this AR proposal, therefore, sets me a professional challenge to problematize, and find answers for my own specific context regarding what are the most suitable conditions for a class to be motivating. In addition, I think that researching what teaching strategies can I use to motivate class will be helpful for my teaching practice not only now, but also in the near future because nowadays teachers’ work is not only planning and delivering a class, but also to empower themselves as researchers and find solutions to their professional issues. Regarding the relevance of the problem in the context, Bondi Public School has established a trust relation with preservice teachers who attend the school. By facilitating their procedures, staff, classrooms and providing me with a head teacher who supported me from the first day (by treating me as part of the staff, in front of the class, giving me feedback regarding my lessons, and all the information that I needed) the school shows they were aware and cared about me as an observer, and as part of the community. Furthermore, undertaking this research is highly relevant for the context because the school needs to know what was preventing the students from participating in the literacy class effectively, and maybe how this is related to preservice teachers who attend the school. Even though contemporary research indicates and aims at the individual differences students have when acquiring a language, it is the school major labor to work on those differences in class, thus to aim at all learning styles. Finally, regarding the EFL and ESL field, I also expect this AR proposal can contribute as an example for those teachers who question themselves about how to make literacy relevant and motivating for students’ development..

(13) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 13 . Literature Review Motivation One of the first key concepts that is embedded in this research question, and which guides the path through it is motivation, an idea that even though it has been largely studied in the Education field, is still seen as one of the most challenging issues for teachers. The Oxford dictionary (2015) defines motivation as the desire or willingness to do something, it relates it with enthusiasm, but motivation in Education involves more than that, and different approaches to motivation focus on cognitive behaviours (such as monitoring and strategy use), non-cognitive aspects (such as perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes), or both (Lai 2011). When it comes to motivation in Education Turner (1995) defines the concept as “voluntary uses of high-level self-regulated learning strategies, such as paying attention, connection, planning, and monitoring” (p. 413). Whereas Turner’s definition states a particular set of behaviours that can be identified by an educator in a classroom context, when I think about how much time the children spend on their school demands, and how their involvement is then rewarded via awards, report comments, or grades I realize there are more complex issues related to this definition, so that simple compliance is incorrectly recognized as motivation. At the same time as the obedient student may do well in school, by mistaking conformity and obedience for motivation we miss out on the real benefits of genuine engagement. But why do students still lack of motivation? Different authors suggest there are a variety of reasons why individuals may lack in motivation, but for Stipek (1988) these can be separated into four categories:.

(14) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS? •. 14 . Cognitive-oriented reasons, where activities are not seen as related to important goals for the student.. •. Affective/socially oriented reasons referred to feelings/emotions about present activities that are generally negative, personal problems interfering with activities and satisfaction of achieving goals seems in distant future.. •. Conative oriented reasons in which the individual does not have a set of important goals that define success personally, believes that present goals or activities are wrong for them, or important goals conflict with present activities.. •. Finally the author mentions the environmentally reasons that are notorious when extrinsic incentives are low.. Even though there are a variety of specific actions teachers can take to increase general motivation in their classrooms, scholars make a difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The first one refers to motivation as the engagement in an activity for its own sake. People who are intrinsically motivated, perform tasks and engage in behaviours because they find them enjoyable. Extrinsic motivation though, is promoted by factors external to the individual, so students who are extrinsically motivated work on tasks because their participation will result in desirable outcomes such as a reward or praise. External rewards (the promise of stars, good grades, extra time for recess, extra points, etc.) are largely used in primary education to cause a change of behaviour or a completion of activities, but does this encourage students learning, and therefore, motivation? In this regard, current studies state that motivation is a necessary precondition for learning, yet, for motivation to enhance learning it needs to be intrinsic, so external rewards actually prevent successful learning. Moreover, Ryan and Deci (2000) state three conditions as necessary for the students to be.

(15) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 15 . intrinsically motivated. Firstly, a sense of competence/mastery where students are determined to improve, secondly a sense of belonging/purpose, thus the feeling that what they are doing has a real relevance to them and the world around them and thirdly a sense of autonomy so that they have a choice in the what, why, when and how they do something. However, because most of what occurs at classrooms is prescribed for the students, not by them, students actually have little say in the shaping of their experience at school. In this regards, Roger Hart’s Ladder of Participation (1992) is a diagram formulated to encourage the young and adults to examine why and how young people participate throughout communities. So when we take a look at it from a classroom perspective, we can examine our own teaching strategies and reflect upon they actually encourage autonomy or not.. It is further argued by Haesler (2014) that while having a sense of autonomy is crucial for fostering genuine motivation, finding relevance in the curriculum is equally important when enhancing students’ motivation. He suggests teachers should, as often as possible, connect what.

(16) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 16 . they are doing to real-life scenarios, which depending on the subject may be easier for some than others. In this case, because English is referred to a group of skills students will apply in almost all aspects of their life by decoding and communicating a specific language, there is a wide range of topics, themes, projects and subject areas English teachers can use for this purpose. Collaborative work Another issue to consider within this research is the fact that this class is already used to work collaboratively, and it is part of the school culture. This is why I decided to research for a connection between increasing my 3rd grade class motivation to learn English and using collaborative work methodology for this purpose. Largely based on the theories proposed by Piaget and Vygotsky, cooperative, small-group learning is widely recognised as a pedagogical practice that promotes meaningful learning, but there are specific characteristics of collaborative work that may encourage students’ motivation. The role of teacher as a facilitator According to Piagetian theory, learners are the main actors in knowledge construction; they have to construct knowledge by themselves. This means the role of the teachers should only be limited to providing the social context and materials that support discussions, and present the cognitive challenges students are to resolve (Papalia, 2009) Vygotsky opens the door for classmates’ experience or knowledge to be present as well. The author proposed the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development in which learners require scaffolding or assistance from instructors or more able peers to understand meaning that learners cannot comprehend by themselves (Papalia, 2009). Because children are likely to cooperate as equals, to speak at a level that other students understand, to challenge each other, and to share.

(17) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 17 . each other's point of view, this theory encourages children’ sense of achievement and consequently their motivation, as group discussion is crucial in collaborative work based classrooms. The latter idea leads to the second reason why collaborative work can increase students’ motivation. The need for meaningful context Vygotsky states that interactions within social contexts facilitate knowledge construction (Papalia, 2009), so teachers should create a collaborative environment where learners can actively communicate and contribute towards constructing meaning and, what is most important, collaborative learning should be inspired, if not situated, in the learners’ real world, thus creating more motivating and meaningful learning. Finally, from a social cognitive learning perspective, Bandura (as cited in Lai, 2011) argued that people have evolved to learn from the observation of other people’s behaviour, consequently, collaborative learning creates a collective behaviour that contributes to individual motivation. Methodology Data Collection Instruments Even though according to Mills (2014) there is no approach better than other when it comes to choosing between using qualitative or quantitative data collection, this last type is viewed as more appropriately applied to AR, instead of an experimental pretest-postest control group design, because of the experiential and cyclical nature of AR. For the different purposes of my action research proposal there will be quantitative data collection instruments that will help me to make a before and after comparison regarding the.

(18) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 18 . intervention I will propose, and the expected results. In this regard, I will be involved in what Mills (2014) calls a participant observer, as I will be directly engaged in activities, observing activities, people and physical aspects. Through the latter, I will prove the validity and consistency of this research, so I have chosen the following instruments as a source of data collection because they will provide evidence that the problem I see is actually there, and they will help me to propose an accurate intervention that hypothetically improves the issue afterwards. Lesson plans and annotations of the class. Lesson plans will be used for questioning the main source of the issue by finding which part of the lesson plans is not effective, so consequently is not motivating my students. Whether there is an issue regarding the planning itself or the way I taught the class, the lesson plan notes of the class will also be a support to look for “bumps” or paradoxes that will be helpful to open the range of possibilities/answers to deal with motivation in the English class. In addition, looking for paradoxes is meant to search for what is not going according to what I expected in the lesson plan. Journal and Student Handbook Another source of data will be the free writing journal I have kept during this experience, which will be essential to keep track of the entire process but most importantly to reproduce my teaching insights. Burns (2010) states how useful these are in action research as a “way of capturing significant reflections and events in an ongoing way” (p. 89). In addition, the changes I see in my class have been registered in my Day-a-way Student Handbook which not only provides data regarding the specific activities I performed on each visit, but also functions as a.

(19) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 19 . lineal guide of my teaching practice experience. My reflections and answers about different situations of the lessons will contribute to provide support to my intervention plan. Classroom documents Finally, I will be using classroom documents such as students’ worksheets, class curriculum, and tests in order to identify key issues regarding the practical material students use in class. Action Plan In order to see the organization of my action plan, please refer to appendix A. Data analysis After observing a few classes, my host teacher and I decided to start my first intervention correcting the children’ spelling exercises, the activity was individual and it would take 45 minutes. (See appendix C for more examples). However, as I already stated before in the problem section, this short intervention did not go as I expected. Annotations in my personal journal include “Teaching this class was very difficult, kids barely know me and I didn’t feel like the teacher at all.”.

(20) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 20 . After that intervention, my host teacher and I decided to still continue with this dynamic because we both thought this behavior was related to my classroom management skills and the relationship I was just building with the class. So depending on what my host teacher’s lesson was, I would be the facilitator of spelling, dictation or handwritten exercises. Though, students behavior was not better in the following classes; they would not pay attention to the instruction, hardly completed the task, a few of them interrupted the class with disruptive behavior, and most of them stayed off the task almost the entire class. As I already mentioned, “my interventions had escalated to a space were they would talk, do and write whatever but what was asked, and it was already time for me to perform my first assessed class.” It was after my head teacher had a conversation about discipline and misbehavior with the children, and I started using Dojo points that I saw a change, however I decided to go beyond for my whole-class lessons. First whole-class lesson Even though Australia is a multicultural country, it was a surprise for most of the students to have a foreign teacher in their English class, so I thought it would be an interesting starting point to teach a class where the topic was precisely Chile. In addition, students’ recent prior experience was their research about their family heritage to see if their ancestors came from other cultures and/or countries, so they already had the idea that Australia is a multicultural country. (See appendix C for complete lesson plan) In the introduction of the lesson I got these annotations: “Even though I had planned to tell them about the conquest of Chile and how it became a country, I realized it would not be meaningful to them and I did not have my motivating material, story or book to tell them about (basically talk to.

(21) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 21 . them about Chilean history in a fun way) so I changed my intro on the spur of the moment, and ended up describing this place ”. INTRODUCTION Firstly, students listen to a short about the history of Chile, teacher tells the story in an engaging way so students can close their eyes without knowing it is about the actual history of Chile. After, students make predictions about where or which the place the story is describing is, by answering the following questions: What is this place? In which part of the world is this place? If they answer Chile, Why do you think Chile? What does Chile look like in your imagination? Finally, students infer the topic of the class.. In spite of the latter, the introduction of the class was successful because students were engaged in the narration, and having their eyes closed picturing what they heard kept them excited about what was sort of place that was. They asked questions enthusiastically, and quickly inferred the topic of the class. However, in the development of the class I wanted to present facts about Chile and compare them, but there was not much new information to give them and, as I stated in my journal: “students lose concentration very quickly, the presentation was too long and descriptive, too repetitive for them, boring” (See appendix D for complete PPT) At this stage I lost my students’ attention very quickly and it was quite hard to get it back, every time I presented something, children would interrupt or talk to each other, they clearly wanted to participate and make comments about other things, but I needed to keep them in the topic. Finally, regarding my plan to make a comparison in the closure I wrote “Idea seemed good but there was no concrete text for students to produce or reproduce so they ended up making posters with.

(22) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 22 . drawings about Chile” (See appendix D for posters examples) The cause of this issue was the objective, “learn about what being Australian means” is a subjective and broad aspiration that is hard to assess whether it has been accomplished or not, and it lead me to a confusion of about what my ultimate goal with this class was. Even though this class helped me notice how these children enjoyed team work more than individual tasks, I realized that not having a clear, concise objective for that class affected my teaching negatively because I had to improvise. I did not provide any examples of what I was expecting from them, and consequently it was up to the children to do what they wanted to do, so by the end of the class there were no concrete outcomes in English. Second whole-class lesson. For my second whole-class lesson I decided to work with Haikus, because they had been working on poetry before, and I could assess their spelling in a fun, engaging way. There would be simpler explanations, less time spent in giving instructions, and more time in a task that required creativity. Plus I had a clear objective; become familiar with the elements of haiku poems. So I knew exactly what my goal with this class was. (See appendix B for complete lesson plan) Firstly, I briefly presented to them the concept of Haikus and they quickly understood it. (See appendix D for complete PPT) However, the main issue about this class was related to the level of difficulty, which was oddly unequal. While some students finished their poems in five minutes, for others it took the entire class to get the idea of the syllables counting, and finding the exact words was frustrating for them, so I needed to find a teaching method to engage them in the class, but that is also appropriate to diverse learning rhythms..

(23) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 23 . Third whole-class lesson. By my fourth intervention I was concerned about building a relation, and because I noticed children were interested in active, practical activities I asked for a class to be held in the school kitchen. About this intervention I wrote in my journal “against all odds, I finally feel like the teacher, the entire class worked as a team, sharing and dividing task equally, great!” In this last class I would be the facilitator of the recipes the students would cook that day (two Chilean recipes) and the class would split into teams to work in one of the four kitchen stations. I gave the instructions, made sure everyone divided the tasks equally, and helped them with the stove. This dynamic was already familiar to them, so there were no misbehaviour issues, children were looking forward to cook the vegetables they grew themselves in a “Chilean way”, they paid attention and followed successfully to the instructions. At the end, we all shared and ate what they had cooked, reflected upon the raw materials they had used, they asked me about when we eat these recipes in Chile, and everybody left the kitchen feeling happy. After performing these interventions, I realized the main issues that prevent me from performing a motivating class included: -. Individual writing tasks that did not present spelling in an engaging way.. -. The lack of clear, tangible teaching objectives in some lessons.. -. Long, not engaging expositions of class content.. -. Unclear expectations of class outcomes.. -. Activities that did not consider the difference in students’ language proficiency and little time for autonomous work.. -. There was no connection between the classes..

(24) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS? -. 24 . Intervention proposal. After this retrospective analysis of my teaching problem, I will propose an intervention for solving it. My proposal is a project-based intervention, where teaching strategies give me the opportunity to perform motivating classes by: -‐. Connecting different classes by one big objective, relevant to the students.. -‐. Having clear, concise objectives for each class. -‐. Tasks based on autonomous work. -‐. Class dynamics based on teamwork. -‐. Meaningful and relevant topics for the project. -‐. Presenting English skills (writing) in an engaging way to the students. Kamishibai theatre of paper Devised in the early 1930s in Japan, Kamishibai were picture stories performed on street corners by travelling storytellers who made money from selling candy. Using hand painted boards on miniature proscenium stages called Butai, success depended as much on the crafting and sequencing of these storyboards as the narrator’s performance of serialised adventure stories ranging from samurai sagas and westerns to folktales and science fiction (Ridout, 2011) I decided to use this resource because it suits different learning styles, and it is connected to all language skills because it requires visual abilities, active listening, creative writing and fluent speaking. Kamishibai stories are experienced primarily in shared, group settings (a need for this context) This resource will help me with my classroom management skills because the large, illustrated cards make possible for an entire class to enjoy the story simultaneously, and also to motivate the class through the stories, which lively dialogues engage students both emotionally.

(25) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 25 . and intellectually. Beyond my specific context, this resource is useful for all English teaches who are looking for a strategy that improves all of the above. The aesthetics of this paper theatre are very important in keeping learners engaged, some Kamishibai theorists say that it is the sense of anticipation that keeps the audience so focused on the story. As the cards are changed at a fairly quick tempo, the audience has to digest quickly what it sees. Ideally the drawings are uncluttered, use bold, primary colours and large figures often outlined in black, which makes even easier for primary school children to make their own illustrations. Because the cards are slid from the audience’s right to their left, the action on the cards always moves in this direction, creating a strong sense of movement and continuity between the pictures (Tamaki, 2006) Objectives for 3W Kamishibai project The main objective of this project is that the class, divided in teams will write, create and present their own stories about topics of their choosing, by using the inspiration of the last’ unit topic “Being Australian” Children will present them in Kamishibai format to their classmates in the school. Sharing this project with the community is very important for enhancing motivation because this inspires a level of challenge and commitment much greater than the one is fuelled by the incentive of ‘getting good marks’. (Patton, 2012).

(26) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. PROJECT DESIGN: OVERVIEW Name of Project: Our Kamishibai. Grade Level: 3. Subject/Course: English. stories Teacher(s): Trinidad Cáceres. Duration: Two months. Other subject areas to be included, if any: Visual Arts, Physical Education Domains. Learning Outcomes. Reading and Writing. Students will be able to create and write a coherent story, using the correct grammar, punctuation and spelling in English.. Autonomous work. Students will be able to work on their own, reflect on their tasks and take appropriate actions to improve it.. Teamwork. Students will acquire collaborative skills through working in a team to achieve common goals.. Speaking. Students will acquire the skills to tell their stories, communicate effectively and to present ideas clearly and coherently to specific audience orally.. 26 .

(27) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 27 . Methodology The project will be divided into four progressive stages, developed throughout the semester (see appendix C for Gantt Chart). Stage 1 Presentation of. Stage 2. Stage 3. Stage 4. Planning. Creating Kamishibai. Final. Kamishibai to the class.. presentation. On these sessions. These sessions are. This stage is focused. At this stage,. children will receive. based on solving. on autonomous. pupils are. strategies and examples. aspects related to the. student work. responsible for. of expected outcomes. work plan,. regarding the. presenting their. about storytelling, visual. expectations,. delegation of tasks. stories to the. aesthetics of Kamishibai. assessments, doubts. (writers, illustrators. community.. and creative writing, so. about the project and. and storytellers) and. they can choose their role. brainstorm on the. all the decisions about. in the future.. topics of the stories.. manufacturing and presentation of the project.. Assessment I will hold formative and progressive assessments, so that I can focus on the process and not only on the results. Because formative assessments are considered part of learning they are not graded..

(28) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 28 . Rather, this type of assessment will provide feedback so students can continuingly improve their performance. Another benefit of formative assessments is that I can modify what is not working as expected in the project, based on information gained through the assessments. In general terms, formative assessment deals with diversity in classroom by helping teachers determining which students need a different approach, which students need immediate attention and which students are not learning as a result of not being challenged. Also, it challenges teachers into innovate, present information in a new way and engage students in different types of learning experiences; changes in format, organization, or method of presentation can all be beneficial. Likewise, students will perform two types of assessment: -‐. Self-assessment: this will emphasise the importance of student reflection, not just the mark that the student feels they deserve.. -‐. Peer assessment: this a key element in assessment of project-based learning, as it will make it easier to assess students individually within a group. (See appendix C for complete assessment). Using a “traffic light system” (see appendix C for complete rubric), students will these assessments each week, focused on different aspect that are relevant for the project. These aspects include: -‐. Time Management. -‐. Responsibility. -‐. Respect. -‐. Preparation. -‐. Attitude. -‐. Participation.

(29) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 29 . Conclusions The findings and the intervention proposal presented in this research gives English teachers a resource to motivate students into Literacy that can also be applied in EFL contexts, inside of a project bssed methodology. In this sense, English teachers usually avoid team work in reading and writing activities (spelling, handwriting, among others) because they imply individual assessment of the progress or the completion of the task, however, project based classes are an effective strategy for these skills as it keeps students in task, encourages autonomous work and allows the teacher develop a student-centred class. In other words, because students have a motivating purpose for improving their spelling, handwriting, creative writing, or any other skill implied, intrinsic motivation and academic improvement are higher. A classroom based on students’ needs, focused on their interests can be real through Kamishibai, were the focus are real life scenarios or meaningful topics and natural in-context language is used, plus its topics can be adapted to different levels of proficiency and ages. Primary school children can especially perform Kamishibai, because the story is written in simple form, and the storyteller’s voice, the audience’s imagination and the pictures fill in the details. Likewise, it enhances students’ sense of achievement in the oral skills as storytellers usually surprise to find how quickly the audience gets involved in the story. I agree with Tamaki (2006) affirmation that there are unique characteristics of Kamishibai—the dramatic narration, the bold illustrations—plus the presence of a live storyteller and the audience’s sense of community that make it such a magical storytelling technique. Even thought this project was written as a proposal, limitations to this approach locate in not having real data that tells in what percentage or in what way the students’ behaviour or.

(30) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 30 . motivation changed. Which leaves open questions regarding whether the topics would have matched the students’ interests, and changed in the academic skills, in this specific context. Another important limitations about this research I can also anticipate which is the time for developing it. There are specific objectives to be reached at every class, but simple things like change in the school calendar or students not achieving the objective by the end of the class would have affected the development of the project, since I had a very specific time to perform my intervention. In the broader field, it is very important to consider how students’ proficiency level (especially in EFL contexts) can affect the success of a Kamishibai project. This project in specific, is not meant to be a standard model for other classrooms/teachers facing this issue, as it needs to be adapted to their level so an unreal expectation does not discourage students from creative writing, storytelling or any skill proposed. In this sense, for Kamishibai storytelling to success teachers should allow for many opportunities for repetition and practice, so using this resource in one isolated class is probably not enough for students to put it in practice and take enough advantage of it. In terms of future research, suggestions I can make are related to finding whether this teaching strategy can be applied in higher levels maybe to encourage literature or more complex topics discussion. Finally, I would like to add that this action research proposal helped me understanding the importance of being innovative, as well as how essential is to be a researcher for a teacher. It helped me question my pre-service experience and gave me a critical vision regarding my teaching issue, it helped me flipping the responsibility of my professional actions to myself; what.

(31) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 31 . am I doing that students are not motivated. Moreover, it helped me understanding that it is my expectation that must adapt to my students and not the other way. Lastly, when put in practice Action Research can benefit classrooms and even schools at all levels as it and empowers teachers by simply clarifying what is behind our teaching problematic. References Bondi Public School Project. Retrieved from: http://www.bondi-p.schoolwebsites.com.au/annualreport.aspx Bondi Public School Curriculum. Retrieved from: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/ Boekaerts, M. (2002). Motivation to learn. Retrieved September 25, 2015, from http://www.ibe.unesco.org/publications/EducationalPracticesSeriesPdf/prac10e.pdf Burns, A. (2010). Doing action research in English language teaching: A guide for practitioners. New York. Routledge. Hurst, M. (n.d.). Using Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation to Enhance Learning. Retrieved October 1, 2015, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/using-intrinsic-and-extrinsic-motivationto-enhance-learning.html#lesson Lai, E. R. (2011). Motivation: A Literature Review (Report No. 1) Retrieved October 1, 2015 from Pearson, http://images.pearsonassessments.com/images/tmrs/Motivation_Review_final.pdf Patton, A. (2012, February 1). Work that matters. The teacher’s guide to project-based learning. Retrieved November 20, 2015, from Papalia, D., & Olds, S. (2009). Psicología del desarrollo (11th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Stipek, D. (1988). Motivation to learn: From theory to practice. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Tamaki, D. (2006, December 1). KAMISHIBAI FOR EVERYONE! Retrieved December 1, 2015, from http://www.kamishibai.com/PDF/kamishibaieveryone.pdf.

(32) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 32 . Turner, J. C. (1995). The influence of classroom contexts on young children’s motivation for literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 30(3), 410–441. Haesler, D. (2014). How engaged are your students?. Access, v.28, 6-13; Retrieved September 25, 2015, from http://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=205561;res=AEIPT ISSN: 1030-0155 Ridout, Cefn. Irresponsible Pictures [Book Review] [online]. Art Monthly Australia, No. 241, July 2011: 50-51. Availability:<http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=221429525856335;res=IELL CC> ISSN: 1033-4025. [cited 27 Nov 15]. Ryan RM & Deci EL 2000, ‘Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development and wellbeing’, American Psychologist, vol. 55, pp. 68–78. UNESCO. (2015). EFA Global Monitoring Report: Education for All. Retrieved from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001373/137333e.pdf.

(33) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 33 . Appendix A Action Research action plan. STEPS OF AR • Diagnosis - Observations. AUGUST. SEPTEMBER. OCTOBER. NOVEMBER. DECEMBER. 2nd and 3rd week. - Defining school context • Problem - Defining problem - Narrowing down the problem - Building a question - Writing the outline • Plan - Defining methodology. 4th week. 1st week 2nd/3rd week 3rd week 1st week 1st week. - Selecting data collection instruments and procedures. 3rd week. - Collecting data. 4th week. - Analyzing data. • Intervention - Building materials for the intervention - Selecting activities planned. • Evaluation - Reflecting about possible results. - Reflecting on further actions. - Presenting. 1st/2nd week. 3rd week. 4th week 1st week 3rd week.

(34) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 34 . Apendix B Lesson plans Class: 3WBondi Public School. Date: Tuesday 14th, October, 2014. Key Learning Area: ENGLISH. Lesson Topic: Australian Identity, What does it mean?. Time 45 minutes. Recent prior Experience: Students have researched their family heritage to see if their ancestors have come from other cultures and countries. Students may already have the idea that Australia is a multicultural country. Syllabus Outcome. Learn about what being Australian means. Indicators of Learning for this lesson By the end of this lesson students will:. Assessment - Students will write predictions about what a regular day is in Chile and how it is in Australia.. -Discuss about the general characteristics of Australia. - Compare these with the general characteristics of Chile. Resources: Interactive board - White paper - Markers. Any safety issues to be considered: Safe classroom behavior to be managed by the teacher..

(35) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS? Lesson content/ Indicators of Learning (What it is taught). Timing (mins). Teaching Strategies/Learning experience (How it is taught). 35 . Resources and Organization. INTRODUCTION Activate students’ previous knowledge regarding the topic of the lesson.. 7 to 10 mins. Introduce the topic of the lesson.. Firstly, students listen to a short about the history of Chile, teacher tells the story in an engaging way so students can close their eyes without knowing it is about the actual history of Chile. After, students make predictions about where or which is the place the story is describing, by answering the following questions: What is this place? In which part of the world is this place? If they answer Chile, Why do you think is Chile? What is Chile look like in your imagination? Finally, students infer the topic of the class.. Students are to be sitting on the carpet. Teacher is to be sitting in front in a position where all students are able to hear. Resource: short story. DEVELOPMENT Present different facts about Chile. 7-10 mins. In this stage of the class, students see a PPT presentation about the basics of Chile, its location and geography, landscapes, language and other general features. Students are encouraged to share their thoughts on the presentation by answering questions like: What is the place it called your attention the most? What differences can you see between Chile and Australia?. Students are to be sitting on the carpet. Teacher is to be sitting in front in a position where all students are able to hear and see properly. Resource: short story. Finally, students are encouraged to compare these with the general characteristics of Chile. What are the things that become Australian or Chilean? As a general conclusion, teacher presents the concept of culture as an idea that includes all what we are as a society (landscapes, history, language, food, symbols, etc) CLOSURE Make a comparison. 25 mins. After this conclusion, now that students have a general idea on what the Chilean culture is, they discuss in small groups about what a 9 year old routine is it like in Chile and write their ideas on a big white paper. Teacher gives the example on the board of what the poster should look like, monitors their work and solve questions they may have. Finally each group presents their work to the class and make a small comparison between their “Aussie” routine and the “Chilean” routine.. -‐ -‐. Markers White papers.

(36) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS? Class: 3W Bondi Public School. Date: Tuesday 28th, October, 2014. Key Learning Area: English/ Literacy. Lesson Topic: Poetry. Time: 45 minutes. Recent prior Experience -. Students have approached poetry through acrostic poems.. -. Students have worked on the difference between. Syllabus Outcome A student: - EN1-98 uses basic grammatical features, punctuation conventions and vocabulary appropriate to the type of text when responding to and composing texts - EN1-10C thinks imaginatively and creatively about familiar topics, ideas and texts when responding to and composing texts. Resources -‐ -‐. -‐. Interactive board General classroom supplies (pencils, paper, etc) Haiku worksheet. Indicators of Learning for this lesson By the end of this lesson students will: - Become familiar with the elements of haiku poems.. Assessment - Students will demonstrate understanding by crating their own Haikus, using the given model.. - Review the value of descriptive words (adjectives and verbs) in creating verbal imagery. - Learn to sort words by number of syllables. Any safety issues to be considered: - Safe classroom behavior to be managed by the teacher. - Set the projector up so that the teacher is facing the class and able to type the text (or write easily on the overhead) and the class is able to follow along.. 36 .

(37) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS? Lesson content/ Indicators of Learning (What it is taught). Timing (mins). Teaching Strategies/Learning experience (How it is taught). 37 . Resources and Organization. INTRODUCTION Activate students’ previous knowledge regarding the topic of the lesson.. 10 mins. Introduce the topic of the lesson.. After recalling last literacy work on acronyms. Students discuss about the different seasons of the year. Using pictures as a focus, the entire class collects vocabulary words connected with this aspect of nature. Using the interactive board, teachers asks students to think of an action related to one season, e. g. Swimming in the ocean (summer). Teacher encourages students to recall the different types of verbs that they already know (action, saying and thinking) and the difference between these and adjectives used within each line.. Students are to be sitting on the carpet. Teacher is to be sitting in front in a position where all students are able to hear. Resource: Power point presentation, interactive board.. DEVELOPMENT Present and exemplify features of Haiku.. 7-10 mins. In this stage, teacher explains that the text they have created is a type of poem called Haiku, in order to briefly highlight the structure meanings of the Haikus. Instructions and examples of the expected result (Haiku poem written by every child) are given using a PPT presentation, including the traditional pattern for fast learners and the importance of an illustration that goes along the poem. Students now reconvene in their small groups to create their own Haikus, firstly on their notebooks to then write them on the hard copy. Teacher highlights to explain the importance of finding the best words for the Haiku by using the dictionary. CLOSURE. Plenary. 5 mins. Children are asked to share their Haikus with the class.. Students are to be sitting on the carpet. Teacher is to be sitting in front in a position where all students are able to hear and see properly. Resource: PPT presentation, interactive board..

(38) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS? Appendix C Gantt chart. 38 .

(39) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS? Peer Assessment for Kamishibai project. 39 .

(40) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS?. 40 .

(41) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS? Apendix D Power Point presentation of development stage of 1st lesson.. 41 .

(42) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS? Second lesson Power Point presentation. 42 .

(43) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS? First intervention samples exercises. 43 .

(44) WHAT TEACHING STRATEGIES CAN I USE TO MOTIVATE MY 3RD GRADE LITERACY CLASS? Posters examples. 44 .

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