RM Winter 2016 FLIP

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Reading Matters
Research Matters
Reading Matters | Volume 16 • Winter 2016 | |09|
on the type of technology they have available (see
for potential tools). I selected
30 Hands to publish our digital stories because of the ease of its
use, particularly for students who are publishing their first digital
story, and because it is available as a free download (see
for a quick tutorial on using 30Hands).
Lesson seven: Using our iPads
The iPads arrived in time for our seventh lesson and every
two students shared one. I projected the iPad using a document
camera and modeled how to create a story as students followed
along on their iPad. We started with how to turn the iPad on and
then opened up the 30 Hands application together. We discussed
how to create new slides by taking or drawing pictures. Then
we practiced recording. At the end of the explanation, students
created a practice test digital story in pairs. Students were
extremely excited to use the iPads and were engaged throughout
the lesson. They especially enjoyed playing back their voice
recording to hear how they sounded. The recording process
prompted students to use expression while reading; students would
often redo their recording if it did not sound clear or expressive.
One student even shared that the iPads“make writing fun!”
Lessons eight through ten:
Completing our stories
Across the next three lessons students worked individually
at different times to complete their own digital story about their
favorite season. The process of completing their stories varied
cross students. Some had difficulty dividing their writing into
different narrated parts for each slide. A simple fix for this was to
have students number the different parts in their papers and then
position the corresponding picture in the correct order on the 30
Hands app. This worked well because the application numbers each
picture and you can easily add, delete, or move each slide that the
student creates. Also, if students needed to add another picture,
they could easily draw one using the 30 Hands app. Finding a quiet
place to record was one challenge we faced. I found it best to have
students go to the corner of the roomwhen they were ready to
record. One day we were able to take students to an isolated room,
which was the best environment for a clear and crisp voice recording.
This time spent publishing their stories resulted in high levels of
engagement. Students who did not finish during writing time
insisted that they get additional time to complete their digital stories.
Students enjoyed sharing their progress with the teacher,
myself, and other students. The digital stories enabled many
students to refine their writing. They edited their work by
adding pictures and sentences to make their writing flow. This
also helped students be expressive when reading their writing.
Students loved sharing their digital stories with their classmates,
teachers, and anyone else who entered the classroom.
Results
After all of the students had completed their digital story, I
administered the WAS again. The overall average of the complete
WAS improved from 66.7% to 83.4%, which pleased the classroom
teacher and me. Informally, we had both noticed a more positive
attitude from many of the students when they were writing. The
results also demonstrated that 64% of students were very happy
when revising their work and 53% of students were very happy or
happy when another student revised their work. Even though this
is still not as high of a percentage as I would like, it demonstrates
substantial progress in positive attitudes towards writing (up from
7%), especially across one unit. Five students in particular originally
reported great dislike of revising or peer reviewing, and at the post
survey they reported being very happy. However, two students
were still very upset when revising and peer reviewing work.
With continued support and exposure to revision and reviewing
techniques, I hope students’ attitudes will improve even more.
Discussion
My initial research on engaging students in writing found that
when students share their writing, they are more engaged in their
writing (Troia, Lin, Cohen, & Monroe, 2011). This engagement
was reflected in what I observed with these students. Students
enjoyed sharing their digital stories and listening to other
students’ stories as well. When students shared their work
during peer reviewing, they were excited to get their “Two
Stars and a Wish” sheet back to see the compliments the other
student gave them and use the wish to help them improve for
their publication. This process helped students have positive
experiences with writing, editing, and revising. Giving students
a digital way of publishing their work and an opportunity to
share it gave purpose to students’ revision and editing.
When I started this research I was focused primarily on
learning how to engage students in writing. However, once
I administered the surveys I was surprised when results
demonstrated a high percentage of negative attitudes towards
revising and editing. My research focus slightly changed since
I hoped I would be able to change students’ attitudes towards
revising their own and peer reviewing other students’ work.
Students’ attitudes did improve; however, it is difficult for me
to pinpoint exactly why they improved. Instead, I believe it is a
combination of factors including building community, providing
support, and engaging students in a variety of ways including
technology. Students’ eyes still light up and excitement fills the
room when I enter with the bag of iPads for students to use.
Student’s attitudes are an important element in the learning
process. Surveys are a great tool that is underutilized in the
primary grades. Surveys are often too complex and require higher
level reading skills that primary students do not possess yet.
However, by simplifying the response choices as the WAS does
using cartoon images, surveys become more accessible to students
while still uncovering details and inner thoughts of students. By
using fewer words and more images, more students are able to
access and respond to the survey. I will implement more surveys,
especially interest and attitude surveys in my future teaching. I
noticed if I ask a question out loud, students often respond the
same as those around them. With an individual survey I have
received honest results that are unaffected by peer opinions. This